In the pursuit of high-performance electronics, DARPA's Office of Microsystems Technology has demonstrated its ambition to develop ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials through the UWBGS project. These key materials are critical to the manufacture of high-power RF switches, radars, communication amplifiers, high-voltage power switches, high-temperature electronics, and advanced electronic devices such as deep ultraviolet LEDs and lasers, underpinning a multibillion-dollar global market.
Diamond, with its excellent chemical stability, radiation resistance, high carrier mobility, excellent thermal conductivity and wide electronic band gap, is an ideal material for high-performance semiconductor devices. These properties give diamond great potential to reduce the overall size, weight and power consumption of electronic products.
As a key contributor to the UWBGS program, Element Six will leverage its expertise in large-area chemical vapor deposition (CVD) polycrystalline diamond and high-quality single crystal (SC) diamond synthesis to achieve a 4-inch class of SC diamond substrates. Professor Daniel Twitchen, Chief Technologist at Element Six, said: "We are proud to work with other partners in the DARPA UWBGS project. Industrial diamond has revolutionized several industries since the realization of large-scale synthesis in the 50s of the 20th century, and we believe that the technological breakthrough of UWBGS will bring positive changes to the semiconductor industry for the next 70 years.”
Figure: Element Six received an order from the United States
Element Six's SC diamonds have played a key role in a number of areas, including the discovery of Higgs boson particles in CERN's Large Hadron Collider monitoring system. In addition, the company partnered with ABB to launch the first high-voltage block diamond Schottky diode. Element Six also completed the construction of a state-of-the-art CVD facility in Portland, Oregon, which uses renewable energy, further advancing the company's core technology development.
Element Six's polycrystalline diamond wafers of more than 4 inches are already used in telecom infrastructure and defense applications, not only as EUV lithography optical windows for state-of-the-art silicon chips, but also for thermal management of high-power-density silicon and gallium nitride semiconductor devices.
In the UWBGS project, Element Six has partnered with industry leaders worldwide, including Orbray in Japan (with diamond heteroepitaxy), Raytheon (a leader in GaN RF devices), Hiqute Diamond in France (with dislocation engineering), and Stanford University and Princeton University in the United States (with material bulk and surface treatment characterization technology). Through the collaboration of these global technology leaders, the UWBGS project is expected to push the boundaries of diamond technology and pave the way for the development of the next generation of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors.
