The Journal of Engineering Research Vol. 3, No. 1 (2006) 43-54 1. Introduction The advanced society is strongly supported by electron- ics. With the progress of society, much more aid of elec- tronics in the wide area including hard environment ("Hard Electronics"), such as high-temperature, high power, high irradiation, and high frequency, is needed. The term of "Hard Electronics" was incepted in Japan in 1991. It means a new kind of electronics needed in hard circumstances utilizing hard materials, which are essen- tially tough themselves and very hard to be handled. The hard materials involve wide band gap semiconductors and new kind of oxides (Ma et al. 2002; Prelas et al. 2002; _______________________________________ *Corresponding author's e-mail: touatif@squ.edu.om Spitsyn et al. 2002). Hard electronics research continued to develop throughout the 80s with increasing emphasis on high-temperature operation, i.e. high-temperature electronics (HTEs) (Patrick et al. 1997). The energy crisis precipitated by the Middle East saw a clear focus on improving petroleum recovery from oil wells by improved down hole monitoring, necessitating increased tempera- ture coverage by the electronic systems. There are many equally potential applications with increasing com- mercial opportunities afforded by programs of More Electric Aircraft and More Electric Vehicles (Kodjak, 1993 and 1996). A main theme also has been in distributed control sys- tems for improved reliability and increased fuel economy, either directly by improved combustion control or indi- High-Temperature Electronics: Status and Future Prospects in the 21st Century F. Touati*, F. Mnif and A. Lawati Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Sultan Qaboos University, P. O. Box 33, Al-Khoud, Muscat, 123, Sultanate of Oman Received 2 June 2004; accepted 18 September 2005 Abstract: This paper reviews the state of current electronics and states the drive toward high-temperature electronics. The problems specific to high-temperature effects on conventional electronics and prospects of alternative technologies like silicon-on-insulator, silicon carbide, and diamond are discussed. Improving petroleum recovery from oil wells with high- temperature coverage of downhole electronics, making combustion processes more efficient utilizing embedded electron- ics, programs for More Electric Aircraft and Vehicles necessitating distributed control systems, and environmental pro- tection issues stress the need to use and develop high-temperature electronics. This makes high-temperature electronics a key-enabling technology in the 21st century. Actual applications using high-temperature electronics are discussed in some details. Also information and guidelines are included about supporting electronics needed to make a complete high-tem- perature system. The technology has been making major advancements and is expected to account for 20% of the elec- tronics market by 2010. However, many technical challenges have to be solved. Keywords: High temperature, Hard electronics, Downhole monitoring, Electric aircrafts and vehicles, Efficient use of energy, Distributed control systems .øjô°û©dGh …OÉ◊G ¿ô≤dG ‘ á«∏Ñ≤à°ùŸG äÉ©bƒàdGh ‹É◊G ™°VƒdG :á«dÉ©dG IQGô◊G äÉ«fhεdG »àjƒJ .± @ ≈«JGƒdG .´ h ∞«æe .± , :á°UÓN äÉ«fhεdÓd á≤aGôŸG πcÉ°ûŸG åëÑdG Gòg ¢ûbÉæj .á«dÉ©dG IQGô◊G äÉ«fhεdG ¤G ∫É≤àf’G Ò°S í°Vƒjh É«dÉM á∏ª©à°ùŸG äÉ«fhεdÓd á©LGôe åëÑdG Gòg øª° àj á°SÉŸG IQhô° dG äÉ≤«Ñ£àdG øe ~j~©dG í°VƒJ .¢SÉŸGh ¿ƒµ«∏°ùdG ~«HQÉc ,∫RÉ©dG - ≈∏Y - ¿ƒµ«∏°ùdG äÉ«æ≤J øe É¡d á©bƒàŸG πFG~ÑdGh IQGô◊G äÉLQO ´ÉØJQG AÉæKG áj~«∏≤àdG i~e IOÉjR ∫ÓN øe ôØ◊G πNGO áÑbGôŸG Iõ¡LG ôjƒ£àH §ØædG QÉHBG øe ∫hÎÑdG ¢UÓîà°SG ôjƒ£J :äÉ≤«Ñ£àdG √òg ºgCG øeh .á«dÉ©dG IQGô◊G äÉ«fhεdG ôjƒ£Jh ΩG~îà°S’ ÌcG ~ªà©J π≤f §FÉ°Sh hG äGôFÉW êÉàf’ IQƒ£àŸG èeGÈdG ,Iô°ûàæŸG äÉ«fhεdG Iõ¡LG ΩG~îà°SÉH IAÉØc ÌcG ¥GÎM’G äGƒ£N π©L ,É¡JÉ«fhεdG πÑb øe √É£¨ŸG IQGô◊G ¿ô≤dG É«Lƒ∏æµJ ‘ ~YÉ°ùe ÉMÉàØe á«dÉ©dG IQGô◊G äÉ«fhεdG π©éj Gòg πc .áÄ«ÑdG ájɪëH á≤∏©àŸG äÉ≤«Ñ£àdG GÒNGh ,Iô°ûàæe Iô£«°S Iõ¡LG ¤G áLÉëH ¿ƒµJ AÉHô¡µdG ≈∏Y πLG øe äÉ«fhεd’G ºY~d äGOÉ°TQ’Gh äÉeƒ∏©ŸG É° jG åëÑdG øª° àj ɪc .åëÑdG ‘ É¡à°ûbÉæe ” á«dÉ©dG IQGô◊G äÉ«fhεd’ á«∏©ØdG äÉ≤«Ñ£àdG øe ~j~©dG .øjô°û©dGh …OÉ◊G ~j~©dG ¿Éa Gòg ™e .2010 ΩÉY ™e äÉ«fhεd’G ¥ƒ°S øe %20 »£¨J ¿CG ™bƒàŸGh É«Lƒ∏æµàdG √òg ≈∏Y CGôW ÒÑc Ω~≤J ∑Éæg .á«dÉ©dG IQGô◊G äÉ«fhεd’ πeÉc Ωɶf AÉæH .πM ¤G áLÉëH á«æ≤àdG äÉj~ëàdG øe :á«MÉàØŸG äGOôØŸG Iõ¡MG ,É«Lƒdƒæµà∏d CÉØc’G ΩG~îà°S’G ,AÉHô¡µdG ≈∏Y ÌcG ~ªà©J π≤f §FÉ°Shh äGôFÉW ,ôØ◊G πNGO áÑbGôŸG ,áÑ∏°üdG äÉ«fhεd’G ,á«dÉ©dG IQÉ◊G äÉ«fhεdG .Iô°ûàæŸG Iô£«°ùdG