SBIR Phase I: Development of Continuous Micro Casting Deposition process for rotary targets manufacturing

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1 project will develop an innovative and efficient advanced manufacturing method to substantially reduce costs of thin coating processes. This innovation will lead to a significant reduction of production costs of goods such as energy-efficient and smart windows, solar panels, thin-film solid-state batteries, electronic displays and many others, therefore encouraging further adoption of modern and energy-efficient technologies in the society. The successful commercialization of this technology will therefore benefit the environment through increased building efficiency and solar generation and improving availability and functionality of advanced electronics with lower cost components in displays. This SBIR Phase I project proposes development of a novel process for additive manufacturing of rotary sputter targets for very high thermal conductivity precious metals, such as silver. Benefits include 50% lower initial infrastructure investment costs compared to the traditional rotary target manufacturing processes (such as casting) and 30% lower sputtering process costs with respect to other rotary targets of comparable purity. The proposed research and development activities will focus on overcoming the main technical risks and challenges, including managing the considerable heat dissipation in highly thermally conductive metals while producing rotary targets. The research will also address technical difficulties related to increasing power capacity and creating a full-scale prototype capable of producing targets of sufficient size for the industry. This will be the first reliable method for producing silver rotary targets with the uniformly small grain size and minimal gas content of a cast target at a competitive cost. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.