Crystal IS receives $1.16 million DARPA award to develop 50 mm AlN substrates
The successful development of larger AlN crystals will result in wafers of higher thermal conductivity and electrical resistivity as well as lower defect densities. Commercialization of the technology could extend to bioterrorism detection, satellite communications, data storage and analytical biotechnology devices.
Crystal IS has committed an additional $226,000 to purchase the capital equipment needed for this project. Additionally, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Virginia Commonwealth University will be subcontractors on this effort. If successful in producing substrates larger than 50 mm diameter within 18 months, Crystal IS will receive an additional $366K from DARPA to demonstrate 100 mm diameter substrates.
This award from DARPA is the latest in several government contracts for Crystal IS including a two-year $750,000 Phase II Small Business Innovative Research award from the Missile Defense Agency and a two-year $500,000 Phase II Small Business Technology Transfer award from the Office of Naval Research.
To date, AlN crystal growth has been limited to substrates of less than 15 mm diameter, which is suitable for device prototyping. However, device production with substrates this small is too costly. Sapphire or SiC substrates are used for nitride device production because they are readily available in 50 mm diameter size. A single crystal AlN substrate could cost upwards of $5,000, but by increasing the crystal growth diameter, Crystal IS will enlarge the usable wafer surface and reduce the cost per substrate.
