A Silicon Carbide Crystal Instrumentation Suite (SiCiS)

Abstract

Silicon carbide (SiC) is a critical semiconductor for next generation electric vehicles, smart grid, 5G-6G, and quantum technologies, as well as technologies operating at high power and in extreme environments (radiation, temperature, corrosion, etc.). However, the entire SiC scientific community is dependent on SiC crystals grown solely for industrial applications, with no ability to tailor the SiC crystal properties beyond specific parameters already determined by the commercial market. Furthermore, no open-access facility exists to enable scientific advancements in SiC crystal science and technology. This is compounded by the fact that there is a critical need for workforce development in SiC crystal growth, yet no facility exists to educate the next generation on how to make single crystal SiC. Here, we propose a suite of silicon carbide crystal growth and processing instruments as the central piece of a proposed partnership between onsemi, Penn State, and the US Air Force to establish a first-of-its-kind SiC Crystal Center (SiC3) focused on developing and translating bulk SiC crystal growth science, transitioning processing protocols to industry and national labs, and educating a new workforce generation in the exponentially growing profession of SiC crystal science and engineering.

Document Details

Document Type
DoD Grant Award
Publication Date
Mar 07, 2024
Source ID
FA95502310561

Entities

People

  • Joshua A. Robinson

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Pennsylvania State University
  • United States Air Force

Tags

Readers

  • Defense Technology Research and Development.
  • Distributed Systems and Data Platform Development
  • Semiconductor Device Technology

Technology Areas

  • 5G
  • 5G - DoD 5G Program
  • 5G - Internet of Things
  • Microelectronics
  • Quantum Computing