A SBIR Phase I contract was awarded to Radiant Technologies, Inc. in August, 2020 for $220,889.0 USD from the U.S. Department of Defense and DARPA.
Radiant Technologies will team with the University of New Mexico (UNM) and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) to characterize Radiant’s PZT-based piezoMEMS process on 6-inch wafers. Radiant’s unique I-Beam piezoMEMS process uses a single Deep RIE step to release integrated circuit thin-PZT-film capacitors as piezoelectric strings, membranes, and cantilevers on a silicon wafer. The PDK developed during Phase I will support initial PZT-pMEMS foundry in the US for the Department of Defense. Radiant’s commercial objective is to manufacture pMEMS components for sale under its own name but also provide foundry services to universities, companies, and federal organizations in the United States. Phase II will expand the PDK, add Design Rule Checking, and have UNM and UCLA make individual foundry runs to test the process and procedures.