SBIR Phase II: Rapid-scanning Ultrafast Imaging Microscope for Material Inspection

SBIR 第二阶段：用于材料检测的快速扫描超快成像显微镜

• 批准号: 2208201
• 负责人: Eric Martin
• 金额: $ 100万
• 依托单位: MONSTR SENSE TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-01-01 至 2024-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2208201&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Rapid; scanning

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase II project will address the widespread industry challenge of improving yield in compound semiconductor device production. Compound semiconductors with a wide bandgap are needed for high power devices in electric vehicles (EVs), high frequency components in 5G electronics, and energy-efficient displays. The compound semiconductor market, valued at $36+ billion in 2022, has increased recently with growing consumer demand for EVs. The annual growth rate of silicon carbide (SiC) semiconductors, the most prominent devices, is estimated at over 20%. Despite the wide-scale production of these components in an industry that expects near perfection in manufacturing, the current yield of power electronic components is less than 50%. Poor yield results largely from an inability to adequately inspect substrates and epitaxial wafers used for power electronics. Instead, the industry currently relies on inspection tools with poor defect selectivity or destructive methods that can only provide statistical information about the defects in a wafer batch. To increase wafer yield, the team will develop a new type of optical inspection tool for selectively measuring defects in every wafer. If successful, this novel inspection technology will enable the industry to help drive down costs and increase performance of energy-efficient power electronics.The intellectual merit of this project is the novel way in which technology developed for use in fundamental science is being applied to rapid semiconductor inspection. The proposed method, called ultrafast imaging, uses the nonlinear optical response of a semiconductor induced by an ultrafast laser to isolate defects that measurably impact the electronic structure of the semiconductor. Though the semiconductor industry has typically focused on measuring morphology to find defects, measurement of compound semiconductors requires a tool that is sensitive to the electronic structure. This project will validate ultrafast imaging through benchmark testing against industry standards and develop an easy-to-use device for getting this technology into the hands of manufacturers. Partner manufacturing and inspection companies will provide inspection data and corresponding wafers, allowing correlation of ultrafast imaging defect measurements with data provided by other industry tools. Additionally, the team will develop and demonstrate an easy-to-use commercial product for user facilities and industrial research and development facilities, another essential step in the development of a high-throughput inspection tool. This benchtop product will not only improve current semiconductor technologies but will also be useful for scientists to characterize the next generation of semiconductors.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小企业创新研究第二阶段项目将解决提高化合物半导体器件生产产量的广泛行业挑战。在电动汽车（ev）的大功率器件、5G电子产品的高频元件、高能效显示器等领域，都需要具有宽禁带的化合物半导体。到2022年，化合物半导体市场的价值将超过360亿美元，随着消费者对电动汽车的需求不断增长，该市场最近也有所增长。作为最重要的器件，碳化硅半导体的年增长率预计将超过20%。尽管这些组件在一个期望近乎完美制造的行业中大规模生产，但目前电力电子组件的良率不到50%。成品率低主要是由于无法充分检查用于电力电子的衬底和外延片。相反，该行业目前依赖于缺陷选择性差的检测工具或破坏性方法，这些工具只能提供有关晶圆批缺陷的统计信息。为了提高晶圆产量，该团队将开发一种新型的光学检测工具，用于选择性地测量每个晶圆中的缺陷。如果成功，这种新型检测技术将有助于降低成本，提高节能电力电子产品的性能。这个项目的智力价值在于，为基础科学开发的技术以一种新颖的方式被应用于快速半导体检测。所提出的方法，称为超快成像，利用由超快激光引起的半导体的非线性光学响应来隔离可测量的影响半导体电子结构的缺陷。虽然半导体工业通常专注于测量形态以发现缺陷，但测量化合物半导体需要一种对电子结构敏感的工具。该项目将通过针对行业标准的基准测试来验证超快成像，并开发一种易于使用的设备，以便将这项技术引入制造商手中。合作伙伴制造和检测公司将提供检测数据和相应的晶圆，允许将超快速成像缺陷测量与其他行业工具提供的数据相关联。此外，该团队将为用户设施和工业研发设施开发和演示易于使用的商业产品，这是开发高通量检测工具的另一个重要步骤。这种台式产品不仅将改进当前的半导体技术，而且对科学家描述下一代半导体也很有用。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。