Cooperative Agreement DEAR0000299

This National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER grant award under CFDA 47.041 Engineering seeks to develop innovative ultra-wide bandgap aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) transistors capable of operating at voltages up to 10 kV. The $563,851 project, running from July 2025 to June 2030, aims to achieve a ~10x reduction in on-state resistance compared to incumbent silicon carbide (SiC) technology. Key research goals include: 1) demonstrating AlGaN transistors with >6 kV breakdown voltage, 2)...

The Georgia Institute of Technology received a $550,000 project grant award from the Department of the Air Force Materiel Command Research Laboratory to develop semiconducting aluminum nitride as a new pathway for high-voltage, power, and temperature ultra-wide bandgap power electronic components. Funded through the Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program (CFDA #12.800), which aims to maintain U.S. technological superiority in scientific areas relevant to Air Force needs, the three-year...

This $137,399 National Science Foundation project grant supports research at North Carolina State University to develop a novel solid phase epitaxy process for highly doped p-type junctions in gallium nitride. The goal is to enable high current and high voltage power devices for more efficient power electronic systems. The research will involve molecular dynamic and process simulation, ion implantation, optimization of solid phase epitaxy annealing, fabrication of diode structures, and...

Adroit Materials, Inc. was awarded a $500,000 Project Grant from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) to develop ion implantation-enabled fabrication of aluminum nitride (AlN) based Schottky diodes. The two-year award, issued on July 5, 2021, will support Adroit Materials' research into using ion implantation techniques to manufacture AlN-based power electronics components with improved performance over traditional silicon devices. ARPA-E's Advanced...

This Project Grant award of $200,000 was provided by the Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science under the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (CFDA 81.049) to Adroit Materials, Inc., a small business specializing in III-nitride semiconductor technology. The funding supports the development of a 1.2 kV class gallium nitride (GaN) vertical U-MOSFET with reach-through protection and shielding by magnesium implantation. This device is intended to advance power electronics...

This $1.5 million project grant from the National Science Foundation's Engineering program (CFDA 47.041) supports the development of gallium oxide semiconductor technologies for high-voltage, high-power applications. Led by The Research Foundation for the State University of New York, the consortium aims to advance gallium oxide material synthesis, device fabrication, and circuit integration to enable power switches and converters with over 10 kilovolt ratings. Specific objectives include...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Engineering (CFDA 47.041) project grant, awarded to Arizona State University (ASU), aims to design and fabricate high aspect ratio beta-gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) fin field-effect transistors (FinFETs) for use in high-efficiency power converter applications. The key aspects of the proposed work include: Investigating an in-situ gallium etching technique within a metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor to enable the fabrication of tall, high...

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) awarded a $100,000.00 Cooperative Agreement under the Office of STEM Engagement (OSTEM) program (CFDA 43.008) to the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH) to develop a new interface passivation process for stable SiC power MOSFETs capable of operating at 500°C. The project will test a recently developed SiC/SiO2 interface passivation technique using hydrogen etching, oxide deposition, and nitric oxide treatment. This advanced interface...

This award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Electrical, Communications and Cyber Systems under the Engineering CFDA program provides $1,499,996 to the University of Wisconsin System to conduct research on developing ultra-efficient, high-voltage monolithic bidirectional transistors (MBDTs) for use in power electronics applications. The key objectives are to: 1) demonstrate the first ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) based MBDTs; 2) enhance the performance and manufacturability of...

This $476,190 Project Grant awarded by the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) program (CFDA 81.135) to North Carolina State University (NC State) supports the development of electrically conductive thick gallium nitride (GaN) substrates. The goal is to enable the creation of vertical GaN power electronics and demonstrate the feasibility of lateral expansion in crystals grown using the proposed method to validate its use for larger diameter substrates. This...