12 March 2013

Transphorm scales up to 200mm wafers with Aixtron AIX G5+ GaN-on-Si system

Deposition equipment maker Aixtron SE of Herzogenrath, Germany says that Transphorm Inc of Goleta, near Santa Barbara, CA, USA (which designs and delivers power conversion devices and modules) is stepping up production of gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) with its latest order (placed in fourth-quarter 2012) of a G5+ metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system, capable of handling five 200mm (5x8-inch) wafers, for delivery in second-quarter 2013.

Picture: Aixtron’s 5x8”-wafer G5+ MOCVD system.  

Transphorm says it is providing easy-to-embed power conversion devices and modules that reduce costly energy loss by more than 50%, at an affordable system cost. The firm’s GaN-based solutions aim to simplify the design and manufacturing of power supplies, PV inverters/power conditioners, motor drives, and electric vehicles.

“We are not just increasing our capacity with this order,” says Transphorm’s president Primit Parikh. “This new system also expands our capability from 150mm to 200mm diameter wafers, providing economies of scale. We are projecting lower costs of ownership with larger wafer diameters, allowing us to bring this transformative technology into much wider use,” he adds.

“When we developed the Aixtron G5+ system we had customers like Transphorm in mind,” notes Dr Frank Wischmeyer, VP & program manager Power Electronics at Aixtron. “GaN-on-Si is rapidly developing, and the industry expects commercial products in the near future,” he adds. “In order to be successful, GaN-on-Si needs to deliver the highest quality at the lowest cost of ownership. We have developed the G5+ to deliver extremely stable, uniform processing on multiple large-diameter wafer runs.”

Transphorm ordered its first Aixtron system (an AIX 2800G4 HT system in a 6x150mm-wafer configuration) in 2010. “Due to the performance of our existing system, we expect to be able to scale up to the larger-diameter wafers smoothly and quickly,” Parikh says. 

The AIX G5+ is based on the proven AIX G5 HT reactor platform. The stability and uniformity of results in this system enable higher device yields than for any other MOCVD platform on the market, Aixtron reckons.

See: Aixtron Company Profile

Tags: Aixtron MOCVD GaN-on-Si Transphorm High power converter

Visit: www.transphormusa.com

Visit: www.aixtron.com