PFI: BIC- New Substrates Enabling Next Generation Optical Devices: Solar Cells to Lasers

PFI：BIC-支持下一代光学器件的新基板：从太阳能电池到激光器

• 批准号: 1317292
• 负责人: Susan Babcock
• 金额: $ 59.98万
• 依托单位: University of Wisconsin-Madison
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2013
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2013-08-01 至 2017-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1317292&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: PFI; BIC; New; Substrates; Enabling

This Partnerships for Innovation: Building Innovation Capacity project from University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-M), entitled, "New Substrates Enabling Next Generation Optical Devices: Solar Cells to Lasers," exploits the recent innovations in the form of 'virtual' substrates developed at the University of Wisconsin to provide new materials required for opening market capabilities in the areas of optoelectronic devices, specifically light emitters, in new wavelength ranges and solar cells. These materials will be developed through the industrial partnerships that provide them with a competitive advantage in burgeoning niche markets available for such devices. The use of the hydride vapor phase epitaxy growth of GaAs and related compounds provides the capability to create new types of substrates, 'virtual' substrates, which serve as new device, and hence, manufacturing platforms for optoelectronic devices. The high achieved growth rates and control over composition has enabled the formation of semiconductor substrates with a surface that can have a lattice parameter not accessible by commercially available bulk semiconductor substrates. These ultra-thick metamorphic buffer layers transition between a commercial substrate and an epitaxial surface layer which have differing lattice parameters. The resulting surface lattice parameter is tunable, enabling new classes of devices spanning the spectrum for the industrial partners from solar cells to high-performance quantum cascade lasers. The partnerships developed in this project allow for the development of a new capacity for translational research at UW-M through the integration of materials development, with intimate feedback from the industrial partners in terms of design and materials metrics that arerequired for the use of such new materials.The broader impacts of this project result from 1) the impact on technologies that benefit society, create new markets, and provide unique materials for market entry in the area of optoelectronic devices; 2) the human capital acquired by the participants, especially the graduate and undergraduate students; and 3) the inclusion of undergraduate interns in an environment where the impact of engineering and the generation of new products are readily apparent. This proposal serves to drive these industrial-academic interactions towards the mindful development of other materials built on a new perspective of technology transfer. Industrial partners gain access to materials enabling classes of devices resulting in the expansion of the markets for high performance and specialized semiconductor optoelectronic devices. This partnership will bring to an enhanced level of utility and development a class of 'virtual' and potentially re-usable substrates enabling the widespread development of novel classes of devices previously unachievable through the use of current commercial substrates. The formation, preparation, and processing of these new substrates is carried out in the context of their end-use in the areas of high-performance quantum cascade lasers, new quantum well infrared solid-state lasers, and high-performance multi-junction solar cells. The co-development of these materials by UW-M and the industrial partners will demonstrate and enable optoelectronic devices no longer constrained by lattice-matching to commercial substrates. The UW-M researchers gain knowledge of the design of materials based on the understanding of the product development cycle and those key technological issues which must be addressed to impact new markets.Partners at the inception of the project are the University of Wisconsin-Madison through an interdisciplinary effort between the Departments of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering, and Electrical and Computer Engineering; and three small businesses: MicroLink Devices Inc. (Independent), est. 2000 (Niles, Illinois) has a core business in the design and manufacture of III-V epitaxial material used in cellular phones and other wireless devices; nLight Inc. (Independent) est. 2000 (headquartered in Vancouver, WA) focuses on specialty high-power semiconductor lasers developing material solutions for medical, defense, and semiconductor solar applications. Intraband LLC (UW-M Start-up company), est. 2007 (Madison, WI) is an early-stage startup with the objective of commercializing the quantum cascade laser (QCL) technologies.

这种创新伙伴关系：威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校（UW-M）的建设创新能力项目，题为“新基板实现下一代光学器件：太阳能电池到激光器”，利用了最近在威斯康星州大学开发的“虚拟”衬底形式的创新，以提供在光电子器件领域开放市场能力所需的新材料，特别是光发射器，在新的波长范围和太阳能电池。这些材料将通过工业伙伴关系开发，使其在此类设备的新兴利基市场中具有竞争优势。GaAs和相关化合物的氢化物气相外延生长的使用提供了创建新型衬底、“虚拟”衬底的能力，所述衬底用作新器件，并且因此用作光电器件的制造平台。所实现的高生长速率和对组成的控制使得能够形成具有表面的半导体衬底，所述表面可以具有商业上可获得的体半导体衬底所不能达到的晶格参数。这些超厚的变质缓冲层在具有不同晶格参数的商业衬底和外延表面层之间过渡。由此产生的表面晶格参数是可调的，使新类别的设备跨越从太阳能电池到高性能量子级联激光器的工业合作伙伴的频谱。在这个项目中发展的伙伴关系允许通过材料开发的整合，在UW-M发展转化研究的新能力，与工业合作伙伴在设计和材料指标方面的亲密反馈，这些指标是使用这种新材料所需的。这个项目的更广泛的影响来自1）对造福社会的技术的影响，创造新市场，为进入光电设备领域提供独特的材料; 2）参与者，特别是研究生和本科生获得的人力资本; 3）将本科生实习生纳入工程和新产品产生的影响显而易见的环境。这一提议有助于推动这些工业-学术互动，以技术转让的新视角为基础，有意识地开发其他材料。工业合作伙伴获得了能够实现各类器件的材料，从而扩大了高性能和专用半导体光电器件的市场。这种伙伴关系将提高实用性和开发一类“虚拟”和潜在可重复使用的基板的水平，从而能够广泛开发以前无法通过使用当前商业基板实现的新型器件。这些新衬底的形成、制备和加工是在高性能量子级联激光器、新量子阱红外固态激光器和高性能多结太阳能电池领域的最终用途的背景下进行的。UW-M和工业合作伙伴对这些材料的共同开发将展示和实现不再受商业衬底晶格匹配限制的光电器件。该UW-M的研究人员获得的产品开发周期的理解和那些必须解决的影响新市场的关键技术问题的基础上的材料设计的知识。在该项目的合作伙伴是威斯康星大学麦迪逊分校通过化学和生物工程，材料科学与工程，电气和计算机工程部门之间的跨学科的努力;和三家小型企业：MicroLink Devices Inc.（Independent），est. 2000年（奈尔斯，伊利诺伊州）的核心业务是设计和制造用于蜂窝电话和其他无线设备的III-V族外延材料; nLight Inc.（Independent）est. 2000年（总部位于华盛顿州温哥华）专注于专业高功率半导体激光器，为医疗，国防和半导体太阳能应用开发材料解决方案。Intraband LLC（UW-M Start-up company），est. 2007年（麦迪逊，威斯康星州）是一个早期阶段的启动与商业化的量子级联激光器（QCL）技术的目标。