Radiation Hardened Silicon Carbide Devices and Circuits

When successfully completed, this R&D will generate a low cost process for qualification of a wide range of radiation hardened (rad-hard) devices for military and space applications. The project will also help validate the inherent radiation-hardness characteristics of Silicon Carbide as an improvement over currently available silicon materials. Team Specialty Products (TSP) proposes a 5-step feasibility plan in Phase I that will demonstrate a low-cost test program to verify an available new generation semiconductor material that will alter the current process of locating rad-hard devices and qualifying them for military and space missions. TSP has identified the opportunity to greatly reduce test and qualification costs from the current complex process by reduction of steps and using a lower dose-rate at lower-cost facilities. The problem for manufacturing for radiation hardness is in both material and device type and the TSP test program will demonstrate through radiation testing an alternative to past and current practices. This proposal includes Sandia as a partner and work with Cree, Inc., the developers of Silicon Carbide as a semiconductor material that is very promising for rad-hard applications. If Phase I is successful, Cree will supply samples in Phase II for prototype test and evaluation.