SBIR Phase II: Advancing High-Power Diamond Devices Towards Commercialization

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is the improvement of high-power devices that will enhance the efficiency and reliability of electric vehicles (EVs) and their charging stations. The development of the proposed high-power devices will potentially reduce EV charging time to less than 10 minutes by increasing the charging module's power from 300 kW to over 1 MW. Furthermore, this technology can potentially increase the range of electric vehicles significantly by increasing efficiency, and miniaturizing power modules by eliminating cooling systems. These systems are based on diamonds, which have special properties when used in advanced devices, and will be easily extended to applications requiring high-temperature operation (above 300 C) and high-power switching capabilities, such as geothermal drilling, aerospace, and power grids, as well as application in extreme environments and space exploration. This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will fabricate next generation semiconductor high-power diodes (1200 V blocking and 10 A forward current at less than 10 V) that are reliable at high temperatures (300 C) and overcome many of the challenges with existing technologies. Diamond has a higher breakdown field than other existing semiconductor (wide bandgap) materials; thus, diamond devices offer the potential of higher blocking voltage. Technical objectives of this project include optimizing the workflow of material deposition, device design and device fabrication processes to achieve 1200 V blocking voltage by developing device designs that increase breakdown field by 2-4 times to enable broad translation of this technology. 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.