N251-067 TITLE: Radiation Hardened Gallium Nitride Electronics

OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Microelectronics;Nuclear;Space Technology

The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws.

OBJECTIVE: Characterize Gallium Nitride (GaN) materials and develop the techniques to design radiation hardened GaN electronics for power and/or radio frequency (RF) applications. Additional objectives include development of radiation hardened discrete GaN High-Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) devices and radiation hardened GaN integrated circuits for power conversion and/or RF applications.

DESCRIPTION: The desire for smaller and more efficient power and RF devices has led the electronics community in the direction of wide band gap power devices. GaN HEMTs offer improvements in size, weight, and power (SWaP) over silicon transistors. The enhanced capabilities and SWaP reductions are desirable for DoD and Space system deployments. Commercially available GaN HEMTs have been demonstrated to show sensitivity and permanent damage due to exposure to radiation, specifically heavy-ion radiation while the part is biased [Refs 1-3]. This radiation-induced damage is a significant concern for mission-critical applications. Additionally, many GaN HEMT and integrated circuit products face supply chain uncertainty through an evolving GaN manufacturing landscape and fabrication facilities that are not domestic to the continental United States (CONUS). It is highly desirable to develop radiation hardened by design (RHBD) GaN HEMT and integrated circuit solutions, to mitigate radiation effects damage and performance degradation, within a fabrication flow with a path to Defense Microelectronics Activity (DMEA) certified transited status. The final designs should be suitable for packaging in standard commercial footprint packages. Development of a screening flow, similar to a MIL-PRF-19500 screening, should be established and included in part productization and qualification.

Work produced in Phase II may become classified. Note: The prospective contractor(s) must be U.S. owned and operated with no foreign influence as defined by 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq., National Industrial Security Program Executive agent and Operating Manual, unless acceptable mitigating procedures can and have been implemented and approved by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) formerly Defense Security Service (DSS). The selected contractor must be able to acquire and maintain at least a secret level facility and Personnel Security Clearances. This will allow contractor personnel to perform on advanced phases of this project as set forth by DCSA and SSP in order to gain access to classified information pertaining to the national defense of the United States and its allies; this will be an inherent requirement. The selected company will be required to safeguard classified material during the advanced phases of this contract IAW the National Industrial Security Program Operating Manual (NISPOM), which can be found at Title 32, Part2004.20 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

PHASE I: Identify candidate GaN foundry processes and characterize the baseline technology for radiation-response and RHBD potential. Comparison to currently available GaN products for commercial applications should be made for target electrical performance capabilities. Develop design concepts for radiation hardened GaN HEMT devices and integrated circuits for power conversion and/or RF applications. Simulation results to establish the feasibility of design concepts. Target specifications for radiation resiliency may include

• Total Ionizing Dose: 1×106 rad (Si) equivalent dose
• Neutron Fluence: 5×1013 n/cm2
• Single-Event Burn Out: 60 MeV-cm2/mg
• Single-Event Upset: 15 MeV-cm2/mg
• Dose Rate Survivability: 1×1012 rad(Si)/sec equivalent
• Dose Rate Upset: 1×109 rad(Si)/sec equivalent

The Phase I Option, if exercised, will include the initial design specifications and capabilities description to build a prototype solution in Phase II.

PHASE II: The concept design and specifications from Phase I will be developed as fabrication-ready designs. Final designs will be demonstrated through simulation across process corners, the standard military temperature range, and modeled strategic radiation environments. The designs will be fabricated, in a trusted foundry and a CONUS fabrication facility, and tested to confirm device and circuit functionality and radiation resiliency. A lot of twenty (20) threshold to twenty-five (25) objective prototype devices should be delivered by the completion of Phase II.

It is probable that the work under this effort will be classified under Phase II (see Description section for details).

PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: The final version of the HEMT devices and/or integrated circuit designs will be productized at the selected foundry from Phase II. The final designs should be suitable for packaging in standard commercial footprint packages. Development of a screening flow, similar to a MIL-PRF-19500 screening, should be established and included in part productization and qualification.

Many military, commercial, and scientific systems that operate in hard environments require radiation hardened electronics. Space radiation effects impact systems such as communication and navigation satellites. Systems operating in adverse environments in and around nuclear reactors and particle accelerators also require a degree of radiation hardness electronics.

REFERENCES:

1. Olsen, B.D. et al. "Leakage Current Degradation of Gallium Nitride Transistors Due to Heavy Ion Tests." 2015 IEEE Radiation Effects Data Workshop, Boston, MA, USA, July, 20215, pp. 1-10. doi: 10.1109/REDW.2015.7336720. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7336720

2. Mizuta, E. et al. "Single-Event Damage Observed in GaN-on-Si HEMTs for Power Control Applications." IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science, vol. 65, no. 8, Aug. 2018, pp. 1956-1963. doi: 10.1109/TNS.2018.2819990. https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/8326525

3. Zerarka, M. et al. "Cosmic ray immunity of COTS Normally-Off Power GaN FETs for space, aeronautic and automotive applications." 20th European Conference on Radiation and Its Effects on Components and Systems (RADECS), Toulouse, France, 2020, pp. 1-5. doi: 10.1109/RADECS50773.2020.9857695. . https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9857695

4. "National Industrial Security Program Executive Agent and Operating Manual (NISP), 32 U.S.C. § 2004.20 et seq. (1993)." https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/subtitle-B/chapter-XX/part-2004

KEYWORDS: Gallium Nitride; GaN, High-Electron Mobility Transistor; HEMT; power conversion; radio frequency; radiation hardened electronics; radiation-hardened by design; RHBD; prompt dose; foundry

TPOC 1: SSP SBIR POC
Email: [email protected]

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