BASiC 3C Inc. has added about $650,000 from existing investors to a Series A round of funding to support its work developing SiC power devices. Basic 3C president Bart Van Zeghbroeck said this week that the hope is that the latest funds get the company through the next six months before raising a Series B. Founded in April 2014, the company expects to announce its first products in the next six months.
BASiC 3C is developing cost effective cubic Silicon Carbide (3C-SiC) epi-layers and wafers using it's patented Hot Filament Chemical Vapor Deposition process (HFCVD). While having the advantages of CVD, such as the use of low cost precursors, and continuous growth, the hot filaments precondition the process gases, thereby enhancing the reactivity of the reaction components. This enables separate control of material growth versus etching, independent of the substrate temperature. The process also enables growth at lower substrate temperatures while maintaining high growth rate and low defect density, especially on non-native substrates.
BASiC 3C's products include 3C-SiC epitaxial layers grown on silicon for MEMS and GaN growth applications, 3C-SiC epitaxial layers grown on 4H-SiC wafers, followed by 4" and 6" 3C-SiC wafers and epi for high-voltage Power MOSFETs.
Basic 3C’s semiconductors will be made from cubic silicon carbide, rather than silicon. Geared toward high-power applications operating at 600 Volts or more that require efficient power conversion, the product will have higher thermal conductivity and do well in “operationally rugged environments,†Van Zeghbroeck said. He said targeted applications include solar panels, wind turbines and electric vehicles. A reduced cooling requirement would mean reduced size and weight and thus, in something like an electric vehicle, improved efficiency and range.
“We’re looking at significantly better material properties, and that makes a difference in the end application,†Van Zeghbroeck said. Investors in the company include Boulder-based Infield Capital and Texas-based Dankat LLC.
Van Zeghbroeck is on leave from the University of Colorado, where he has been an electrical engineering professor since 1990. He and investors purchased the technology and intellectual property for Basic 3C from a Golden company, Silicon Carbide Systems, that had gone bankrupt.
Van Zeghbroeck said Basic 3C will initially do manufacturing at its current space in Longmont. The company has fewer than 10 employees, but he said he expects that number to grow to 15 or 20 within the next 18 months.
