Diamond - Semiconductor Integration - The Challenge of Thermal Expansion Mismatch
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Bristol
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
Diamond is key science and engineering material for heat sinking of electronic and opto-electronic devices. Recent successes include the integration of diamond with GaN, to enable high power microwave electronic devices, the Centre for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR) at the University of Bristol and Element-Six have been leading internationally. One of the key challenges to achieve the integration of diamond with semiconductors is the large mismatch of the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of diamond to most materials.
The objective of this PhD is to research and develop novel solutions to address this critical issues. This will enable to develop next generation and world-leading thermal performance diamond heat-spreaders and high reliability packaged chips. The project would include modelling, experimental work and testing to validate results, including physics and engineering research fields. The intrinsic difference between the CTE of diamond to the common semiconductors (i.e. Si, GaAs, GaN) used for high power density electronics (e.g. high brightness LEDs, high power LDs, RF power amplifiers, power switches) and with diamond the heat-spreading material currently means that a trade-off exists between thermal performance and reliability which limits the overall benefit and value proposition of diamond heat-spreaders, and is one barrier to diamond to entry in the high power packaging industry.
This research project therefore has the potential for a major research impact on the international scale.
This project will be performed in collaboration with Element Six Ltd, who are co-funding this PhD. The PhD student would also benefit from a recently awarded EPSRC Programme Grant led by the Professor Kuball, Head of the CDTR at the University of Bristol on the development on step-changing GaN-on-diamond electronic device technology. The CDTR is active in many EU, US, and UK research programmes, and is funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the European Space Agency and other funding agencies, as well as by Industry.
The objective of this PhD is to research and develop novel solutions to address this critical issues. This will enable to develop next generation and world-leading thermal performance diamond heat-spreaders and high reliability packaged chips. The project would include modelling, experimental work and testing to validate results, including physics and engineering research fields. The intrinsic difference between the CTE of diamond to the common semiconductors (i.e. Si, GaAs, GaN) used for high power density electronics (e.g. high brightness LEDs, high power LDs, RF power amplifiers, power switches) and with diamond the heat-spreading material currently means that a trade-off exists between thermal performance and reliability which limits the overall benefit and value proposition of diamond heat-spreaders, and is one barrier to diamond to entry in the high power packaging industry.
This research project therefore has the potential for a major research impact on the international scale.
This project will be performed in collaboration with Element Six Ltd, who are co-funding this PhD. The PhD student would also benefit from a recently awarded EPSRC Programme Grant led by the Professor Kuball, Head of the CDTR at the University of Bristol on the development on step-changing GaN-on-diamond electronic device technology. The CDTR is active in many EU, US, and UK research programmes, and is funded by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, the European Space Agency and other funding agencies, as well as by Industry.
Planned Impact
Students: A CDT is first and foremost a training activity. The students will benefit from an interdisciplinary programme taught by leaders in their respective fields from our eight partner universities and industrial collaborators, focusing on the fundamentals of material science, from the classical to the quantum, but with an emphasis on diamond and related materials and application driven themes. Students will be recruited from a wide range of disciplines, maximising both quality and diversity to provide a richer experience. Our structure ensures that our students will experience at least three different research environments during their studentship; the PhD home university and two different partner institutes (of which one can be industry or that of our international academic partners). This greatly enhances the student experience, promotes mobility and encourages research across disciplines. When they graduate Diamond Science and Technology (DST) students, with a breadth of training no one institution could deliver alone will be ideally placed for employment in academia and industry. Our students will also be able to communicate across disciplines and make the required DST transformative breakthroughs in a wide range of societally important areas, e.g. electronics, optics, quantum computing, photonics, composite materials, energy efficiency and sensing.
Industry and Economy: Our industrial partners are focused on products, jobs and wealth creation. To achieve this they need appropriately skilled people and university R&D to sustain and grow their business in a world where competition is intense. The training programme has been devised to produce graduates who understand the interdisciplinary challenges faced and can communicate across fields, for employment in industries innovating in DST or other high performance material enabled products, businesses that exploit these materials or new businesses created. The industrial letters of support clearly demonstrate the demand for our students and the enthusiasm for the research. Market sectors such as electronics, photonics, sensors, defence and security, materials, abrasives, communications and healthcare will benefit. Through collaboration, industry will gain access to world-class academics and facilities. The training programme is also accessible to industrialists who will profit from accessing MSc modules. With the knowledge gained, companies will be able rapidly exploit DST technologies to position themselves at the cutting-edge. This CDT CDT will enable joined-up and efficient collaboration between universities, companies and users, greatly strengthening impact.
Society: Diamond is so much more than a gemstone. This CDT will actively drive DST in areas of huge societal impact such as, energy (e.g. efficient power devices, nuclear safety), the environment (e.g. decontamination, water quality monitoring), food safety (e.g. sensing contaminants) and health (e.g. ultra-high resolution functional imaging). Inside Science (11/7/13; www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036kxv8) very recently reported on the growing importance of DST to many aspects of modern society and highlighted the £20M Element Six Ltd investment in a new diamond research centre in the UK. We will ensure that DST is used to motivate school children via innovative approaches such as "How to grow a diamond" BBC Bang Goes the Theory, 2011, (>81,000 hits on www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8qgE4LkZa4). To bring diamond to the forefront of public attention we will showcase the work through exhibitions using thought provoking and fun demonstrations, host public understanding lectures, produce podcasts/videos about our work, and host an interactive web-based forum where people have an opportunity to contact "the scientist" in order to ask questions about DST. This is in addition to publishing the results of our research in leading scientific journals, at international conferences and through the DST CDT website.
Industry and Economy: Our industrial partners are focused on products, jobs and wealth creation. To achieve this they need appropriately skilled people and university R&D to sustain and grow their business in a world where competition is intense. The training programme has been devised to produce graduates who understand the interdisciplinary challenges faced and can communicate across fields, for employment in industries innovating in DST or other high performance material enabled products, businesses that exploit these materials or new businesses created. The industrial letters of support clearly demonstrate the demand for our students and the enthusiasm for the research. Market sectors such as electronics, photonics, sensors, defence and security, materials, abrasives, communications and healthcare will benefit. Through collaboration, industry will gain access to world-class academics and facilities. The training programme is also accessible to industrialists who will profit from accessing MSc modules. With the knowledge gained, companies will be able rapidly exploit DST technologies to position themselves at the cutting-edge. This CDT CDT will enable joined-up and efficient collaboration between universities, companies and users, greatly strengthening impact.
Society: Diamond is so much more than a gemstone. This CDT will actively drive DST in areas of huge societal impact such as, energy (e.g. efficient power devices, nuclear safety), the environment (e.g. decontamination, water quality monitoring), food safety (e.g. sensing contaminants) and health (e.g. ultra-high resolution functional imaging). Inside Science (11/7/13; www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b036kxv8) very recently reported on the growing importance of DST to many aspects of modern society and highlighted the £20M Element Six Ltd investment in a new diamond research centre in the UK. We will ensure that DST is used to motivate school children via innovative approaches such as "How to grow a diamond" BBC Bang Goes the Theory, 2011, (>81,000 hits on www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8qgE4LkZa4). To bring diamond to the forefront of public attention we will showcase the work through exhibitions using thought provoking and fun demonstrations, host public understanding lectures, produce podcasts/videos about our work, and host an interactive web-based forum where people have an opportunity to contact "the scientist" in order to ask questions about DST. This is in addition to publishing the results of our research in leading scientific journals, at international conferences and through the DST CDT website.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Martin Kuball (Primary Supervisor) | |
| Daniel Field (Student) |