Ozark Integrated Circuits Wins Energy Award for Geothermal Electronics

Provided by Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc.

The team at Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc., a technology firm located at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park, has received a $155,000 Small Business Innovation Research award from the Department of Energy to provide integrated circuits on data collection systems in geothermal wells.

The Fayetteville-based company has also extended its technology license with the NASA Glenn Research Center and its silicon-carbide fabrication process for creating integrated circuits to help monitor and control systems at temperatures near 500 degrees Celsius. The circuits are able to operate in extreme environments like the surface of Venus or inside a jet engine.

For the past year, Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc. has worked with Glenn to develop a process design kit for circuits that can operate for thousands of hours in extremely high temperatures. The kit included high-fidelity models, design rules and best practices for developing more complicated circuits.

"Such design kits enhance the beneficial use opportunities for these developmental and uniquely durable integrated circuits," said Phil Neudeck, a NASA developer.  

In addition to jet engines, NASA is interested in developing electronics suitable for the surface of Venus, which has a temperature of approximately 460 degrees Celsius, and recently tested electronics systems that can operate for 22 days at this surface condition. The U.S. Air Force is also provided research funding to Ozark Integrated Circuits for the packaging of these electronics in jet engines. 

The Department of Energy award is a significant step in the company's strategy to commercialize its NASA-funded technology. It strengthens the company's long-term investment in silicon carbide and multi-year collaboration with Alan Mantooth, Distinguished Professor at the University of Arkansas, and the U of A's Mixed-Signal Computer Aided Design Laboratory. Ozark Integrated Circuits began as a spinoff from research conducted in Mantooth's laboratory.

Geothermal energy is an attractive, carbon-free form of energy that could meet 10 percent of America's energy needs. The Department of Energy is interested in exploring best methods of harnessing energy from these wells. One problem is extreme temperature; the deeper a geothermal well, the hotter the temperature.

"Reliable data logging is needed to determine what is happening inside the well and to ensure the stability of the well," said Matt Francis, CEO of Ozark Integrated Circuits. "Typical electronic systems cannot operate at temperatures above 225°C without expensive thermal insulation systems — and even then, can only operate for a few hours."

The new award will allow Ozark Integrated Circuits to develop high-temperature data logging electronics for geothermal wells that can operate at 300-500 degrees Celsius for long periods with little or no thermal insulation, said Ian Getreu, the company's director of business development. The electronics will extend exploration into deeper wells and eliminate or simplify of expensive thermal insulation systems, which will significantly reduce the cost of data logging and maintenance to the wells.

"The oil and geothermal exploration market is an obvious first application of this expertise and technology, since the environment inside deep wells is similar to the Venus surface environment," Francis said.

About Ozark IC: Ozark Integrated Circuits Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company spun out of research at the University of Arkansas and is headquartered at the Arkansas Research and Technology Park. Its expertise consists of design of analog and mixed-signal integrated circuits for extreme environments — high and low temperatures and radiation.

About the University of Arkansas: The University of Arkansas provides an internationally competitive education for undergraduate and graduate students in more than 200 academic programs. The university contributes new knowledge, economic development, basic and applied research, and creative activity while also providing service to academic and professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the University of Arkansas among only 2 percent of universities in America that have the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the University of Arkansas among its top American public research universities. Founded in 1871, the University of Arkansas comprises 10 colleges and schools and maintains a low student-to-faculty ratio that promotes personal attention and close mentoring.