Sbir phase I: sonic lift-off (SLO) for lower cost wide bandgap devices

Crystal Sonic Inc. received a $275,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project grant from the National Science Foundation under the Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084). The grant supported the development of a new approach to lower the cost of advanced semiconductor manufacturing through the use of acoustic energy to precisely cut and lift off thin semiconductor devices from their host substrates without waste. By enabling substrate reuse, this "Sonic Lift-Off" technique aims to dramatically decrease manufacturing costs and accelerate the development of more efficient devices using materials like gallium nitride. The May 1, 2023 to January 31, 2024 award period allowed Crystal Sonic to further develop a process using acoustic pulses to propagate a crack front at a precise depth, lifting off thin devices while preserving the substrate for reuse. If successful, this innovation could significantly reduce the largest cost factor in next-generation semiconductor production.

Abstract

The broader impact of this small business innovation research (SBIR) phase I project will be to accelerate the emergence of next-generation semiconductors, beyond silicon, with increased performance and efficiency across a wide range of applications, including those essential for the nation?S future energy and communications infrastructure. By replacing the most wasteful and costly step in the semiconductor manufacturing process, the proposed research will use sound (ACOUSTIC) energy to precisely cut semiconductor materials in a way that minimizes waste and enables materials reuse. This technology will dramatically decrease manufacturing costs and, as a result, lead to the accelerated development of faster, smaller, and more efficient devices. This SBIR phase I project will develop a new approach to lower the cost of advanced semiconductor manufacturing by using sound energy to lift off thin devices from their host substrates. The innovative approach taken in this project uses a technique to propagate a crack front at a precise depth below the device layer of a wafer with the application of ACOUSTIC pulses. This ACOUSTIC method wastes no material and, most importantly, makes IT possible to reuse the substrate, which is currently wasted using standard approaches such as mechanical back grinding. As the single largest cost in manufacturing next-generation devices based on gallium nitride, the substrate material plays a key role in achieving higher performance and efficiencies compared to silicon devices. Making more efficient use of this material directly addresses a pressing need to find solutions that drive down manufacturing costs and accelerates the adoption of new semiconductor innovations ranging from power electronics to communications devices and beyond. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.