Project Grant DESC0013813

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...

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...

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Cooperative Agreement award of $1,000,000 to Crystal Sonic Inc., under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (CFDA 47.084) program, is focused on developing a process to enable the reuse of gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor wafers. The objective is to create a cost-effective method using sound energy and material stress to precisely cut and lift thin layers of GaN from the wafer surface, allowing the wafer to be reused multiple times. This...

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...

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...

Adroit Materials, Inc. received a $500,000 Project Grant award from the Department of Energy's Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E) to develop KV-class gallium nitride-based junction barrier Schottky diodes using ion implantation. The two-year award, issued on June 18, 2021 with a completion date of June 17, 2023, will support Adroit Materials' efforts to advance ARPA-E's objectives of supporting innovative energy technologies. Under the SBIR/STTR program, the company will work on...

The National Science Foundation Division of Industrial Innovation awarded $256,000 under the Engineering (47.041) federal grant program to Future Semiconductor Business, Inc. from February 2022 to January 2023. The Project Grant funding will support the development of gallium nitride membranes for efficient thermal management in semiconductor manufacturing. Specifically, the awardee will utilize remote epitaxy and 2-dimensional layer transfer technologies to produce high-quality, freestanding...

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...

This SBIR Phase I award from the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships (TIP) program, with a total funding amount of $274,985, is focused on developing an artificial intelligence (AI) system to accelerate semiconductor production using physics-embedded lithographic foundation models. The project aims to alleviate design and manufacturing complexities associated with the shift to extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography in semiconductor manufacturing, which has...

Epir, Inc. was awarded a $206,493 project grant from the Department of Energy Office of Science under the Office of Science Financial Assistance Program (CFDA 81.049) to develop AC-LGAD silicon detectors with alternate gain layer for improved reliability. The grant supports research and development of advanced silicon detectors with an alternate gain layer intended to improve reliability compared to conventional designs. The project will be performed in Bolingbrook, Illinois over a one year...