PNDIODES | DE FOA 0001691

Opportunity Information: Apply for DE FOA 0001691

PNDIODES (Power Nitride Doping Innovation Offers Devices Enabling SWITCHES) is a Department of Energy ARPA-E funding opportunity focused on a very specific bottleneck in next-generation power electronics: making high-quality, selectively doped regions in III-Nitride wide bandgap semiconductors, especially gallium nitride (GaN), so researchers can reliably build p-n junctions exactly where they want them on patterned GaN surfaces. ARPA-E positions the work as applied R&D with high technical risk but potentially huge payoff, aimed at breakthroughs that can reset the cost and performance curve rather than incremental improvements along established industry roadmaps. The program is tied to challenges encountered in ARPA-E's earlier SWITCHES effort, where many teams were limited not by device concepts but by the inability to form defect-free, useable junctions through selective area doping or selective area epitaxial regrowth.

The technical goal is to fund both mechanistic understanding and practical process innovations that enable arbitrarily placed, reliable, contactable p-n junction regions suitable for vertical power device architectures. In plain terms, the program wants teams to figure out what is happening at the microscopic level during selective doping or regrowth on GaN (why defects form, what chemistry and surface conditions matter, how dopants incorporate, how damage or contamination occurs, and how interfaces evolve), and then convert that understanding into repeatable fabrication approaches that produce device-grade material. This matters because vertical GaN devices, unlike many lateral GaN devices, can be better suited for high-voltage operation and scaling to higher power, but they depend heavily on the ability to create well-behaved junctions and doped regions without introducing performance-killing defects.

If successful, PNDIODES is meant to unlock a "revolutionary" class of vertical GaN power electronic devices spanning roughly 1200V up to 10kV. That voltage range is important for many real-world systems where efficiency, size, and thermal performance drive cost and reliability: consumer and industrial power supplies, solar inverters, wind power conversion, electric vehicles and charging, motor drives, heavy transportation (ship propulsion and rail), and grid infrastructure. Better high-voltage switches can reduce losses, shrink passive components, improve power density, and ultimately cut energy waste across large parts of the economy, which aligns with ARPA-E's statutory mission around energy security, emissions reduction, and maintaining U.S. technological leadership.

From an administrative standpoint, this was issued as a discretionary DOE opportunity administered by ARPA-E under its authorizing statute (42 U.S.C. 16538), with awards made as cooperative agreements (meaning ARPA-E typically remains actively involved during project execution). The opportunity listing indicates an award ceiling of $2.5 million, an expectation of about six awards, and eligibility described as unrestricted (open to a wide range of entity types, subject to any clarifications in the full FOA). It was posted in late October 2016 with an original closing date in early January 2017, and it falls under the R&D funding activity category with CFDA number 81.135. Applications and concept papers were required to be submitted through ARPA-E's eXCHANGE system, and the full requirements and submission instructions were provided through the FOA hosted on ARPA-E's website.

• The Department of Energy, Advanced Research Projects Agency Energy in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "PNDIODES" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 81.135.
• This funding opportunity was created on Oct 27, 2016.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 04, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,500,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 6 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for DE FOA 0001691

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: