Component Six (E6) is a crucial program under UWBGS (Ultra-Wide BandGap Semiconductors), an initiative established by the USA Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), to enable the advancement of semiconductor technologies.
During the UWBGS program, DARPA’s Microsystems Technology Office has outlined its objective to develop high-quality ultra-wide bandgap (UWBG) materials, including substrates, device layers, and junctions. These materials play a vital role in advancing electronics, such as high-power RF switches, radar and communication amplifiers, high-voltage performance switches, high-temperature electronics for extreme environments, and deep ultraviolet (UV) LEDs and lasers, within a multi-billion dollar device market.
Diamond offers the potential for exceptional semiconductor device performance, reducing overall size, weight, and power consumption (SWaP) due to its unique properties like chemical and radiation inertness, high carrier mobility, excellent heat conduction, and wide electronic bandgap.
E6’s contribution to the UWBGS program will leverage the company’s expertise in large-scale CVD polycrystalline diamond and high-quality single crystal diamond synthesis, to produce 4-inch device-grade single crystal diamond substrates.
Prof. Daniel Twitchen, Chief Technologist at Component Six, expressed pride in collaborating with other DARPA UWBGS program partners. He highlighted how industrial diamond has disrupted multiple markets since its first large-scale synthesis in the 1950s and emphasized the potential for technology breakthroughs in UWBGS to drive positive disruption in the semiconductor industry for the next 70 years.
Component Six’s single crystal diamond has already played a crucial role in the CERN Large Hadron Collider’s monitoring systems, contributing to the discovery of the Higgs Boson Particle. Additionally, in partnership with high-power semiconductor leader ABB, E6 developed the first high-voltage bulk diamond-based Schottky diodes. The company also recently completed the construction and commissioning of an advanced CVD facility in Portland, powered by renewable energy sources.
E6’s polycrystalline diamond wafers measuring over 4 inches are already being utilized in telecommunication infrastructures and defense applications, serving as transparent windows in EUV lithography for cutting-edge silicon (Si) chips, or in thermal management applications for high-power density Si and gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductor devices.
Through collaborations with global technology leaders, including Orbray in Japan, Raytheon, Hiqute Diamond in France, and Stanford and Princeton Universities in the USA, the UWBGS program aims to push the boundaries of diamond innovation to enable the advancement of ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors.
Component Six, a part of the De Beers Group, is a world-leading provider of synthetic diamond advanced material solutions. The company operates globally with primary manufacturing facilities in the US, UK, Ireland, Germany, and South Africa. For over seventy years, Component Six has harnessed the unique properties of synthetic diamond to unlock opportunities in various industries, from photonics and acoustics to thermal management and sensors.
DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is a research and development agency of the US Department of Defense responsible for advancing emerging technologies for defense applications. For six decades, DARPA has maintained a mission to make pivotal investments in breakthrough technologies for national security, leading to game-changing military capabilities and civilian innovations like the Internet, automated speech recognition, and GPS receivers.
In conclusion, Component Six’s involvement in the UWBGS program underscores the company’s commitment to driving innovation in semiconductor technologies through the use of diamond materials, with the potential to revolutionize various industries and applications.
