News: Suppliers
11 March 2021
Epiluvac supplies CVD reactors to Polish institute
Epiluvac AB of Lund, Sweden – which was founded in 2013 and produces silicon carbide (SiC) chemical vapour deposition (CVD) systems used in power device research – has received the first order for two new CVD systems in a double configuration. Designed with Epiluvac ER3 reactors for 8-inch wafer epitaxy of silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN), the CVD systems will be used by Lukasiewicz Research Network Institute of Microelectronics and Photonics in Warsaw, Poland, for R&D on new materials technology.
“The reactor development started years ago in cooperation with Linköping University,” says Epiluvac’s chief technology officer Roger Nilsson. “During the last years, we have refined the design into a brand-new platform. From the beginning, it is designed for 8-inch wafers; that requires new solutions for controlling the temperature profile and gas flow concentration over the large wafer,” he adds. “It has also the unique feature that it allows two or more systems to be put together to a WBG [wide-bandgap] multi-reactor CVD system. This multi-system approach allows the user to optimize the chemistry in each and every reactor, thereby achieving a very high yield.”
The systems are equipped with an automatic robotic wafer handler interfacing both reactors. To increase production capacity, the wafers are pre-heated and cooled down outside the reactor. Epiluvac offers a turnkey solution, including support to get the system up and running with basic epitaxial growth. The new ER3 also includes a patented feature where the wafer bow is minimized. Optionally, customers can add in-situ measurements for GaN.
“There is a huge potential for sales of this new platform to the semiconductor industry,” reckons chairman Dr Rolf Elmér. “The new wide-bandgap (WBG) semiconductor materials are used to produce more efficient power electronics devices. These devices are used in, for example, electrical vehicles, transformers for solar cells and smart micro-power grids.”
Sweden's Epiluvac launches as manufacturer of SiC CVD equipment
