News: Microelectronics
6 November 2025
Boise State selected for $1.5m DEPSCoR award for research on synthesizing GaN
Boise State University has been selected for a $1.5m Defense Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (DEPSCoR) award, which will expand its defense-relevant research infrastructure and advance innovation in materials designed for extreme environments. Overall, 30 DEPSCoR awards were granted US-wide this year. The award will fund new instrumentation, training and discovery efforts.
Led by David Estrada and Elton Graugnard, professors in the Micron School of Materials Science and Engineering, their research teams will explore innovative methods for synthesizing gallium nitride (GaN). Their work will investigate which added impurities could enhance GaN’s optical, electrical and thermal properties while improving its resistance to radiation. The team will also develop atomically precise, wafer-scale fabrication techniques compatible with advanced manufacturing and defense applications.
“This is an important award that builds our capacity to initiate critical research,” says the research project’s principal investigator Nancy Glenn, Boise State’s vice president of research and economic development. “It recognizes the significance of the work our faculty are doing and invests in our ability to expand both research and training opportunities for our students.”
The funding enables the university to acquire a high-resolution scanning electron microscope, which will accelerate materials discovery and support Idaho’s semiconductor, biomedical, manufacturing and energy sectors. “We will be able to image and process materials at unprecedented precision — and train the next generation of scientists and engineers who will lead Idaho’s high-tech industries,” Estrada says.
The project complements other initiatives at Boise State, including the NSF EPSCoR Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) Center program and the university’s investment in the Microelectronics Education and Research Center (MERC), positioning the university as a hub for semiconductor and defense-related materials research.
“The extreme environments found in space, hypersonic vehicles and nuclear energy systems cause materials and microelectronics to fail in unpredictable ways,” Estrada says. “This investment directly supports our goals of achieving Carnegie R1 research status and growing Idaho’s role in defense-related research and development,” Glenn adds. “It also ensures our students gain hands-on experience with the tools and technologies that define the future of our state’s workforce.”
The DEPSCoR award represents another step in Boise State’s ongoing growth in microelectronics and interdisciplinary graduate programs, paving the way for expanded collaboration among academia, industry, and government on technologies designed to operate in demanding environments.
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