UK-based Plessey Semiconductors is to lead a £1.3m UK government-funded project in conjunction with Aixtron Ltd (the UK subsidiary of deposition equipment maker Aixtron SE of Herzogenrath, near Aachen, Germany) and Bruker Nano Surfaces Division (which has an office in Coventry, UK). The project will accelerate high-volume manufacturing of Plessey's LEDs created with GaN-on-silicon technology at its manufacturing site in Roborough, Devon.
In accordance with an announcement on 26 March from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, 20 supply chain projects from across the UK will benefit from a total of £67m of government investment in relation to the Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative (AMSCI), a funding competition designed to improve the global competitiveness of UK advanced manufacturing supply chains and encourage major new suppliers to locate in the UK. In addition, £109m is being invested in the same projects by industry. Specifically, Plessey Semiconductors is receiving a grant of £1m as part of the £1.3m project with Aixtron Ltd and Bruker Nano Services. The project should create up to 55 jobs and safeguard 2 jobs.
"This project supports the work we have ongoing with Aixtron and Bruker to further increase the yield of our GaN-on-silicon process," says Plessey's chief technology officer Dr Keith Strickland. "These improvements are required as part of our move to 200mm (8-inch) silicon substrates," he adds. "A 200mm (8-inch) wafer has almost twice the usable area of our existing 150mm (6-inch) wafers and therefore will almost double the number of LEDs produced for the same relative cost."
