Shelbie Harris
News Editor
In the 1980s, mobs of companies specializing in the production of silicon semiconductors flooded the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay area. The Santa Clara Valley has been known as Silicon Valley ever since.
Thanks to a $700,000 grant to purchase equipment for use in the growth of crystal materials, specifically wide-bandgap semiconductors, could ISU help transform the Portneuf Valley into something similar, say “Gallium Valley?”
“One of our specialties is bulk semiconductor growth,” said Eric Burgett, director of the Research and Innovation in Science and Engineering (RISE) Complex and ISU associate professor. “Were growing large pilot scale production quantities of these wide-bandgap semiconductors that otherwise haven’t been made.”
According to Burgett the United States doesn’t have a growth capability for materials such as zinc and gallium oxide that are core materials for these semiconductors.
The grant from the Idaho Global Entrepreneurial Mission (IGEM) was awarded to ISU and partners NuMat, Inc. and EJ Proprietary Property Company through the Idaho State Board of Education’s Higher Education Research Council.
Cornelis Van der Schyf, ISU vice president for research and dean of the graduate school said these awards have a very specific design and outcome.
“The academic institution and the principal investigator would work directly with an industry partner with the expectation of the industry partner investing on a quid pro quo basis,” said Van der Schyf.
IGEM’s mission is to create new enterprises consisting of high-paying, knowledge-based jobs by increasing strategic areas of research and development through targeted partnerships among industry, higher education and government.
“In essence the research enterprise at ISU is able to literally move and attract companies to Pocatello,” said Van der Schyf. “Being an IGEM grant, this provides an opportunity to link [ISU] to industries with the ultimate goal being commercialization.”
Semiconductors are essentially the building blocks of every electronic device used today. You’ll find semiconductors at the heart of microprocessor chips as well as transistors.
However, according to Burgett most people don’t realize the vast plethora of choices out there regarding the applications of semiconductors.
The zinc, gallium and other semiconductors being grown at ISU have applications such as providing LED capabilities to transparent surfaces such as car windshields or large windows, creating refreshable electronic newspapers with e-paper and electronic ink, creating more efficient solar panels able to see more light frequencies as well as power electronics.
Giant thyristor banks are what currently switch large amounts of power from one location to another and are usually made out of silicon.
“If you make them out of silicon they are only tolerant to a certain amount of temperature, said Burgett. “When we marry wide-bandgap and extreme environments, the materials that we grow aren’t just the run of the mill silicon.”
Silicon quits functioning at about 120-180 degrees Celsius. The devices ISU grows can withstand temperatures between 2000-3000 degrees Celsius.
According to Burgett being able to grow these particular materials is what initially captured the attention of Jeff Short, president of EJ Proprietary Property Company (EJPP).
“We’ve pioneered this bulk crystal furnace technology,” said Burgett. “We’re the only ones in the world that grow bulk uranium oxide in this way.”
The RISE complex and the researchers associated are not only making groundbreaking research, but are also developing this research into actual products.
So much so, that according to Van der Schyf, the RISE complex is being quickly outgrown by the number of researchers and ISU needs to start looking into other avenues for facilitating this research.
Labs are filling up with clients and the hope for ISU is to spin some of these clients into building facilities of their own somewhere in the research corridor located on Alvin Ricken Dr.
“It’s very difficult to extrapolate into the future,” said Van der Schyf, adding, “but it will definitely have a huge return on investments in a significant way.”
