NASA EPSCOR: Investigation of Dielectrics for High Temperature Electronics

Abstract of Proiect and DescriDtion of NASA Collaboration Wide bandgap semiconductor materials offer the potential for operation under high temperature, high power, and high radiation conditions that exceed the limits of silicon technology. The promise of economic and performance benefits in automotive, aerospace, and other harsh industrial environments has fueled investigation of a variety of these materials in search of comparable silicon device functionality. Silicon carbide (SiC) is one of the more mature wide bandgap semiconductors because of the availability of single crystal wafers. However, many of the features that make silicon carbide attractive for harsh environments also pose significant challenges in IC device design and fabrication. Silicon integrated circuits rely on conveniently formed silicon dioxide (Si02) layers for patterning and insulation that are critical to device performance. Although a thermal oxide can be created from SiC, the processing and insulation quality differ significantly from that of silicon, thus limiting the development of discrete components and integrated circuits. The proposed research activities will investigate the electrical and physical properties of sputter deposited tantalum pentoxide (Ta20s) and Si02 layers for use as dielectrics in SiC electronics.