This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project will demonstrate the feasibility of fabricating anti-ferroelectric (AFE) thin-films for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection using a novel laser-assisted atmospheric plasma deposition platform. The state-of-the-art in ESD protection offers inadequate protection to increasingly compact and sensitive electronic devices, trading off signal bandwidth for circuit protection and limiting the evolution of new applications. A scalable plasma spray fabrication process will be developed for an AFE ceramic which has previously been demonstrated at laboratory scale to have unmatched capacitance change for use in multi-layered ceramic capacitors (MLCC). Tape-casting and other conventional fabrication approaches have proven inadequate for this MLCC application whereas the plasma spray fabrication technology has already successfully produced battery components and functional coatings with similar properties, and it is anticipated that it can create the approximately five-micron films required for decoupling the switching field and capacitance and creating an MLCC that dissipates large energies at low voltages. Completion of this Phase I SBIR project will yield a technical understanding of the precursors, deposition parameters, and component specifications necessary to develop and scale a manufacturing tool in Phase II and introduce a disruptive technology into the multi-billion dollar ESD market.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the establishment of a scalable technique for the mass-manufacture of MLCCs which can address the increasing threat of ESD to electronics as component sizes continue to decrease under Moore's Law. This AFE material fabrication/deposition innovation will allow the creation of new MLCCs which offer an improved trade-off between signal bandwidth and circuit protection be achieving AFE switching at low voltages. Deployment of such a manufacturing tool will position the team as a key supplier to automotive electronics manufacturers for MLCCs on control modules and other circuit systems. It will also enable the niche supply of MLCCs and components that are 10-15 times more efficient than currently available products for high voltage, high energy density and pulse power applications for aerospace, defense, and other industrial and military applications. In addition to supporting U.S. technology leadership and the resurgence of domestic manufacturing, this project will increase the technical understanding required to make parallel, privately-funded advances in related technologies such as AFE ceramic capacitors for high frequency, fast discharge power electronics, and solid-state thin-film batteries.
The objective of this grant was to develop an antiferroelectric device for ESD protection utilizing thermal spray techniques. To achieve the requirements for device manufacturing, CSquared Innovations has to develop a highly densified antiferroelectric coating of sufficient quality. The process employed by CSQ consists of either plasma spray, laser assisted plasma spray, or high velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) techniques. In the current approach, CSQ focused on lead zirconate Type A and Type D AFE. In dealing with the thermal breakdown of the powders in the plasma, a solution precursor was developed with appropriate chemical ratios as per proprietary compounds to achieve the proper stoichiometric Type A perovskite phase. Plasma interactions with the substrate and the materials demonstrated the complexity of the task. Phase separation, lead loss, unreacted materials, and reaction of components into the substrate all lead to the difficulty of producing high quality films for use in devices. The best films structurally demonstrated poor density and exhibited high dielectric loss characteristics (0.7% best case) making them unsuitable for MLCC device work. A Phase 1B extension grant was approved to explore the use of lead lanthanum zirconate and lead zirconate titanate nanopowders in other applications. This powder was manufactured by plasma processing both solution precursors and powder suspensions as received from TRS Technologies. The input powder had a net particle size of 0.3 um and after processing demonstrated a reduction of size to 10-30 nm. Efficiency of conversion was not determined and was reasonably outside the scope of work. 200 grams were produced and tested at several subcontractors. The final powder held the original phase and pellets pressed from the powders showed reasonable consolidation and further work is necessary for optimizing the process to obtain further information. Marketing research indicates that the ESD/MLCC market has strong presence and good expectations of growth. Additionally, the evidence of nanopowder markets indicates that it is early in the market cycle and future growth is indicated. The nanopowder market in entirety indicates a growth market of 10X over 5 years.
