Jul 19 2004
Nitronex Corporation, a pioneer in the development of Gallium Nitride (GaN) on Silicon technology, is pleased to announce it is now offering GaN epitaxial wafers for sale. By offering access to its material platform technology, Nitronex can help electronic device developers and manufacturers accelerate the adoption of GaN-based technology in their specific markets.
Because of its advantageous intrinsic properties, GaN-based materials have been the focus of intense development efforts for electronic devices in recent years. Currently, silicon carbide (SiC) and sapphire are the substrates of choice for certain GaN-based products. SiC and sapphire based GaN products have reached commercialisation in some markets, such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) and laser diodes; however, there remains a wide range of untapped opportunities for GaN technology and specifically GaN-on-Silicon technology. Some of these applications and markets include high temperature and hall sensors, switches, Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS), high frequency Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuits (MMICs), military radar and communications applications, as well as radio frequency (RF) power transistors.
“Growing GaN on industry-standard silicon provides several unique advantages to GaN device developers,” said Edwin Piner, Nitronex’s Director of Materials Engineering. “Using large-area, 100mm, silicon substrates provides the economic benefits of large wafer scaling, as well as cheaper wafer procurement costs in comparison to other substrates. These benefits, in addition to our patented process of growing high-quality GaN on silicon, are what will ultimately allow for widespread GaN-based device commercialisation.”
“We are very excited about making our patented SIGANTIC® process available to leading-edge companies by now offering GaN epi wafers,” said Christopher Rauh, Nitronex’s VP of Sales and Marketing. “We receive many inquires from organizations interested in developing various GaN-based devices and we realized it was time to exploit the technology we already had to help others build their next generation devices, just as we are doing with our commercial RF power transistors. This new offering is part of our overall strategy to be a promoter and enabler for the broad commercialisation of GaN devices into a variety of markets.”
For more information on gallium nitride, click here.