Mar 3 2006
An encouraging start into the year 2006 is Epistar’s purchase of five gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxy reactors: The brand new AIX 2800G4 Planetary Reactor with 42x2" capacity and four units of the AIX 2600G3 Planetary Reactor with 24x2" capacity. Revenues generated from this order are expected to be recorded fully in 2006.
Following a recent merger with UEC, Epistar has become one of the world’s largest single LED epi-based manufacturers. The company is a leading manufacturer of Ultra-High-Brightness LEDs for applications such as cellular phones, automotive lighting, full color screens and displays, traffic signals and indicators for electronic equipment. Epistar’s high speed LEDs are also used as lighting sources in the fiber-optics industry.
The new AIX 2800G4 system is AIXTRON's latest development and its Planetary Reactor, with the largest capacity (42x2”) commercially available, offering more than double the capacity of any competing model. The reactor was developed in-house in response to customer demand for even larger single-run capabilities for the cost-effective production of UHB LEDs. The reactor design is based on AIXTRON’s ‘integrated concept’ (IC) including a redesign of most of the components of the reactor system as well as the reactor cell itself. Key features include a compact footprint, improved maintenance, easier operation and handling, improved reliability and reproducibility compared with previous reactors.
The AIX 2600G3 HT MOCVD (metal-organic chemical vapour deposition) epitaxy reactor family represents the most successful high temperature system for GaN-based materials available worldwide. The two-flow horizontal Planetary Reactor is recognized as the most widely used multiwafer MOCVD reactor for compound semiconductor applications. Its unique proprietary reactor concept allows laminar gas flow without turbulence for precise control of the material composition and achievement of ultra-sharp interfaces. Ultra-high uniformity along with high growth efficiency on multiple 2" or 4" wafers is achieved through wafer rotation with AIXTRON's patented Gas Foil Rotation.