News: Microelectronics
3 September 2020
IGaN establishing $73m GaN Epi Centre by mid-2021
Following what it says are demonstrated successes in pilot lines of customers, Singapore-based IGSS GaN Pte Ltd (IGaN) – which develops and commercializes gallium nitride-on-silicon/silicon carbide (GaN-on-Si/SiC) technology – is setting up an Epi Centre as a combined commercial and global joint lab for 4-8” metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of GaN.
With IGaN, its holding company IGSS Ventures (IGSSV) and select partners investing US$73m to expand GaN epi production capacity and mass production of 8” GaN fabrication technologies, the GaN Epi Centre should be operational by mid-2021.
The Epi Centre aims to capitalize on demand from applications such as power and renewable energy, 5G wireless communication and data centres, which require high switching frequencies, efficient energy management and the ability to perform under high power densities.
The Epi Centre brings together customers, universities, research institutes and tool vendors to collaborate on the future development of GaN technologies, as the quality of epiwafers is critical to GaN device manufacturing, notes Raj Kumar, IGaN’s CEO and founder of IGSSV.
“What the industry lacks today is a concerted effort to enhance the overall GaN ecosystem to lower cost barriers so that technology adoption can happen at the pace the market is moving,” says Kumar. “We projected more than nine years ago that, at 8” wafer dimensions, GaN-on-Si capabilities become a competitive and powerful solution to create the right balance between superior performances and cost competitiveness. A commercial centre and joint lab hosting several top specialist brands and leading vendors is a timely market response to creating strategic partnerships that fast-track innovation, growth and customer value,” he adds. “Capitalizing on the recognizable Singapore brand, second-to-none IP standards, its known semiconductor infrastructure and IGaN’s in-house expertise, I truly believe we can set standards, create benchmarks and lead the global movement in GaN adoption.”
IGaN credits its roots in the proprietary GaN-on-Si growth recipe resulting from hundreds of millions of dollars of research by various research institutes and university groups in Singapore over 14 years. The firm itself subsequently spent six years refining the technology and going beyond its original licensing capabilities, securing multiple partnerships focused on strengthening its capacity to supply 8” GaN-on-Si epiwafers.
“Singapore’s existing semiconductor environment, strengths and industry framework form an instrumental base to develop an ecosystem for niche technologies,” reckons Raj. “Case in point for us is IGaN’s collaboration with Nanyang Technological University. Established to develop a GaN manufacturing technology that can be adopted by existing silicon wafer fabs to produce high-volume and low-cost GaN products, such partnerships and our global customer base have paved the way for the eventual realization of our Epi Centre vision next year.”
