News: Microelectronics
21 February 2025
University of Michigan awarded up to $7.5m to bring heat-resistant silicon carbide sensing and computing chips from lab to fab
University of Michigan researchers are leading a multi-million dollar collaborative effort to develop heat-resistant sensing and computing chips made of silicon carbide (SiC) that could advance aircraft, electric and gas-powered vehicles, renewable energy, defense and space exploration.
The project ‘Improving Engine Reliability and SWAP with 350–500°C SiC Electronic Systems’ is one of 34 technical projects funded in 2024 by the US Department of Defense through the Microelectronics Commons program, established by the US CHIPS Act. Funded specifically by the Silicon Crossroads Microelectronics Commons (SCMC) Hub, the project is launching with $2.4m in initial funding, and could receive up to $7.5m over three years.
The University of Michigan is a founding member of the SCMC Hub which, led by the Applied Research Institute, is an innovation ecosystem of diverse partners driven to accelerate expansion of America’s microelectronics base by leveraging strong collaborative practices that strategically support innovation, workforce development and infrastructure needs to achieve domestic microelectronics excellence.
Engineers at NASA’s Glenn Research Center have been exploring the potential of silicon carbide as a high-performance semiconductor for decades. SiC devices can handle higher voltages, temperatures and radiation levels than silicon alone. With an eye toward exploring the surface of Venus, they built a SiC circuit that can withstand 930F (500°C) for thousands of hours. NASA Glenn has also shown packaged device operation over a 1800F (1000°C) temperature span from –310F (–190°C) to 1490F (812°C), with relevance across aerospace.
SiC is already increasingly being used in power electronics for electric vehicles and solar and wind energy systems. However, these applications aren’t making the most of its resilience to extreme conditions.
The new project will scale up NASA’s technology and manufacturing process to a modern wafer size and democratize SiC chip design. Along with NASA, collaborators include GE Aerospace Research in Niskayuna, New York; Ozark Integrated Circuits (Ozark IC) in Fayetteville, Arkansas; and North Carolina-based SiC manufacturer Wolfspeed.
While the technology could be useful in a broad range of sectors, the project will focus on aerospace, including electronics and sensors that make aircraft engines more reliable and help to optimize their size, weight and power. A key goal is the demonstration (for aerospace or engine applications) of a packaged actuator, converting electrical signals to mechanical motion (and hence playing an important role in control systems).
Partnering with industry and government
“NASA, GE Aerospace and Ozark IC have done an amazing job of developing this technology, which is very impactful for a variety of applications,” comments principal investigator Becky Peterson, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering and director of the U-M Lurie Nanofabrication Facility. “This project will provide a critical pathway to advance and commercialize that technology,” she adds. “We need advanced semiconductors produced domestically that can perform in these challenging high-temperature environments.”
In the project, NASA Glenn and GE Aerospace will work together to scale the high-temperature SiC junction field-effect transistor (JFET) fabrication process from 100mm- to 150mm-diameter wafers.
“SiC-based high-temperature electronics will be a key enabler for delivering new sensor and actuator functionality that improves the capability of future DoD engine platforms,” notes Aaron Knobloch, platform leader, controls and electrical systems at GE Aerospace Research. “Beyond jet engines, the ability to handle more extreme temperature capabilities could open exciting new applications in control and sensing for hypersonic applications.”
Picture: A silicon carbide chip in a high-temperature ceramic package. Image courtesy: NASA Glenn Research Center.
Ozark IC, which has worked with NASA Glenn through the NASA Small Business Innovation Research program and licensing offices for many years, will support packaging, integration and process commercialization. Ozark IC has shown a path for the technology working to over 1400F (800°C) integrated with advanced packaging.
The program builds on Ozark IC’s existing Department of Defense work with NASA, where DARPA has supported SiC JFET-R technology transition to GE Aerospace’s 100mm facility in New York, and its application to aerospace sensing through the DARPA High Operational Temperature Sensors (HOTS) program.
Wolfspeed will provide the specialized SiC wafers necessary for these devices, building on its expertise and capacity in SiC epitaxy. Wolfspeed and the US Department of Commerce are finalizing a proposed $750m direct funding package to support the expansion of Wolfspeed silicon carbide production in North Carolina and New York. In addition, Wolfspeed will consult with the team on design for commercialization.
“Ozark IC has been working with NASA and GE Aerospace in bringing SiC technology into aerospace and energy for many years,” says the firm’s CEO & founder Matt Francis. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to work with Michigan and Wolfspeed to help scale the technology up to 150mm with advanced packaging and integration.”
Michigan Engineering researchers will refine and standardize a process development kit (PDK) and transistor models. They will create libraries of commonly used circuit blocks to make the SiC technology more accessible to integrated circuit designers.
“We’ll test the devices and circuits made by NASA and GE Aerospace and packaged by Ozark IC and work together to standardize those pieces,” Peterson says. “And we’ll use the data to create process development kits and open electronic design automation (open EDA) software that can help automate the design of integrated circuits, and model their performance. We want to develop advanced refined models so that future users have all the tools they need to design and manufacture commercial products in this exciting technology.”
To do this, a team led by U-M professor of electrical and computer engineering David Wentzloff will add to the unique open-source tools they’ve developed for designing analog and mixed-signal circuits. These circuits are crucial for tasks such as managing power, converting real-world data from sensors to digital information for processing, and driving actuators and controllers in jet engines. Analog circuits complement the digital ones that perform processing and memory tasks, for example. While open-source design tools for digital circuits are becoming increasingly common, U-M brings them into the analog realm to implement analog and digital systems on a SiC chip.
“Our system is unlike other prior analog circuit design automation tools,” Wentzloff says. “The primary difference is we build on top of very mature digital design automation tools — in short, analog circuits designed with digital design automation tools. This speeds up the design of analog and mixed-signal circuits and makes it more accessible to a wide range of designers. You no longer need highly specialized analog circuit design skills.”
Improving aerospace engine reliability
Existing silicon-based electronics used in engine control systems are limited to 257F (125°C) and must be protected from heat through complex and heavy cooling systems or located in cooler areas of the engine. SiC electronics can function in hot areas within engines and their exhaust systems. The technology established in this project will enable new sensor and actuator functionality, flexible modular control systems, lower weight and simpler engine electrical system architectures. Due to SiC’s ability to handle extreme temperatures, SiC electronics can also advance emerging hypersonic aircraft systems which operate at temperatures far beyond the capabilities of silicon.
DARPA awards University of Michigan’s Zetian Mi $3m to scale III–V materials on silicon
University of Arkansas tops out Multi-User Silicon Carbide Research and Fabrication Facility
NASA awards Ozark $754,000 to create SiC-based UV imager on a chip
