Silicon carbide ( SiC ) offers significant advantages for microwave high power devises due to its unique electrical and thermal properties. This review presents a summary of the current position in the development of silicon carbide diodes operating at microwave frequencies: varactors, Schottky barrier mixer diodes, p-i-n and IMPATT diodes. Simplified theory of device operation is given for each kind of microwave diodes to derive the figures of merit, to estimate the potential silicon carbide performance for fabrication of these diodes and to compare SiC with conventional semiconductors. These analyses are followed by description of diode design, fabrication and measured characteristics.
