Applications
High quality crystals may be grown hydrothermally, or otherwise by the Verneuil method. For the most part, beryllium oxide is produced as a white amorphous powder, sintered into larger shapes. Impurities like carbon, trapped with the crystals can give a variety of colours to the otherwise colourless host crystals.
Sintered beryllium oxide, is a very stable ceramic. Beryllium oxide is used in rocket engines.
Beryllium oxide is used in many high-performance semiconductor parts for applications such as radio equipment because it has good thermal conductivity while also being a good electrical insulator. It is used as a filler in some thermal interface materials such as thermal grease. Some power semiconductor devices have used beryllium oxide ceramic between the silicon chip and the metal mounting base of the package in order to achieve a lower value of thermal resistance than for a similar construction made with aluminium oxide. It is also used as a structural ceramic for high-performance microwave devices, vacuum tubes, magnetrons, and gas lasers.
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