Nov 23 2007
Technologies and Devices International, Inc. (TDI), a privately held Maryland corporation, announced today that it has been awarded a United States Patent, US 7,279,047 B2, the latest in a series of patents that cover new and innovative production equipment for the manufacturing of low-defect nitride semiconductor materials, particularly bulk gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) substrates. The new patent, titled "Reactor for extended duration growth of gallium containing single crystals," pertains to a crystal growth machine for the fabrication of GaN and AlGaN single crystal materials using a modified hydride vapor phase epitaxial (HVPE) process.
This new production tool allows long lasting high growth rate process for high quality GaN and AlGaN single crystal materials. GaN substrates are required for the fabrication of high performance blue and green light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes (LDs), while AlGaN substrates are needed for optoelectronic devices operating in ultra violet (UV) optical spectral region.
"I am excited to see our intellectual property expanded by this new patent," says Vladimir Dmitriev, President and CEO of TDI. "This equipment will enable significant improvements in quality, stability and efficiency of crystal growth technology. It will be applied to fabrication of a variety of products including multi-wafer manufacturing of free-standing and bulk GaN substrates, particularly for Solid State Lighting applications. Fabrication of low-cost low-defect GaN substrates is the key for rapid penetration of Solid State Lighting in the Global lighting market."
The patent adds to TDI's intellectual property portfolio which includes more than 30 issued and pending US and international patents and covers crystal growth methods, growth equipment, and materials invented at TDI for various compound semiconductor materials as well as various epitaxial device structures.