Ammono S.A. of Warsaw, Poland, which produces bulk gallium nitride (GaN) using ammonothermal technology, has announced that it is partnering with Kyma Technologies Inc of Raleigh, NC, USA and MicroLink Devices of Niles, IL, USA in two novel projects related to power electronics.
Based on proprietary patented technology, Ammono has developed low-dislocation GaN substrate manufacturing, exporting its products worldwide (with the main applications of GaN being high-power transistors, lasers, and LEDs).
Kyma provides crystalline gallium nitride (GaN), aluminum nitride (AlN) and aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) materials and related products and services. MicroLink specializes in metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of semiconductor structures for use in wireless communications devices, and the fabrication of advanced solar cells for space, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), and terrestrial use.
“Those two partnerships are based on the development of new concepts, which explore the quality of our low-dislocation GaN and allow new, better and more economic devices,” says Ammono’s chief commercial officer Piotr Wiliński.
Funded by the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) SWITCHES program (‘Strategies for Wide-Bandgap, Inexpensive Transistors for Controlling High-Efficiency Systems’), both projects aim to find innovative ways to lower the cost and improve the efficiency of power electronics.
“Participation in ARPA-E projects shows the recognition of US industrial players for the breakthrough potential of our products,” says Wiliński.
Ammono says that its GaN wafers will enable Kyma to produce low-cost, high-performing boules needed for power semiconductor manufacturing. Currently, growing boules from GaN seeds is slow, expensive and inconsistent, which negatively impacts manufacturing yield and electronic device performance. Kyma will select the highest-quality GaN seeds and use its proprietary hydride vapor phase epitaxial (HVPE) growth process to rapidly grow the seeds into boules while maintaining high crystal structural quality and purity.
“We are excited to win the support of ARPA-E to help Kyma and Ammono explore the natural synergies of our respective GaN crystal growth technologies,” says Kyma’s president & CEO Keith Evans.
Using Ammono’s GaN wafers, MicroLink aims to develop an innovative method to remove the transistor structure from the wafer without damaging any components. In conventional manufacturing processes, this expensive wafer is permanently attached to the transistor and can only be used once. MicroLink’s method aims to facilitate wafer reuse while significantly reducing costs to engineer affordable, high-performance transistors needed for power conversion.
MicroLink develops manufacturable epitaxial lift-off technologies that reduce the cost and improve the performance of III-V semiconductor materials, the firm claims. “Ammono’s bulk GaN substrates are the ideal platform on which to grow high-quality epitaxial GaN material,” comments MicroLink. “We look forward to working with Ammono to develop new technologies that will significantly reduce the cost of providing GaN epitaxial device structures with very low dislocation density.”
