Press Release
SMI Successfully Completes Radiation Hardness Testing of Ga2O3 for NASA
Piscataway, NJ - March 9, 2018 - Structured Materials Industries, Inc. (“SMI”) is pleased to announce that it has successfully finished initial studies of the radiation hardness of Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3) based power devices in accordance with a NASA SBIR Phase I funded project (NASA Award No. NNX17CG70P). The Ga2O3 films were grown on bulk doped and undoped Ga2O3 and other substrates in one of SMI's in-house Metal-Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) systems. Total Ionization Dose (TID) and Single Event Effect (SEE) were used as radiation hardness testing metrics. The radiation hardness testing was conducted to determine whether the Ga2O3 based power devices were a good candidate for NASA's Power Management and Distribution (PMAD) systems among other applications. Potential applications include power devices such as diodes and transistors that may be used in areas like power rectification, and RF mixing, among many others.
"With the development of Ga2O3 power devices, we thought it important to further the determination of the space worthiness/applicability of Ga2O3 based devices. NASA agreed and funded this important capability investigation. Testing actual devices made this project all the more relevant.", commented Dr. Serdal Okur, Principal Investigator for SMI SBIR Ga2O3 related projects, adding “We tested different combinations of device material properties; such as orientation, doping levels, substrate dopant, and crystal growth technique, including epilayers grown by MOCVD. Fabricated devices included Schottky barrier diodes. The variables were strategically chosen to critically evaluate the potential of Ga2O3 based power device performance under different radiation exposures.”
Image shows Ga2O3-based power devices being setup for radiation hardness testing.
The testing was carried out in stages during the Phase I project and was deemed to be a significant milestone in the overall assessment ofGa2O3 radiation hardness. All Phase I objectives were completed.
Dr. Okur added “The Phase I work of this project was implemented and successfully completed in a 6-months period, which is very impressive considering the amount of knowledge acquired from this study. We are also grateful for the contributions from all the personnel at various universities, research laboratories, and government agencies that were involved in this project.
Concept image of radiation
Illusion shows types of space radiation concerning to NASA space missions
Credit: After Nikkei Science, Inc. of Japan, by K. Endo
There are three types of space radiation that are particularly concerning to space missions, Particles trapped in the Earth's magnetic field, Solar Particle Events - particles shot into space during solar flares, and Galactic Cosmic Rays - high-energy protons and heavy ions from outside our solar system. To learn more about space radiation, the full excerpt can be found at this link or by visiting www.nasa.gov.
Structured Material Industries, Inc. (SMI), with over 60 fielded MOCVD tools and 10 MOCVD and ALD process demonstration tools in-house, has extensive result oriented experience in providing materials, hardware, and device assistance to other businesses as well as research organizations. SMI is a leading provider of thin film research and development MOCVD, PECVD, and ALD deposition systems for electronic, optical and electro-optic device fabrication, among other applications. We produce systems for research and production, in sizes ranging from stand-alone systems to high volume production tools. SMI also maintains an in-house applications laboratory, with facilities for materials characterization and device fabrication.
Structured Material Industries, Inc. has an extensive history in working with customer/partners to deliver results in SBIR/STTR awards. We can provide a support infrastructure for writing award winning proposals and provide the physical support infrastructure for carrying out awarded programs through completing customer innovations or calling on collaborators to fullfill innovations. We are always open to confidentially exploring additional partnerships and collaborations. SMI has worked on various projects featuring Gallium Oxide (in addition to other oxides), TMDs, AlGaN, InGaN, BN, Compound Semiconductors, Oxides, Dielectrics, Ferroelectrics, Phase Change Chalcogenides, Fuel Cell Materials, Thin Film Batteries, Metals, and so on as well as has grown materials on a diverse set of substrates using in-house tools.
To take advantage of this developing material or SMI consulting services contact us today to get more information and quoted!
About Structured Materials Industries, Inc.
Structured Materials Industries, Inc (SMI) is a leader in developing and implementing tailored solution custom research and production Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD), Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) Tool and Process Technology and process enhanced tools such as Plasma Enhanced CVD (PECVD), Alternating Layer Deposition (ALD), High Pressure CVD (HPCVD), Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE) and other related techniques for the widest range of materials in the industry.