Description:
Reference #: 01577
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for Transfer of Wide and Ultrawide Bandgap Layers to Engineered Substrate
Background:
The intrinsic properties of both wide bandgap (WBG) and ultrawide bandgap (UWBG) semiconductor materials make them suitable for a wide range of other applications in high power and radio frequency (RF) electronics, deep ultraviolet (DUV) optoelectronics, quantum electronics, and high-temperature harsh environment applications. However, the full performance of these materials cannot be achieved due to the thick substrates they are typically grown on to ensure single crystal quality.
Invention Description:
This invention allows us to improve the thermal management and efficacy of power electronics devices in demanding applications that require high current density operation such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) and aerospace applications by enabling us to manufacture smaller, lighter, more efficient high power UWBG semiconductor devices in a cost-effective manner.
Potential Applications:
This technique also allows the full realization of III-nitride’s potential in flexible electronics such as power amplifiers for antenna/transmitters embedded in smartphone touchscreens as well as in DUV optics for application areas such as COVID-19 disinfection, air treatment, and phototherapy, biosensors, smartwatches, virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) devices, smart jackets, etc.
Advantages and Benefits:
1. Significantly reduces thermal resistance which leads to reduced self-heating and drains current droop in WBG and UWBG power devices. By doubling the power handling with our liftoff approach, we have effectively demonstrated how to cut the cost by 50%.
2. Reduces the cost of devices grown on high thermal conductivity SiC or bulk AlN substrates as the cost of these substrates is ~3 to 10-times that of sapphire substrates while providing similar device performance metrics.
3. Our double transfer approach eliminates the need for a final polishing step which is essential for Smart-cut technology.
4. This technique enables the realization of the full potential of III-nitride in flexible electronics.