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

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）二期项目将开发和扩大工业上强大和低成本的化学机械平滑（CMS）工艺，以在硅衬底上生产高功率和高频应用的原子抛光氮化镓（GaN）。由于氮化镓具有机械硬度和化学惰性，传统的表面抛光工艺会导致严重的表面损伤，从而对电性能产生负面影响。相比之下，CMSprocess在GaN表面形成一层软层，可以被纳米颗粒去除。在该项目的第二期，公司计划进一步优化和扩大CMSprocess。与化合物半导体芯片制造商和学术合作伙伴一起，该公司的计划是通过制造和测试高电子迁移率晶体管的性能来进一步验证抛光技术。研究团队成员均为国际公认的专家，能够很好地执行研究计划，实现项目目标。拟议抛光技术的商业化预计将显著影响用于无线移动通信和雷达防御系统中的高频、高功率微波器件的GaN基半导体技术。这一过程将通过提高产量和降低制造成本来加速硅基氮化镓技术的商业化。

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.