Deposition equipment maker Aixtron SE of Aachen, Germany says that Japanese manufacturer Showa Denko has qualified its most recent system for manufacturing silicon carbide (SiC) epitaxial wafers. The new AIX G5 WW (Warm-Wall) chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system is configured to handle 8x150mm and 12x100mm SiC substrates. The firm says that it is currenty the largest production system available on the market, enabling highest throughput and lowest running cost per wafer.
Picture: Aixtron’s AIX G5 warm-wall CVD system.
Showa Denko began the transition from 4-inch (100mm) to 6-inch (150mm) production in 2013 and is now expanding its 150mm SiC capacity with Aixtron equipment. The 150mm SiC technology provides opportunities for a significant reduction in production costs, says Aixtron.
The AIX G5 WW system was qualified by Aixtron’s Japanese service and process team by meeting the tight time schedule of the customer: after installation in first-quarter 2014, the equipment was released for production in the first half of April.
The SiC growth process demands on-wafer temperatures of up to 1600°C. Due to the Planetary design concept (where each individual wafer rotates under a horizontal laminar flow of precursors during the processing), the AIX G5 WW delivers superior uniformity, says Aixtron. As a result, the system provides precise process control of layer thickness and dopant uniformity with a very low SiC defect density, hence meeting high-production requirements, adds the firm.
Silicon carbide high-power devices are enabling energy-efficient power electronics systems. Ranging from 600V to 3.3kV, SiC transistor and diode devices are used in power supplies and designed into DC-DC converters, inverters for the solar industry and power converters for traction applications.
