News

24 October 2006

TDI to sample InGaN epi in early 2007, for small-scale production in Q3

Technologies and Devices International Inc (TDI) of Silver Spring, MD, USA is displaying InGaN epitaxial materials grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxial (HVPE) at the International Workshop on Nitride Semiconductors (IWNS) 2006 in Kyoto, Japan.

Depending on the material composition, devices containing the ternary compound InGaN can emit light over the whole range of the visible spectrum (from infrared from pure InN to UV from pure GaN). InGaN is currently used for the fabrication of violet, blue, and green LEDs, and in future could be used to develop yellow, red, and infrared LEDs. InGaN is also being used in laser diodes and high-frequency/high-power transistors, and is being considered for novel solar cell applications, for various types of sensors, and for extremely high-frequency transistors operating at thousands of gigahertz, says TDI.

However, currently the parameters and performance of existing InGaN-based devices, as well as prospects for the fabrication of future devices, are limited by InGaN material properties, says TDI, and new approaches to producing low-defect InGaN epitaxial and substrate materials with improved composition control are needed to overcome these limitations.

“We fabricate InGaN materials using a novel HVPE process," says senior crystal growth specialist Alexander Syrkin. "This method is well known for fabricating very low-defect GaN and AlN materials including bulk crystals.” TDI can now demonstrate InGaN materials fabricated by HVPE.”

“TDI is manufacturing and supplying a variety of nitride products including GaN, AlGaN, and AlN template substrates for blue and UV LEDs, and for high power transistor applications. The development of TDI’s HVPE technology for InGaN epitaxial materials [for the whole composition range] will help us to develop and commercialize novel advanced materials and device structures,” says president and CEO Vladimir Dmitriev. “One of our first target products is InGaN template substrates for green LEDs, currently suffering from low light-emitting efficiency,” he adds. TDI plans to start sampling InGaN epitaxial products early next year, with small-scale production scheduled for third-quarter 2007.

TDI’s work on InGaN epi growth was supported financially by the US Department of Energy through the Solid-State Lighting Program.

Picture: Photoluminescence spectra measured at 300 K for HVPE-grown InGaN layers, with various compositions emitting in the violet, blue and green spectrum regions.

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