= Silicon carbide
<Silicon carbide>, $\mathrm{SiC}$, is a compound of <silicon> and <carbon> with a strongly bonded extended structure. It is both a hard ceramic and a wide-<band gap> <semiconductor>, illustrating how one material can be useful for mechanical and electronic reasons.
Its local tetrahedral bonding can occur with different stacking sequences, giving multiple <polytypes>. These share composition while differing in long-range order and electronic properties. Consequently a statement about a silicon-carbide <band gap>, crystal symmetry or device behaviour must specify the structural form. An empirical formula alone does not determine a solid's full microscopic structure.
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