News: Suppliers
20 July 2020
BluGlass commissions largest commercial-scale RPCVD system
BluGlass Ltd of Silverwater, Australia (which was spun off from the III-nitride department of Macquarie University in 2005) has commissioned the largest remote-plasma chemical vapour deposition (RPCVD) manufacturing platform to date. The BLG-500 commercial-scale RPCVD system has been retrofitted onto a modern-generation manufacturing platform, the AIX-2800G4 metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system from Germany-based Aixtron SE. The commissioning forms a major part of BluGlass’ commercial scaling activities.
BluGlass is commercializing RPCVD in the global laser diode, LED and micro-LED industries. The firm’s patented hardware and processes offers semiconductor manufacturers unique performance advantages due to RPCVD’s low temperature and hydrogen growth conditions.
Completed in collaboration with Aixtron, the new planetary deposition platform is capable of deposition on 6 x 6-inch wafers or 42 x 2-inch wafers. This is several times the capacity of the previous largest RPCVD system, the BLG-300, capable of 1 x 6-inch or 19 x 2-inch wafer deposition. Now named the BLG-500, the new platform features dual axes of rotation to improve deposition uniformity of the thin-film properties across revolving and rotating wafers.
“The BLG-500 is the culmination of an enormous two-year design and build project to transform our unique R&D-scale technology to one with commercial manufacturing capability,” says managing director Giles Bourne. “This step is critical to the future success of the company. The 500 is not an incremental next generation of our RPCVD platform, it is instead a radically re-engineered design to deliver ultra-precision uniformity and deposition quality at commercial scale”.
The commissioning of the commercial-scale RPCVD system is a “significant technology demonstration milestone in the commercialization of the low-temperature growth platform,” says the firm. The BLG-500’s large scale will significantly increase BluGlass’ foundry customer output capacity at its Silverwater manufacturing facility. Performance testing and optimization on the new system continues before the BLG-500 can start to contribute to the product development roadmap for laser diodes and LEDs.
“I’d like to acknowledge the incredible work and dedication of the BluGlass team, specialist consultants and the collaborative support from Aixtron, all of whom have helped deliver this important milestone,” concludes Bourne.
BluGlass wins AMGC grant to develop large-scale plasma deposition source
