An NC State research hub is leading efforts to develop advanced semiconductor technology with both civilian and defense applications, backed by new federal funding and industry partnerships.

The White House and the U.S. Department of Defense recently announced $19 million in first-year funding for four additional projects at the Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors — or CLAWS — Hub, led by NC State. This comes on top of a $39.4 million award in 2023 for the hub’s initial establishment.

John Muth, director of CLAWS, said the project aims to develop wide bandgap semiconductors, which don’t rely strictly on silicon.

“[The project] is partly to be able to find the applications where we can replace silicon or do a better job than silicon, and that includes things like wireless communications for radios and radars,” Muth said. “It includes things for power electronics where you need to have higher voltages, then that can go into things like ships or the electric grid or for solar power inverters.” 

Muth said the research has dual-use potential, with both military and commercial applications. This aligns with the goals of the CHIPS and Science Act, passed in 2022 to promote domestic chip manufacturing and research amid concerns over global supply chain vulnerabilities.

“As a commercial leap ahead hub where we are also interested in what are called dual-use technologies,” Muth said. “Pretty much all the technologies that we are working on also have commercial uses, so it’s not purely for the Department of Defense in terms of its impact.” 

Currently, over 90% of advanced chips, which are predominantly used in computers and smartphones, are manufactured in Taiwan, raising national security concerns given geopolitical tensions in the region. Robert Strittmatter, vice president of research and development at EPC, a semiconductor company partnering with NC State, said this initiative is taken out of precaution of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.

“I’m in Taiwan right now, and a doomsday scenario would be if China came and took Taiwan, they would control 85% of the world’s ability to make electronics, which would put the rest of the world in a scary place,” Strittmatter said. 

The CLAWS Hub collaborates with various industry and government partners, including NASA. Jason Osheroff, who works in NASA’s radiation effects and analysis group, said these new developments have the potential to revolutionize semiconductor technology.

“These new generation devices help drastically reduce the size, weight and increase the power that we can use on our missions.” 

Osheroff said part of the discipline of radiation effects is about getting ahead of the ball through establishing connections between research institutes and industry so that if a mission wants to use a piece of technology, they can implement it into their design right away.

“In order to have the answers ahead of time, we need to engage in partnerships like this so that we can study really cutting-edge devices,” Osheroff said. 

Osheroff said some wide bandgap semiconductors have already been used in small satellite missions that tolerate a higher risk of radiation tolerance.

“They’re relatively very inexpensive to produce,” Osheroff said. “So a lot of university teams can actually put together a mission.” 

The funding provides new opportunities for students at NC State. Muth said both the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Material Science and Engineering are looking at creating a master’s program in wide bandgap semiconductors.

“For graduate students, it’ll let them work directly with industry or on really state-of-the-art projects,” Muth said. “We’ve got opportunities where undergraduates can work with the graduate students and be able to do more advanced research on semiconductors than you might normally have.”