Growth of Boron Phosphide for High Temperature Electronic Devices

Invent a material good for transistors running at 2000 degrees Fahrenheit and the world will beat a path to your door. That's what the Spire Corporation hopes wil happen; Spire proposes to take advantage of boron phosphide's potential as a high-temperature, wide-bandgap electronic material. Thin-film boron phosphide isn't easy to grow; the Japanese have been trying for years. Spire thinks the answer is low-pressure chemical vapor deposition. Low pressure will keep gas molecules far enough apart to stop "snow" from forming but will still permit rapid crystal growth, important because 300 micron thick free-standing wafers are the program's goal. Always looking to the marketplace, Spire sees itself as becoming the first on-shore supplier of crystalline boron phosphide.