Semiconductor Materials

A semiconductor is a material that is neither a good conductor of electricity nor a good insulator, but has properties of electrical conductivity somewhere between the two.  It conducts more electricity when heat, light or voltage is added. This basic functionality aids many different devices, including diodes, switches, sensors and lasers.

PARC has deep expertise and experience designing, growing, processing, qualifying and commercializing semiconductor technologies. Our experts can develop a full process, from device design through to manufacturing and qualification, in our on-site, class 100 Cleanroom. In addition, we have processes for photo and e-beam lithography and patterning, physical vapor deposition, chemical vapor deposition, atomic layer deposition, dopant activation, silicon recrystallization, and wet and dry etching. We are experts in the following devices and processes:

In thin-film electronics:

• Transistors and sensors made by depositing and patterning films of active semiconductor, dielectrics, and metals on various supporting substrates
• Amorphous silicon, metal oxides and poly-silicon (LTPS) processes
• TFT arrays and backplanes, photodiodes, X-ray detectors, displays, ultrasonic imaging and neutron imaging
• Flexible and transparent electronics designs, enabled by thin-film devices

In printed electronics:

• Transistors and sensors made by digitally printing specially formulated metallic, dielectric and semiconducting inks
• Solution processed materials, ink formulation and qualification for metals, dielectrics and organic semiconductors
• Custom printer design and multiple printing modalities, including jet, extrusion, aerosol and screen. Development of printed and flexible sensors and actuators for temperature, humidity, stress, gas, audio speakers and electrochemical devices

In optoelectronic devices:

• Custom design and growth of III-V semiconductor heterostructures for LEDs and laser diodes fabrication
• Computational simulation of quantum well structures
• Metal Oxide Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) growth of custom-layered heterostructures for LEDs and Laser diodes
• Development and testing of emitters, detectors and optical sub-systems