Laser Thermal awarded DoD contract
Company will develop technology that will offer advanced metrology of WBG and UWBG materials
Laser Thermal, a US-based metrology tool and service provider of small-scale thermal property measurements, has been awarded a US Department of Defense Phase One Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) contract.
The Phase 1 contract will fund the development of advanced thermal metrology technology for use with high thermal conductivity materials and interfaces such as wide bandgap and ultra wide bandgap materials and devices. Both the current and next generation of horizontal and vertical high-power devices and packages will benefit, according to Laser Thermal.
Wide bandgap and ultra wide bandgap materials and devices include high thermal conductivity materials and interfaces with resistances spanning nano to sub-millimetre length scales. Characterisation of these materials with a single platform is challenging and there are limited available commercial options. Most methods require a high degree of user knowledge in advanced optics and physics, for both instrumentation and analysis, and are traditionally only housed in academic institutions and national labs.
The aim of the program is to produce a high-power density steady state thermoreflectance tool for high thermal conductivity materials such as isotopically pure diamond. Features of the tool will include integrated temperature testing and electrical probing for temperature dependent property measurement and testing of devices in operando.
The new high-power system will also enable variable depth sensitivity, spatial mapping and automated thermal property fitting across these temperature and applied external field capabilities.
Laser Thermal says the resultant tool will dramatically increase customer ease of use for both data acquisition and, particularly, data analysis, allowing users to understand the most important use cases for temperature testing, electrical biasing, and thermal mapping.
The Phase I program period of performance is six months with an additional six-month option extending until February 2025.
