28 November 2011

Kyma expands AlN template manufacturing capacity

Kyma Technologies Inc of Raleigh, NC, USA, which provides crystalline gallium nitride (GaN), aluminum nitride (AlN) and aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) materials and related products and services, has announced the expansion of its AlN template manufacturing capacity for both sapphire- and silicon-based AlN template products.

Kyma says that market demand from blue, green and white LED makers is growing for its AlN templates as a replacement for bare and patterned sapphire substrates. The AlN templates are manufactured using the firm’s patented plasma vapor deposition of nanocolumns (PVDNC) technology, which provides LED makers with throughput, cost and performance benefits, it is claimed.

The expansion in AlN PVDNC template manufacturing capacity is based on customer qualification of products fabricated in Kyma’s newest high-volume PVDNC reactor, the commissioning of which was announced earlier this year.

Kyma says that LED customer feedback indicates significant improvements in LED brightness, reverse voltage, and electro-static discharge (ESD) yield. Similar benefits have been verified previously using the firm’s lower-volume manufacturing tools, which it has used since Kyma was founded in 1998. However, the design of the new tool is totally new compared with earlier designs, with key design changes targeting improved tool uptime, shorter process cycle time, and better process repeatability and uniformity.

As well as sapphire-based LED applications, Kyma has also qualified the tool for the production of PVDNC AlN on silicon wafers. Several customers have reported improved device properties for both RF and power-switching applications.

“We are pleased to qualify our new reactor for both sapphire- and silicon-based PVDNC AlN template products,” says chief operating officer Heather Splawn. “Doing so represents not only a significant boost to our manufacturing capacity; it also validates our improved tool design approach, which should prove beneficial for our continued expansion plans going forward,” she adds.

Tags: Kyma GaN AlGaN AlN GaN-on-Si template AlN-on-Si template PVDNC HVPE

Visit: www.kymatech.com