The demand for power semiconductor devices is continuously increasing and requires the SiC crystal to have high purity, low carbon content, and large size. This is why the Acheson method, based on carbo-thermal reduction (CTR), offers an attractive alternative to traditional crystal growth through physical vapor transport (PVT).

Silicon Carbide is known for its strength and hardness. It can be used to create ceramics for applications requiring erosion resistance, high temperature resisitance and abrasive resistance. In addition to these uses, it is also a raw material for creating silicon alloys that can be used in a wide range of industrial applications.

A typical way of obtaining SiC is by carbo-thermal reduction using petroleum coke and high quality silica as the main raw materials. The mixture is heated at 650deg C in a resistance furnace, and niobium is added to promote product purification. The resulting product is black SiC powder, which is typically used in metallurgical applications.

The spectroscopic analysis of the synthesis products shows that as the synthesis temperature increases, the characteristic band for SiC at approx. 790cm-1 becomes more intensive, while the bands originating from graphite become weaker. The results from the spectroscopic analyses correspond to the results obtained from the phase composition analysis of the synthesis products performed by the X-ray diffraction method. Independently of the synthesis temperature, the spectroscopic and X-ray results indicate that the reaction takes place together with unreacted substrates (graphite and SiO2). This is also confirmed by a comparison between the XRD spectra of aggregates, pellets and powders from different synthesis temperatures.