Large Area Single Crystal Cubic Boron Nitride Growth

WIDE BANDGAP MATERIALS SUCH AS CUBIC BORON NITRIDE HOLD SIGNIFICANT PROMISE FOR ADVANCED APPLICATIONS SUCH AS UV LASERS AND DETECTORS, AS WELL AS HIGH TEMPERATURE, HIGH PERFORMANCE ELECTRONIC DEVICES. HOWEVER STUDY OF THESE MATERIALS HAS BEEN LIMITED DUE TO LACK OF LARGE AREA HIGH QUALITY SINGLE CRYSTALS OF THESE MATERIALS. IN THIS PHASE I PROJECT, WE PROPOSE TO ENHANCE A PROPRIETARY PROCESS DEVELOPED BY THE DIAMOND LABORATORY AT WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY AND LICENSED BY SI DIAMOND TECHNOLOGY, INC. TO GROW HETEROEPITAXIAL CUBIC BORON NITRIDE USING REACTIVE ION LASER DEPOSITION. TO DATE, THIS GROWTH PROCESS HAS SHOWN HETEROEPITAXIAL cBN THIN FILM GROWTH ON SILICON OVER AN AREA OF 1 CM2. TO FURTHER ENHANCE THIS GROWTH PROCESS, SI DIAMOND TECHNOLOGY WILL USE ITS UNIQUE COMBINATION OF DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS AND LASER GROWTH FACILITIES TO ANALYZE AND, IN COLLABORATION WITH WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY, IMPROVE THEIR HETEREOPITAXIAL cBN ON SILICON GROWTH PROCESS. OUR ANALYTICAL TOOLS INCLUDE DIRECT RECOIL SPECTROSCOPY AND MASS SPECTROSCOPY OF RECOIL IONS, ALONG WITH THE VARIOUS LASERS AVAILABLE AT OUR LASER DIAMOND GROWTH FACILITY. SOME OF THESE FACILITIES ARE NOT AVAILABLE AT WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY, THEREFORE, THIS PROJECT IS WILL ENHANCE THEIR ONGOING EFFORTS BY EXPLORING METHODS TO INCREASE THE cBN GROWTH RATE AND REDUCE DEFECT DENSITY OF THE cBN FILM. PHASE I OF THIS EFFORT WILL BE DIRECTED TOWARDS IMPROVE MATERIALS GROWTH WITH THE LATTER PARTS OF PHASE II BEING DIRECTED TOWARDS DEVICE DEVELOPMENT. THIS WILL INCLUDE PROTOTYPE DEVICES SUCH AS A UV LASER AND cNB/DIAMOND HEMT STRUCTURES. THIS COLLABORATIVE EFFORT BETWEEN INDUSTRY AND UNIVERSITY WILL FIND HIGH QUALITY cBN GROWTH CONDITIONS MORE RAPIDLY AND PROVIDE A DIRECT COMMERCIALIZATION PATH SO THE cBN SUBSTRATES WILL BE AVAILABLE TO THE LARGER SCIENCETIFIC COMMUNITY RAPIDLY.