SBIR Phase II: Gentle Atomic Level Chemical Mechanical Smoothening (CMS) of Gallium Nitride Substrates

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will develop and scale-up an industrially robust and low cost chemical mechanical smoothening(CMS) process to produce atomically polished gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon substrates for high power and high frequency applications. As GaN is mechanically hard andchemically inert, traditional surface polishing processes have resulted in significantsurface damage which negatively affects the electrical performance. In contrast, the CMSprocess forms a soft layer on GaN surface which can be removed by nanoparticles. In thePhase II of this project, the company plans to further optimize and scale-up the CMSprocess. In conjunction with the compound semiconductor chip manufacturers andacademic partners, the company's plan is to further validate the polishing technology byfabricating and testing the performance of high electron mobility transistors. The researchteam members are internationally recognized experts and are in an excellent position toexecute the research plan and attain the project goals.The commercialization of the proposed polishing technology is expected to significantlyimpact GaN based semiconductor technology used for high frequency, high powermicrowave devices in wireless mobile communication and radar defense systems. Thisprocess will accelerate commercialization of GaN on silicon technology by increasingyield and reducing manufacturing costs.