30 March 2016

Kyma adds gallium oxide epiwafers to product portfolio

Kyma Technologies Inc of Raleigh, NC, USA (which provides crystalline nitride materials, crystal growth and fabrication equipment, and power switching electronics) has added β-Ga2O3 epitaxial wafers to its growing range of advanced materials.

Crystalline beta gallium oxide (β-Ga2O3) is a promising wide-bandgap semiconductor (WBGS) material due in part to its large bandgap of 4.8-4.9eV, its high breakdown field of 8MV/cm, and its high dielectric constant of 10 which, together with its electron mobility of up to 300cm2/V-s, translate to a high-voltage Baliga figure of merit (HV-BFOM) that is more than 3000 times greater than that of siliicon, more than 8 times greater than that of silicon carbide (4H-SiC), and more than 4 times greater than that of gallium nitride (GaN). Also, its high-frequency Baliga figure of merit (HF-BFOM) is ~150 times that of silicon, ~3 times that of 4H-SiC, and 50% greater than that of GaN.

Benefiting from a long-time collaborative partnership with leading scientists in the Sensors Directorate of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Kyma's technical team recently began developing processes for the growth of β-Ga2O3 on a number of substrates including homoepitaxial growth on commercially available bulk β-Ga2O3 substrates. The team has so far demonstrated high growth rates (>3μm/hr) and high-quality epilayers of several microns in thickness. Undoped films show semi-insulating behavior, and n-type films appear to be well behaved, with electron concentrations in the range 1017-1018cm-3. More detailed characterization of these materials is ongoing.

Kyma believes that β-Ga2O3 represents a new frontier in the continuous search for higher-performance semiconductor devices. "It is exciting to be able to leverage our core competencies to address this exciting newcomer to the advanced semiconductor materials and device technology space," says CEO Keith Evans.

Tags: Kyma Ga2O3

Visit: www.kymatech.com