GaN-on-diamond wafers handle the heat

Group4 Labs has developed the world's first 2in gallium-nitride-on-diamond semiconductor wafer.

Group4 Labs has developed the world's first 2in gallium nitride (GaN)-on-diamond semiconductor wafer.

The new 2in version of the recently introduced 10 x 10mm GaN is the second product in the company's Xero Wafer family.

Sharing the same breakthrough technology, the larger GaN-on-diamond wafer also features a single GaN layer (2in diameter) atomically attached to a synthetic diamond substrate (also 2in diameter).

This permits unprecedented high temperature resilience for very high-power high-frequency electronic, solid-state white lighting, military and photonics applications.

The 2in wafer is ideal for use in the conventional epitaxial growth of GaN and its aluminium and indium-based alloys.

The company's innovative technology enables the GaN layer to be atomically attached to a free-standing, proprietary, polycrystalline chemical-vapour-deposited (CVD) diamond substrate (25um thick).

The GaN exposed is an atomically smooth surface finish that is epi-ready for further epitaxial deposition.

The device is commercially available as a freestanding 2in wafer or optionally on a disposable, silicon substrate to permit easy handling during wafer processing.

Group4 Labs' proprietary GaN-on-diamond technology addresses the classic heat problem plaguing the high power and high-speed transistor industry: excessive heat build-up inside the chip's engine that ultimately leads to device failure.

The new material system offer a unique solution by extricating heat from the chip's core almost at the instant that it is generated.

This is due to the nanometre proximity of the chip's active region to diamond, a nearly perfect thermal conductor.

CVD diamond's thermal conductivity is about 3x to 30x more than that of conventional semiconductors.

Just a 3x improvement in the thermal conductivity of a transistor array's substrate could boost the array's power-density by 10x to 100x depending on device configuration.

Group4 Labs' scientists have, for the first time, successfully attached a 2in gallium nitride compound semiconductor to the tough-to-handle diamond substrate.

According to Group4 Labs' CEO, Felix Ejeckam: "This wafer is a 2in extension of what we introduced last month".

He continues: "It's specially targeted to makers of power amplifiers (for cellular basestations), microwave and millimetre-wave circuits, UV laser diodes and ultra-bright blue/green/white LEDs who want tremendous power and thermal performance at little or no additional cost, compared with currently available semiconductor solutions".

The new GaN-on-diamond 2in wafers are currently sold for $5000-$7000 per unit (depending on quantity) through the company's online store.

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