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International Innovation: New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium

May 2015

Coordinating over 100 cutting-edge companies in a bid to develop advanced power electronics manufacturing capabilities is all in a day’s work for the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, as Michael Fancher, Vice President of Business and Economic Outreach, explains...

What was the motivation behind the establishment of the New York Power Electronics Manufacturing Consortium (NY-PEMC), and how did the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) get involved?

Through the leadership of Governor Andrew M Cuomo, New York State has positioned itself as a global leader in innovation and stands alone in its ability to drive R&D of next-generation materials for use on semiconductors. The NY-PEMC is a natural extension of New York’s 21^st Century nanotechnology-enabled economy and an embodiment of Governor Cuomo’s economic development and job growth strategy.

The US Department of Energy issued a Federal Opportunity Announcement (FOA) at the end of spring 2013 under the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership programme to establish a National Network for Manufacturing Innovation with a focus on wide band gap (WBG) power electronic devices. The primary focus of this FOA was to support domestic device, equipment, material and related assisting manufacturing companies as well as integrated systems companies that would deploy such devices in an array of market applications.

The FOA identified such public-private partnership models for consideration by applicants based on SUNY Poly’s Colleges of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE), Sematech and Fraunhofer Institute, among others. Given SUNY Poly’s experience over the past decade in participating in various capacities with an array of consortia (eg. the US Photovoltaic Manufacturing Consortium (PVMC), Global 450 Consortium (G450C), Facilities 450mm Consortium (F450C), Sematech, etc.), alliances (eg. IBM Alliance) and joint ventures (the International Multiphase Program for Lithography Science and Engineering (IMPLSE) with IBM and ASML), the opportunity to lead a state-wide effort by coordinating a team of world-class industry, academic, government, research and development and deployment (RD&D) partners was a logical next step for SUNY Poly’s capabilities and facilities across New York State.

Key to Governor Cuomo’s vision for driving high technology growth across New York State has been SUNY Poly’s public-private partnership model and its focus on supporting the transition of technology innovation to commercialisation, as well as the education and development of a highly skilled workforce. The success of SUNY Poly’s public-private partnership model was recently recognised by the National Science Foundation (NSF), which ranked SUNY Poly CNSE number one in the nation in higher education R&D funding by businesses, beating Duke University (#2), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (#3) and Stanford (#7).

Can you describe SUNY Poly’s role in the initiative?

A critical cornerstone of the high-technology strategy for New York State has been the establishment of SUNY Poly’s CNSE as a global resource that enables pioneering R&D, technology deployment, education and commercialisation for the international nanoelectronics industry.

For this initiative, SUNY Poly will utilise its successful public-private partnership model to collaborate with small and large manufacturing, systems integration, industry and government partners to implement a technology roadmap (vision of shared challenges), necessary to lower cost and improve reliability on industry compliant manufacturing technology platforms. Establishing tight coupling between supply chain partners and end device customers such as GE is a hallmark of the NY-PEMC. SUNY Poly will act as a neutral partner with confidential relationships between each of the participating industry partners, providing both the lab space and the workforce to ensure the safety of intellectual property while enabling open innovation.

At what stage of development is the NY-PEMC at present? What is the Consortium aiming to achieve this year?

The NY-PEMC has been completing the services and equipment requirements necessary to initiate the modifications to our existing facility and acquisition of equipment for the installation of the nation’s first open access 150 mm silicon carbide (SiC) wafer process facility that will support both collaborative and proprietary activities. The NY-PEMC will first focus on the scale-up demonstration of baseline process flow composed of proven power electronic device designs and processes developed at the GE Global Research Center in Niskayuna. One version of this flow will be made available to industry partners including supply chain companies, SMEs and others to accelerate their process improvements and design derivatives.

Are there significant challenges involved in managing a public-private partnership that involves hundreds of companies and establishing a global open innovation user-shared facility?

There are significant opportunities. SUNY Poly has extensive experience participating in various capacities with an array of consortia, alliances, joint ventures and proprietary programmes. Protection of intellectual property rights is obviously a key element in our success. Our proven ability to provide that protection is a significant factor in the continued growth of our public-private partnerships.

Why is the NY-PEMC focusing on developing two specific nanotechnologies: 6” SiC wafers and technology for gallium nitride (GaN) devices?

Through the support and commitment of Governor Cuomo, New York State has become a global leader in the development of next-generation technologies. Both SiC and GaN possess significant potential that New York is uniquely capable of tapping into. Each wafer production platform represents very different technology, business and market dynamics.

SiC technology is widely viewed as the more mature of the two and is ideal for high power applications (approximately >1.2 kV), while GaN on silicon, with its inexpensive silicon substrate, is targeted for lower power applications (approximately <1.2 kV). However, GaN on silicon requires additional R&D for wide-scale adoption, also needing a robust manufacturing process.

How will the Consortium ensure that SMEs are given the necessary framework and opportunities to expand and grow when working alongside major corporate partners?

GE is providing the Consortium with a baseline flow, which will enable SMEs to try out their approaches on a known baseline. The investment from New York State will provide the smaller companies access to the line at a much lower cost than would have otherwise been possible.

What would be the ideal outcome of the five-year initiative from SUNY Poly’s perspective?

The Consortium will further Governor Cuomo’s hi-tech economic development strategy for New York State by investing over US $500 million, creating thousands of high-skilled, high-paying jobs in Upstate New York. The NY-PEMC will replicate the success SUNY Poly has achieved in the advanced semiconductor sector where consortia, alliances and proprietary programmes can all be supported at the same location, enabling faster transition of innovation to commercialisation while lowering the risk and costs associated with a given technology.

It is expected that the result will be a growing ecosystem of power electronics design, fabrication and support companies across New York State. When combined with Start-up New York and other state incentives, as well as proximity to industry leaders like GE, all of the necessary elements are in place for the technology to thrive and continue the historic economic development and job growth in New York State.