BLUE WAVE SEMICONDUCTORS INC — Department of Defense STTR Phase I: OSD22B-004

Description

Advance microelectronic systems and defense electronics require high power electronics such as High voltage and high efficiency power diodes. Ultra-wide band gap (UWBG) devices based on GaN, SiC, Diamond, Ga2O3 have attractive electronic and thermal properties that have positioned them to their full potential with offer savings in both energy and cost in high-power, high-temperature electronic device applications. Among these UWBG materials, SiC and CVD diamond are attractive for wafer application due to their high thermal conductivities and importantly availability in large size wafers. Whereas GaN and Ga2O3 have superior electronic properties in terms of device performances in their device categories.  There is a huge potential synergy in achieving highest performance in UWBG devices by realizing hydride structures by interface fusion technology which is the foundation of this proposal. This proposal addresses a novel approach and further advancement in interface infusion via surface activation, catalyzation, and chemical ordering to create ultra-sharp interfaces between dissimilar materials with lowest possible thermal resistance between devices to bonded substrates. Our methodological approach will advance device fabrication and bonding engineering to yield a commercially viable manufacturing system turkey product for advanced electronic devices. We propose Phase I option, and its goal is to optimize surface bonding processing conditions versus interface thermal resistance that will lead to design and improve the manufacturability, quality, and efficiency of thermal transport across heterogeneous interfaces via in-situ ultra-thin and ultra-pure surface catalyzation using our accelerated atomic fusion technology for bonding high thermal conductivity large area wafers with UWBG and ultra-high-power devices. We are a number 1 company in supplying turnkey thin film deposition, processing, and CVD diamond systems and wafer scale thin films and coating.  Our proprietary designs include more advanced plasma processing (laser induced plasma, electron beam processing, and DC, RF and microwave) for growth and altering surfaces of oxides, nitride, carbide, CVD diamond, and metals.  We have commercialized and now supplying state-of-the-art thin film processing products last 20 years in R&D market.  Our processing tool involves, high-vacuum and ultra-high vacuum processing chambers with laser, ion, electron, atomic hydrogen, atomic nitrogen, atomic oxygen radicals to control surface and interfaces of semiconductors and oxide wafers for surface medication, epitaxial and single crystal growth, and bonding and metallization, in-situ monitoring (laser interference reflectivity, RHEED, and RGA) to a complete device fabrication such as diodes, capacitors, MEMs devices, deep UV to deep IR coatings and sensors. This proposal also addresses Phase II development plan to reduce technical risks and bring this product to successful commercialization during Phase III.