Shigehiro Nishino and the CVD Reaction Chamber
Shigehiro Nishino developed a novel design that became a breakthrough in the manufacturing of heat-resistant silicon-carbide microchips.
Traditional microchips were made entirely of silicon and were easily produced but could not withstand high temperatures. Silicon-carbide microchips were largely heat-resistant but nearly impossible to manufacture on a consistent basis.
As NASA Lewis researchers began investigating this issue in 1981, Nishino, a Japanese physicist, applied for a research fellowship at the center to test his theoretical process for producing silicon-carbide chips.
Nishino worked with NASA engineers Anthony Powell, William Nieberding, and Herbert Will to build laboratory equipment that could successfully deposit layers of material onto a silicon base. The effort was a success and Research & Development Magazine included this process on the 1983 R&D 100 list of exceptional technologies.
Today, silicon-carbide electronics are used around the world for renewable energy grids, computer power supplies, nuclear power-generating systems, electric vehicles, hybrid electric aircraft, and space vehicles.
Chemical Vapor Deposition Reaction Chamber at the Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: C1989-2573
Date: March 13, 1989
Shigehiro Nishino and the CVD Reaction Chamber
Shigehiro Nishino developed a novel design that became a breakthrough in the manufacturing of heat-resistant silicon-carbide microchips.
Traditional microchips were made entirely of silicon and were easily produced but could not withstand high temperatures. Silicon-carbide microchips were largely heat-resistant but nearly impossible to manufacture on a consistent basis.
As NASA Lewis researchers began investigating this issue in 1981, Nishino, a Japanese physicist, applied for a research fellowship at the center to test his theoretical process for producing silicon-carbide chips.
Nishino worked with NASA engineers Anthony Powell, William Nieberding, and Herbert Will to build laboratory equipment that could successfully deposit layers of material onto a silicon base. The effort was a success and Research & Development Magazine included this process on the 1983 R&D 100 list of exceptional technologies.
Today, silicon-carbide electronics are used around the world for renewable energy grids, computer power supplies, nuclear power-generating systems, electric vehicles, hybrid electric aircraft, and space vehicles.
Chemical Vapor Deposition Reaction Chamber at the Lewis (now Glenn) Research Center, Cleveland, Ohio.
Credit: NASA
Image Number: C1989-2573
Date: March 13, 1989