Penn State and UK start-up Battalion to work together
Researchers at Penn State’s Materials Research Institute (MRI) in the US and a new UK company called Battalion Advanced Technology have entered into two research agreements worth up to $6 million. One will develop advanced wide bandgap semiconductors and the other focuses on high temperature materials.
“Penn State materials brings together expertise in semiconductor science, computation, manufacturing and characterisation,” said Joshua A. Robinson, director of the MRI and professor of materials science and engineering. “This collaboration allows us to apply that breadth to two complex materials challenges with direct implications for US technological leadership and national security.”
The semiconductor project is led by Joan Redwing, distinguished professor of materials science and engineering and of electrical engineering. Her team will explore new ways to integrate GaN and related wide-bandgap and ultrawide-bandgap semiconductors with substrates that offer improved thermal and electrical performance.
The researchers will investigate whether atomically thin interlayers — materials designed to improve how different materials connect and perform together — can help GaN semiconductors integrate more effectively with materials such as diamond and AlN, relieve stress where the materials meet and reduce defects during semiconductor growth.
The work will combine materials synthesis and characterisation, with the goal of moving beyond conventional approaches for growing crystalline layers. The collaboration draws on the University’s interdisciplinary materials research community, as well as specialized facilities and technical capabilities available through the MRI and other University research units.
“By using atomically thin two-dimensional materials as interlayers, we aim to minimise crystalline defects and interfacial thermal resistance while enabling wide-bandgap semiconductor growth on high-thermal-conductivity substrates that have traditionally been incompatible with direct deposition,” Redwing said.
The co-principal investigators on the semiconductor project include Robinson; Adrianus van Duin, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering; and Chen Chen, assistant research professor in MRI.
