Today, the silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductor is becoming the front runner in advanced power electronic devices. This material has been considered to be useful for abrasive powder, refractory bricks as well as ceramic varistors. Big changes have occurred owing to the author’s inspirational idea in 1968 to “make transistors from unusual material”. The current paper starts by describing the history of SiC research involving fundamental studies by the author’s group: unique epitaxial crystal growth techniques, the physical characterization of grown layers and processes for device fabrication. Trials for fabricating SiC power devices and their characteristics conducted until 2004 are precisely described. Recent progress in SiC crystal growth and peripheral techniques for SiC power devices are introduced. Finally, the present progress concerning SiC power devices is introduced together with the implementation of those devices in society.

如今，碳化硅（SiC）半导体已成为先进功率电子设备中的佼佼者。该材料被认为可用于磨料粉，耐火砖以及陶瓷压敏电阻。由于作者1968年的鼓舞性想法“用不寻常的材料制造晶体管”，发生了巨大的变化。本文首先描述了SiC研究的历史，涉及作者小组的基础研究：独特的外延晶体生长技术，生长层的物理特性以及器件制造工艺。精确描述了制造SiC功率器件的试验及其特性，直到2004年为止。介绍了SiC晶体生长和SiC功率器件外围技术的最新进展。最后，