II-VI and Sumitomo collaborate on 150mm GaN-on-SiC HEMT production

Engineered materials firm II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA has announced a strategic collaboration with Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Device Innovations Inc (SEDI), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd, to establish a vertically integrated 150mm wafer fabrication platform to manufacture gallium nitride on silicon carbide (GaN-on-SiC) high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) devices for next-generation 5G wireless networks.

The race to deploy next-generation broadband wireless services is driving the development of scalable strategic supply chains with key enabling technologies, notes II-VI. The firm reckons that its expertise in 150mm compound semiconductor manufacturing combined with SEDI’s in GaN RF device technology should allow the parties to drive best-in-class performance, greater scale and competitive costs for 5G RF solutions.

“II-VI has invested aggressively to establish a world-class 150mm compound semiconductor manufacturing platform,” comments SEDI’s corporate director Keiichi Imamura. “Based on rapidly growing market opportunities, it was important to act now to evolve our long-standing commercial relationship into a full strategic relationship. We will leverage II-VI’s manufacturing platform to achieve economies of scale to enable us to meet the upcoming global demand for gallium nitride on silicon carbide HEMT devices,” he adds.

“This collaboration establishes a differentiated, vertically integrated value-chain solution that spans from substrates through RF modules,” says II-VI Inc’s president & CEO Dr Chuck Mattera (who describes SEDI as “the market leader in high-performance gallium nitride HEMT products for wireless communications”). “Coupling SEDI’s industry-leading HEMT device technology with our 150mm manufacturing platform will accelerate both companies’ wide-bandgap RF product roadmaps, as well as secure a leading technology and market position for many years to come,” he believes. “To be ready for the mass-production ramps, we are preparing a 150mm semi-insulating substrate manufacturing platform and expanding our Warren, NJ, device fab to add these core technologies to our growing optoelectronic device fab capability.”

II-VI serves the rapidly growing markets for wide-bandgap materials from its facilities in Pinebrook, NJ and Champaign, IL. The 150mm production facility in Warren, NJ is expected to be qualified for GaN-on-SiC HEMT production in mid-2020.

See related items:

II-VI Inc completes acquisition of Anadigics; updates quarterly outlook

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