SBIR Phase II: A Novel Approach for Production of Freestanding GaN Wafers for III-Nitride Light Emitters and Detectors

这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目是为了展示一种生产大直径独立式氮化镓晶圆和基板的新技术。尽管在过去十年中进行了大量的研究工作，但经济实惠的大直径GaN晶圆和衬底尚未在商业上广泛使用，这阻碍了高性能GaN器件的商业化。该二期项目将展示一种独特的方法来生长氮化镓厚膜，并以有效的方式制造具有低错位密度和低晶圆弯曲/翘曲的独立氮化镓晶圆和衬底。第二阶段的研究包括氮化镓厚膜的晶体生长，氮化镓晶片和衬底的制造，以及氮化镓晶片的广泛表征。如果该二期项目成功，高质量的大直径独立式GaN衬底将以可承受的价格广泛商业化，这将使高性能GaN基发光器和紫外线探测器的量产和商业化成为可能。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是基于氮化镓的发光二极管（led），激光器和紫外线（UV）光探测器领域。基于氮化镓的蓝色和绿色高亮度led因其巨大的节能潜力、长寿命、紧凑和高能效而在固态照明应用中具有很大的前景。固态照明将极大地改善这个国家？在不久的将来，美国的能源可持续性。此外，独立式GaN基板还需要用于制造各种其他高性能半导体器件，例如用于数据存储/显示的蓝色激光二极管，用于水/空气净化的UV led，用于无线通信的大功率RF器件，用于利用可再生能源（例如风能，太阳能）的大功率开关器件，以及用于检测/分析用于国土安全应用的化学和生物制剂的紫外探测器。最后，该项目将有助于在节能和可再生能源领域创造就业机会，提高美国企业在这些领域的竞争力。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project is to demonstrate a novel technique for producing large-diameter freestanding GaN wafers and substrates. Despite the research efforts in the last decade, affordable GaN wafers and substrates of large diameters have not been widely available commercially, which hinders commercialization of high performance GaN-based devices. This Phase II project will demonstrate a unique approach to growth of GaN thick films and fabrication of freestanding GaN wafers and substrates with low densities of dislocations and low wafer bow/warp in an efficient manner. This Phase II research includes crystal growth of GaN thick films, fabrication of GaN wafers and substrates, and extensive characterization of GaN wafers. If this Phase II project is successful, high-quality freestanding GaN substrates of large diameters will become widely available commercially at an affordable price, which will enable volume production and commercialization of high-performance GaN-based light emitters and ultraviolet light detectors. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is in the areas of GaN-based light emitting diodes (LEDs), lasers, and ultraviolet (UV) light detectors. GaN-based blue and green high brightness LEDs hold a great promise for solid-state lighting applications because of their tremendous energy savings potential, long lifetime, compactness, and high energy efficiency. Solid-sate lighting will dramatically improve the nation?s energy sustainability in the near future. In addition, freestanding GaN substrates are also needed for fabrication of variety of other high-performance semiconductor devices, such as blue laser diodes for data storage/displays, UV LEDs for water/air purification, high-power RF devices for wireless communication, high-power switching devices for harnessing renewable energies (e.g. wind, solar), and UV detectors for detection/analysis of chemical and biological agents for homeland security applications. Finally, this project will help create jobs in business sectors of energy conservation and renewable energies, and will increase competitiveness of US companies in these business sectors.