silicon

Regional boosterism aside, silicon will continue to dominate the half-trillion-dollar semiconductor sector, including the important processor and memory-chip markets, for the foreseeable future. But in the niche of energy electronics, which has sales of about $20 billion per year, silicon carbide is generating substantial inroads. Yole Développement projects that the automotive industry for silicon carbide will raise to $five billion in 2027 from its existing total of a tiny more than $1 billion. If you look “silicon” up in the periodic table, you will discover that it sits subsequent to aluminum, under carbon and above germanium. Silica is naturally present...