U-M awarded up to $7.5M to develop heat-tolerant chips

Heat-resistant sensing and computing chips made of silicon carbide could advance aircraft, electric and gas-powered vehicles, renewable energy, defense and space exploration—and University of Michigan researchers are leading a multimillion dollar collaborative effort to bring more of them to market.

Funded by the Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons Hub, the project is launching with USD 2.4 million in initial funding, and could receive up to USD 7.5 million over three years, according to a media release.

Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have been exploring the potential of silicon carbide, or SiC, as a high-performance semiconductor for decades. SiC devices can handle higher voltages, temperatures and radiation levels than silicon alone. With an eye toward exploring the surface of Venus, they built a SiC circuit that can withstand 930 F (500 C) for thousands of hours. NASA Glenn has also shown packaged device operation over a 1,800 F (1,000 C) temperature span from -310 F (-190 C) to 1,490 F (812 C) with relevance across aerospace.

SiC could be valuable for more than space missions—it's increasingly used in power electronics for electric vehicles and solar and wind energy systems. However, these applications aren't making the most of its resilience to extreme conditions.

The new project will scale up NASA’s technology and manufacturing process to a modern wafer size and democratize SiC chip design. Along with NASA, collaborators include GE Aerospace Research in Niskayuna, New York; Ozark Integrated Circuits (Ozark IC), a technology firm in Fayetteville, Arkansas; and Wolfspeed, a North Carolina-based semiconductor manufacturer.

While the technology could be useful in a broad range of sectors, the project will focus on aerospace, including electronics and sensors that make aircraft engines more reliable and help optimize their size, weight and power. A key goal is the demonstration of a packaged actuator for aerospace or on engine applications. Actuators convert electrical signals to mechanical motion and play an important role in control systems.

“NASA, GE Aerospace and Ozark IC have done an amazing job of developing this technology, which is very impactful for a variety of applications. This project will provide a critical pathway to advance and commercialize that technology,” said principal investigator Becky Peterson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the U-M Lurie Nanofabrication Facility. “We need advanced semiconductors produced domestically that can perform in these challenging high temperature environments.”

In the project, NASA Glenn and GE Aerospace will work together to scale what's referred to as the high temperature SiC junction field effect transistor, or JFET, fabrication process from 100- to 150-millimeter wafers.

“SiC-based high temperature electronics will be a key enabler for delivering new sensor and actuator functionality that improves the capability of future DoD engine platforms,” said said Aaron Knobloch, platform leader, controls and electrical systems at GE Aerospace Research. “Beyond jet engines, the ability to handle more extreme temperature capabilities could open exciting new applications in control and sensing for hypersonic applications.”