Uranium Oxide Semiconductors

Uranium Oxides have electrical and electronic properties equivalent to or much better than the properties of conventional Si, Ge, and GaAs semiconductor materials. Thus, it appears that a new, higher performance class of semiconductors are possible: uranium oxide-based semiconductors. Uranium oxides have characteristics that could give them significantly better performance than conventional conductor materials: operation at substantially higher temperatures and greater radiation and EMF resistance implying they may be better suited for use in hazardous environments, e.g., space. The effects of dopants on the semiconductive, electronic properties of uranium have never been measured. If depleted uranium instead of silicon was used in the fabrication of semiconductors, it would consume the annual production rate of depleted uranium from uranium enrichment facilities.

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