II-VI Inc of Saxonburg, PA, USA says that the Advanced Materials Division of its Performance Products Segment in Pine Brook, NJ, which supplies single-crystal silicon carbide (SiC) substrates and CVD-grown polycrystalline diamond materials, exhibited what is said to be the first 200mm-diameter SiC wafer at the 2015 Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology (CS MANTECH) conference in Scottsdale, AZ, USA and the International SiC Power Electronics Applications Workshop (ISiCPEAW 2015) in Stockholm, Sweden in late May.
"This achievement is a direct result of our consistent focus on providing the market with leading-edge quality substrates at the diameters required to enable more cost-effective semiconductor device manufacturing," says II-VI Advanced Materials' general manager Dr Thomas Anderson. "The earlier introduction of our 150mm-diameter SiC substrates was extremely well received by our customers, and significant growth in the demand reflects market recognition of the improved economics of SiC device manufacturing at increased diameters," he adds. "Devices built on these substrates will be or are currently being utilized in a wide range of applications requiring high power density and system efficiency, such as electric vehicles, inverters for PV solar energy and other renewable energy installations."
The development program builds on years of work funded, in part, by the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), which focused on the manufacturing scale-up of II-VI's Advanced Physical Vapor Transport (APVT) SiC crystal growth technology as well as the development of fabrication, polishing and cleaning processes. These efforts have resulted in the achievement of quality material while at the same time increasing the diameter from 3" to 100mm, then to 150mm and now to the first 200mm SiC substrates.
"This 200mm SiC wafer demonstrates our market-leading crystal growth and fabrication technologies, as well as our commitment to respond to and work with our customers to ensure a smooth transition to the next generation of substrates," says Dr Andrew Souzis, director of business development. "We are dedicated to pushing the boundaries of SiC substrate technology to ensure that the market has the material it needs to make high-performance SiC-based devices both cost effective and widely utilized," he adds.
