Soitec and Silian partner on HPVE GaN templates

Soitec semiconductor materials supplier for the electronics and energy industries, and Chongqing Silian Optoelectronics Science & Technology Co., Ltd. (Silian), supplier of materials, devices and systems for the lighting industry, have partnered to jointly develop gallium nitride (GaN) template wafers using hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). The resulting GaN template wafers present breakthrough cost savings in manufacturing LEDs. The companies' joint development agreement aims at validating manufacturability and enabling the commercial jee of GaN template wafers using Silian's sapphire substrates and Soitec's HVPE technology. The partner companies plan to begin sampling GaN template wafers this year. Chantal Arena, VP and GM of Soitec Phoenix Labs, where the HVPE technology was developed, said, "Our strategy was to use production-proven silicon epitaxy equipment features and add our innovative gallium source and delivery system to create a high productivity HVPE equipment. We then successfully developed high growth rate processes, that combined with our low cost precursor leads to a more cost effective GaN template than the ones produced by MOVPE (metal organic vapor phase epitaxy)." "With our extensive sapphire substrate manufacturing expansion activities in China," added David Reid, COO of Silian, "We are very well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity and offer these high quality templates in a cost effective manner to our sapphire substrate customers." "Development of HVPE technology introduces a revolutionary business model and allows LED makers to free up as much as 60% of their MOVPE capacity. LED makers can now focus on improving the more custom-designed layers that make up the light-emitting part of an LED," notes André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, Soitec president and CEO. "We are exploring the possibility of expanding our cooperation with Silian into the field of LED lighting, leveraging Soitec's expertise in epitaxial growth developed by our Soitec Phoenix Labs subsidiary in Arizona." Chairman Xiaobo Xiang of China Silian Instruments Group, Silian's holding company concluded, "Soitec and Silian have very attractive complementary technologies. Therefore, we look forward to exploring with Soitec the mutual beneficial business opportunities offered by the vast markets of materials, LEDs and lighting." www.soitec.com www.sicc.com.cn