SBIR Phase II: Roll-to-Roll Manufacturing of Highly Crystalline Thin Film Semiconductor Substrates for Flexible Electronics

SBIR 第二阶段：用于柔性电子产品的高结晶薄膜半导体基板的卷对卷制造

• 批准号: 2026115
• 负责人: Graeme Housser
• 金额: $ 99.98万
• 依托单位: LUX SEMICONDUCTORS INC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Cooperative Agreement
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2020-09-01 至 2023-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2026115&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; II; Roll; Manufacturing

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will help enable the expansion of the Internet-of-Things (IoT) through new peel-and-stick sensor nodes. Such IoT nodes require low device cost, and thus low sub-component costs for sensing elements, processing circuits, communications, and power. In addition, they are power constrained, requiring minimal energy consumption during sensor data collection, processing, and transmission. Integrating low-cost and low-power components into a single size-limited device becomes a substantial challenge using conventional semiconductor fabrication materials and processes. This SBIR Phase II project will use a novel System-on-Foil approach that patterns efficient silicon circuitry directly into a novel flexible silicon substrate, alongside low-cost printed electronics. This approach enables the integration of all core IoT elements, including microprocessors, sensors, antennas, interconnects, and power supplies, making robust systems with applications in condition monitoring for civil infrastructure, human health monitoring, automotive, grid battery management, wind turbines, aerospace, and industrial equipment.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project will advance a novel semiconductor recrystallization technology to support a new generation of flexible electronics. To include on-board processing, communication, and memory circuitry, current state-of-the-art flexible electronics rely on surface mounting and soldering of off-the-shelf silicon chips, similar to rigid printed circuit board assemblies. This pick-and-place approach not only reduces device flexibility, but also leads to interconnection challenges that severely compromise device reliability. This project leverages a thin film recrystallization process where equivalent silicon circuits can now be patterned directly into flexible silicon, resulting in a highly scalable manufacturing process that drastically improves device reliability. By patterning all components directly into a high-temperature substrate, conformal electronics can be made that are durable even in heavy vibration and shock environments. The project objectives include the transition of prototype recrystallization processes to a higher throughput and higher quality pilot-scale recrystallization system. The resulting flexible silicon substrates will then be used for preliminary development of integrated circuit fabrication to produce active silicon components as a step toward fully patterned System-on-Foil electronics.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力将有助于通过新的Peel-Stick传感器节点来扩展The Internet（IoT）。 这样的物联网节点需要较低的设备成本，因此感应元素，处理电路，通信和功率的子组件成本较低。此外，它们是受限制的功率，需要在传感器数据收集，处理和传输过程中最少的能耗。使用常规的半导体制造材料和过程，将低成本和低功率组件整合到单个尺寸限制的设备中成为一个重大的挑战。这个SBIR II期项目将使用一种新型的系统型方法，该方法将有效的硅电路直接与低成本印刷电子产品一起直接模板为新型的柔性硅基板。这种方法使所有核心物联网元素都可以整合，包括微处理器，传感器，天线，互连和电源，使适用的系统具有针对民用基础设施，人类健康监测，汽车，汽车，电网电池管理，风力涡轮机，航空空间，汽车健康监测的应用监控和工业设备。本小型企业创新研究（SBIR）II期项目将推进一种新型的半导体再结晶技术，以支持新一代的灵活电子产品。为了包括机上处理，通信和内存电路，当前最新的柔性电子设备依赖于表面安装和焊接硅芯片的焊接，类似于刚性印刷电路板组件。这种选择方法不仅降低了设备的灵活性，而且会导致互连挑战，从而严重损害了设备的可靠性。 该项目利用薄膜的重结晶过程，现在可以将等效的硅电路直接构图到柔性硅中，从而产生高度可扩展的制造工艺，从而大大提高了设备​​的可靠性。通过将所有组件直接构成高温基板，即使在重振动和冲击环境中，也可以制造出耐用的共形电子设备。 项目目标包括将原型重结晶过程过渡到更高的吞吐量和更高质量的飞行员大规模重结晶系统。然后，由此产生的柔性硅基板将用于综合电路制造的初步开发，以生产活跃的硅组件，作为迈向完全模式的系统对齐电子电子的一步基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准。