Silicon-carbide chips from Ozark Integrated Circuits.
Ozark Integrated Circuits of Fayetteville has received two grants totaling about $245,000 from NASA to develop heat-resistant circuits that can operate on the surface of Venus.
In addition, the University of Arkansas-affiliated startup has received board approval from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission for a Seed Capital Investment Program award of $100,000 to help commercialize its patent-pending ultraviolet (UV) detector.
The NASA grants will enable the firm, located at the UA’s Arkansas Research & Technology Park, to develop two silicon/carbide-based circuits that could be incorporated into the overall design of the proposed Venus Landsailing Rover, according to OIC President and CEO Matt Francis.
The surface temperature on Venus can reach 932 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Silicon carbide is a semiconductor that is ideally suited for the extreme environments found on Venus,” Francis said in a UA news release. “We have many years of experience working with this semiconductor fabrication process, developing models and process-design kits specifically for this process.”
OIC will use the first grant to work on development of a reliable ultraviolet imager ideally suited for planetary composition experiments and Earth observation in space, according to the release. The imager will monitor ultraviolet signals in order to study the environment on Venus and observe and analyze other planets and stars.
The second NASA grant will address NASA’s need for a microcontroller to provide real-time programmability for the proposed mobile lander for Venus. Alan Mantooth, the UA’s distinguished professor of electrical engineering, will supervise student research on the project, the UA said.
Both awards are Phase I grants through the federal Small Business Innovation Research Program.
Francis and CTO Jim Holmes have worked with UA researchers to design high-voltage electronics capable of operating at conditions beyond 600 degrees Fahrenheit.
“We will demonstrate the feasibility of creating these needed integrated circuits,” Francis said. “We will also generate a commercial feasibility analysis based on projections of the manufacturing costs for each of these integrated circuits.”
The SCIP award from AEDC will enable the company to create an inventory of detectors and assist in commercialization of the UV detector, said Ian Getreu, OIC’s director of business development and partnerships.
Getreu said that during its development work, OIC discovered the UV detector is 30,000 times more responsive to UV radiation than traditional detectors and operates both in extreme environments and normal, commercial settings.
The firm has built several prototypes and is receiving strong interest from potential customers, he said, noting that in at least one market it has the potential to be a “game changer.”
OIC also is working on future product lines that will utilize the UV detector with more applications for space exploration as well as improving the efficiency and emissions from diesel engines.
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