Oct 27 2004
Technologies and Devices International Inc. (TDI) a privately held Maryland corporation, today announced a revolutionary technical breakthrough by fabricating the industry’s first 6-inch diameter GaN epitaxial materials. 6-inch diameter GaN-on-sapphire epitaxial wafers were fabricated at TDI using it’s patented hydride vapor phase epitaxial (HVPE) process and equipment. Demonstration of large area GaN epitaxy opens a new horizon for the entire nitride community, including substrate manufacturers, device designers, producers of epitaxial and device processing equipment.
GaN is a high performance compound semiconductor material used for the fabrication of blue spectrum (blue, green, ultra violet and white) light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs), and high power/high frequency transistors for radar, wireless communication, and space electronics. White LEDs, in particular, are the focus of intense development by major optoelectronic manufacturers to replace traditional forms of illumination, including the common incandescent light bulb. Blue LDs are key elements for the upcoming generation of giant capacity DVD/CD and optical drives. The GaN device market is one of the fastest growing technical markets worldwide. According to Strategies Unlimited, the market it is projected to exceed $4B in 2007.
Although there is a strong development and commercialization effort for GaN devices around the world, current industry standard is 2-inch diameter epitaxial wafers with R&D effort in 3- and 4-inch sizes. Transitioning to larger substrates will tremendously benefit GaN device performance and economics. The most common substrate material for GaN epitaxy is sapphire.
“It is general semiconductor industry mainstream to reduce production cost and improve device performance and yield by increasing wafers size. We are proud to lead nitride technology to more competitive and economical solutions,” said Vladimir Dmitriev, president and CEO of TDI. “This result became possible due to our collaboration with Rubicon Technology, Inc., a U.S. based company, which supplied the 6-inch polished sapphire substrates, and with U.S. Departments of Commerce, Energy, and Defense, who provided the financial support through several R&D programs directed to developing a new generation of GaN epitaxial technology. This demonstration of 6-inch GaN epitaxy is a specific result of the Phase I SBIR program recently awarded to TDI by the Missile Defense Agency”.
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