$19.7M to Develop Domestic Manufacturing Capability for SiC Circuit Devices

Silicon Carbide(click to expand) Cree Inc., in Durham, NC received a $19.7 million cost share/ technology investment agreement contract. The objective of the subject Technology Investment Agreement is to establish a domestic source to develop a manufacturing capability for Silicon Carbide Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit Devices, for commercial applications and next generation military radar systems. As noted in DID’s summary of DARPA’s research strategy for technlogical advantage through the next-generation semiconductor material Gallium Nitride (GaN), Silicon Carbide (SiC) will be the substrate material of choice for GaN circuits. Cree was also the recipient of a previous SiC-related research contract, and they are teamed with Raytheon for part of DARPA’s GaN research strategy. Solicitation for this contract began in March 2005, negotiations were completed July 2005, and work will be complete by March 2010. The Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH issued the contract (FA8650-05-2-5507). For an update on where this kind of research is going, see Lockheed Martin’s January 9, 2007 release re: its new radar with SiC-based high-power Transmit/Receive (T/R) modules: “The S4R EDM is an active, electronically-steered, antenna-based radar system designed to be scalable to support multiple missions, including air surveillance, cruise missile defense, […]