News

10 November 2009

 

Sumika boosts epi foundry capacity to meet GaAs HBT demand

III-V epiwafer foundry Sumika Elecronic Materials Inc of Phoenix, AZ, USA (a subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd) says that it is installing an additional Aixtron 2600 G3 MOCVD epi reactor to address growing demand for its compound semiconductor epitaxial deposition services (mainly for high-frequency ICs for wireless communications).

“Our capacity expansion is in response to the steadily increasing demand we’re seeing for our gallium arsenide epi wafer services from producers of HBT (heterojunction bipolar transistor) devices and other microelectronics requiring compound semiconductor materials,” says Ken Campman, general manager of Sumika Electronic Materials’ epi operations. “These customers are ramping up their orders for epi wafers that meet their needs for repeatability and stability, especially in terms of gain performance – a key requirement in processing advanced HBT devices.”

Market research firm Strategy Analytics estimates that the global semi-insulating GaAs epitaxial substrate market (merchant and captive) will be 21.1 million square inches in 2009, and will grow at a projected compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6% to 26.6 million square inches in 2013.

Sumika says that the Aixtron reactor can be easily integrated into its existing installed base, which includes several other 2600 G3 systems as well as other epi reactors from multiple equipment suppliers.

The firm’s 150mm epi foundry in Phoenix has been in operation since the its formation when Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd acquired ATMI’s GaAs epiwafer business in 2003. The foundry also provides III-V epi services to manufacturers of discrete semiconductor components, pHEMTs (pseudomorphic high-electron-mobility transistors), LEDs, and solar cells for CPV (concentrated photovoltaic) systems.

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