Manufacturing of Semiconductors and Thin-film Integrated Coatings Parabolic Flight Testing (MSTIC)

MSTIC uses both PVD ( Physical Vapor Deposition) and CVD ( Chemical Vapor Deposition ) processes to deposit conductive material on to a wafer substrate for the purpose of generating thin film semiconductor devices. Manufacturing these films in microgravity may lead to more uniform crystal lattices through minimization of fractal formation from columnar growth and thickness uniformity of the films which improve conductivity and power efficiently and ultimately device performance.

Summary of Flight Test
2023-05-08, 2023-10-16, 2023-11-28, 2024-02-26 MSTIC has generated its first successful samples in microgravity, raised the hardware TRL, burned down risk and gained valuable process information that will applied to the flight hardware that is currently on the ISS. The most notable and potentially revolutionary aspect of MSTIC is its ability to leverage the unique conditions of microgravity for manufacturing. The potential for producing films with superior surface structures and the broad range of applications from energy harvesting to advanced sensor technology are particularly groundbreaking. This represents a significant leap in manufacturing and could herald a new era of technological advancements with wide-reaching implications for both space exploration and terrestrial applications.

Current State of the Art Semiconductor manufacturing is complex and costly. MSTIC can directly lay metal traces without the need for many costly chemical etching steps. MSTIC can also support sustainable exploration through manufacturing of in situ sensors and components. The ability to make sensors & components allows for redundancies for LEO, Artemis, and gateway missions, where a broken sensor would be costly and difficult to replace.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 4) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.