Sep 19 2006
Kyma Technologies, Inc. (Kyma) announced the addition of high quality gallium nitride (GaN) templates and aluminum nitride (AlN) templates to its growing single-crystal nitride semiconductor substrate product line. Both the AlN and the GaN templates are excellent substrates for use in building a broad range of high performance nitride semiconductor devices.
Kyma’s GaN templates are built on sapphire and are available in 2”, 3”, and 4” diameter. They exhibit industry leading low defect densities of ~ 1x107 cm-2 or lower and are epi ready with a very low surface roughness.
In the field of nitride semiconductors, “GaN template” refers to a composite substrate that in its simplest form is a thin layer of GaN deposited epitaxially on a foreign substrate such as sapphire or silicon carbide. The thickness of the GaN layer is usually between 10 and 250 microns.
Kyma’s AlN templates are available with a 1 micron thick layer of AlN deposited on sapphire and are also available in 2”, 3”, and 4” diameter. They represent an excellent substrate for production of several different types of advanced nitride semiconductor devices.
“Kyma’s nitride based templates offer a low cost substrate approach to achieving a dislocation density of 107 cm-2 while eliminating the need for expensive buffer layer processes that are difficult to control,” commented Dr. Ed Preble, Kyma’s VP of Engineering. “The use of our GaN and AlN templates offers customers an alternative to heteroepitiaxial growth on sapphire or SiC substrates.”
The AlN and GaN template product line is complimentary to Kyma’s native GaN substrate product line. Kyma’s native GaN substrate products are available with a dislocation density as low as 1x106 cm-2 and are well suited for demanding applications that require a dislocation density less than 1x107 cm-2.
Company president and CEO Keith Evans commented, “While we continue to invest in native GaN substrate manufacturing technology, which we believe represents the best long term solution for most if not all high performance nitride semiconductor devices, there is no denying the importance of template solutions in today’s market. It makes sense for Kyma to participate in this portion of the market and to take a leadership role going forward. The addition of GaN and AlN templates to our product portfolio is an important step in providing our customers with greater choice and further drives Kyma’s participation in and stimulation of the high performance nitride semiconductor device market.”
The manufacturing processes used by the company to make both the GaN templates and the AlN templates benefit from intellectual property (IP) exclusively licensed from North Carolina State University and additional patent-pending IP developed at Kyma.