26 May 2011

Kyma launches AlGaN templates, with 5µm epi-ready buffer

Kyma Technologies Inc of Raleigh, NC, USA, which provides crystalline gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) materials and related products and services, has added aluminum gallium nitride (AlGaN) templates to its product portfolio.

Kyma developed the product in collaboration with a partner as part of an ongoing advanced mid-UV LED technology research project. However, AlGaN templates also have great potential to impact other applications, including high-power RF communications and high-power switching electronics.

Kyma’s initial AlGaN template product offering consists of a 5µm-thick epi-ready Al.9Ga.1N buffer layers grown on top of a 2”-diameter sapphire substrate. Additional compositions and thicknesses will be offered in the future.

“Transistors based on AlN/AlGaN heterostructures have already been demonstrated which outperform their GaN counterparts in high-temperature operation that is required for uncooled automotive applications,” says chief technology officer Ed Preble. “Our AlGaN templates should support a further boost in transistor performance, since they support lower-defect-density active regions when compared to typical MOCVD or MBE buffer layers grown on SiC [silicon carbide] or sapphire substrates,” he adds.

“Our engineers have accomplished a lot very quickly and have already demonstrated high-Al-content crack-free AlGaN layers over 10µm thick,” says president & CEO Dr Keith Evans. “We aren’t stopping there. Our goal is to get up to 100µm within the next six months and to demonstrate free-standing AlGaN in 2012.”

In future, the firm plans to expand its AlGaN template range to other combinations of Al-content, AlGaN thickness, substrate diameter (e.g. 3” and 4”), and substrate composition (e.g. silicon and SiC).

“It is still an early product, and we are seeking customer involvement to help us understand how it plays out in their device research and how we might further improve it,” notes technical sales engineer Tamara Stephenson.

See related items:

Kyma awarded over $400,000 by NC Green Business Fund

Tags: Kyma AlGaN

Visit: www.kymatech.com