SBIR Phase II: Gentle Atomic Level Chemical Mechanical Smoothening (CMS) of Gallium Nitride Substrates

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop and scale-up an industrially robust and low cost chemical mechanical smoothening (CMS) process to produce atomically polished gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon substrates for high power and high frequency applications. As GaN is mechanically hard and chemically inert, traditional surface polishing processes have resulted in significant surface damage which negatively affects the electrical performance. In contrast, the CMS process forms a soft layer on GaN surface which can be removed by nanoparticles. In the Phase II of this project, the company plans to further optimize and scale-up the CMS process. In conjunction with the compound semiconductor chip manufacturers and academic partners, the company's plan is to further validate the polishing technology by fabricating and testing the performance of high electron mobility transistors. The research team members are internationally recognized experts and are in an excellent position to execute the research plan and attain the project goals. The commercialization of the proposed polishing technology is expected to significantly impact GaN based semiconductor technology used for high frequency, high power microwave devices in wireless mobile communication and radar defense systems. This process will accelerate commercialization of GaN on silicon technology by increasing yield and reducing manufacturing costs.