> This heating step is done with an argon quartz tube in which a stack of two SiC chips are placed in a graphite crucible, according to de Heer. Then a high-frequency current is run through a copper coil around the quartz tube, which heats the graphite crucible through induction.
So they use a tube furnace?
> “The chips we use cost about [US] $10, the crucible about $1, and the quartz tube about $10,” said de Heer.
Tube furnaces do not cost $10 except when you build it yourself and do not count the thousands of dollars of equipment you have sitting around.
They are talking about the price of consumables in the process. You also need a building and electricity and employees and a whole bunch of other stuff you can infer via deduction.
So they use a tube furnace?
> “The chips we use cost about [US] $10, the crucible about $1, and the quartz tube about $10,” said de Heer.
Tube furnaces do not cost $10 except when you build it yourself and do not count the thousands of dollars of equipment you have sitting around.