UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The microelectronics industry is nearing a tipping point. The silicon chips at the heart of everyday electronic devices are reaching their performance limits, increasing the need for new materials and technologies to continue making faster and more efficient devices.
To help address this challenge, Penn State researchers are working with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency as part of a larger grant awarded to Northrop Grumman, a defense, aerospace and technology company. It will receive $3 million from DARPA. This joint project aims to develop new methods for integrating gallium nitride, a high-performance semiconductor material, with silicon substrates. Gallium nitride offers superior performance and faster switching speeds for power-intensive applications, while silicon offers scalability and affordability. Researchers say this hybrid approach can deliver more efficient power electronics at lower production costs, making it ideal for high-demand applications such as electric vehicles, power electronics, and data centers where efficiency and durability are important. It’s perfect.
“Silicon is a common platform for microelectronics, but combining silicon with new semiconductor materials is difficult,” said Professor of Materials Science and Engineering and director of the 2D Crystal Consortium at Penn State’s Materials Research Institute (MRI). Director Joanne Redwing said. National Science Foundation Materials Innovation Platform and National User Facility. “Overcoming this will require new approaches to densely integrate silicon with advanced materials, and that’s exactly what this project is about. Our research with Northrup Grumman will It is designed to explore integrating gallium nitride directly onto silicon using the material as an interlayer.”
To accomplish this, Penn State will work with Northrup Grumman on heterogeneous integration, the process of combining materials with different properties to create more efficient devices. In this project, researchers will work on integrating gallium nitride and silicon.
Gallium nitride is a wide bandgap semiconductor, so it can withstand higher electric fields and withstand higher voltages and temperatures. Silicon is a low bandgap semiconductor, but it is cheap and benefits from an established silicon manufacturing infrastructure. Combining gallium nitride’s ability to handle high voltages and fast switching speeds with silicon, which is widely used in digital electronics, creates a chip that takes advantage of the best of both materials.
“Data centers are expected to require 160% more power by 2030, primarily due to the increased use of artificial intelligence,” said Joshua, professor of materials science and engineering and Penn State principal investigator on the DARPA project.・Mr. Robinson says. “Our work has the potential to reduce energy demand and contribute to a more sustainable future.”
The team’s research could also lead to smaller, faster and more efficient power electronics that manage the flow of electricity in everything from smartphones to washing machines. For consumers, this means lower energy bills and devices that generate less heat.
A potential hurdle is that traditional methods of integrating gallium nitride with silicon are complex and costly, often requiring interlayers that introduce thermal resistance and limit device performance. With a grant from DARPA, researchers at Penn State University are using 2D materials one to a few atoms thick, such as molybdenum disulfide and gallium selenide, as “seed layers” to deposit on industry-compatible silicon. We aim to develop new solutions to grow gallium nitride (001). Silicon (001) is the preferred crystal orientation used in current semiconductor technology. The seed layer provides a template or foundation that influences the structure, orientation, and quality of the material grown on it.
“Current approaches to integrating gallium nitride on silicon have too many drawbacks, from increased thermal resistance to challenges in manufacturing devices on silicon (001),” Robinson said. “By using a 2D material as a seed layer, we aim to solve these issues and develop a direct route to integrating gallium nitride on silicon with improved performance compared to current technology.” This has a direct impact on manufacturing costs and could enable more energy-efficient devices to enter the market.”
Robinson said Penn State’s leadership in 2D materials and advanced manufacturing makes it uniquely positioned to address this challenge, making it an ideal partner for major companies like Northrup Grumman. This project will leverage state-of-the-art infrastructure for the growth and characterization of 2D materials and wide bandgap semiconductors at Penn State.
“This program allows us to demonstrate that 2D materials may be the key to enabling advances in 3D semiconductors,” Robinson said. “By combining our expertise in 2D research with the real-world need for improved semiconductor performance, we are poised for years of innovation in heterogeneous integration.”
Robinson said the equipment and methodologies developed through this grant will be made available to other researchers through MRI’s user facilities, with the aim of fostering collaboration and innovation among various partners.
“This grant strengthens Penn State’s role as a leader in semiconductor research,” Redwing said. “This also demonstrates the value of partnerships between academia, industry, and government in solving complex challenges.”
Adri Van Duyn, distinguished professor of mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, engineering science and mechanics, chemistry, and materials science and engineering, and Lonmin Chu, professor of electrical engineering, are also participating in the DARPA project.
