News: Suppliers
4 February 2025
AlixLabs collaborates with Linköping University
AlixLabs AB of Lund, Sweden — which was spun off from Lund University in 2019 and has developed the Atomic Layer Etching (ALE) Pitch Splitting technology (APS) — has entered into a research collaboration with Linköping University on gallium nitride (GaN) and indium nitride (InN) deposition and etch, strengthening not only their own respective expertise in RF and power electronics but also aligning with the Swedish semiconductor sector.
“Our goal is to widen our research portfolio beyond deposition to etching, which is AlixLabs’ specialty,” says Henrik Pedersen, professor in inorganic chemistry at Linköping University. “During our initial research phase, we found that we have the same plasma etch equipment in our university labs as AlixLabs has at its home base in Lund, meaning we can run research in parallel,” he adds. “We look forward to exchanging information and know-how, especially in an all-Swedish collaboration.”
The resulting research should help to strengthen AlixLabs’ offering for RF and power semiconductors, which the European Union (EU) has labeled as critical for its climate goals. The firm is a participant in the GaN-centered, Infineon-led project All2GaN (‘Affordable smart GaN IC solutions for greener applications’), which underpins the EU’s ambitions to achieve climate neutrality by the year 2050.
“Our goal is to find ways to qualify our processes for use in materials beyond silicon, and we found significant synergies between our labs with regards to GaN and InN,” says AlixLabs’ CEO & co-founder Jonas Sundqvist.
Beyond leading-edge semiconductors, for which AlixLabs’ flagship APS process caters, the power electronics market is expected to grow significantly until the end of the decade, with Yolé Developpement forecasting annual growth in revenue from power GaN devices of over 40% through 2029.
“Our etching processes have found a lot of interest among clients in the power electronics field,” notes Sundqvist. “Ideally, our processes will have something to offer all players, no matter which semiconductor material they wish to process.”
AlixLabs debuting 300mm APS wafer processing equipment at SEMICON Japan
AlixLabs gains €345,000 grant from Swedish innovation agency Vinnova
EU Intellectual Property Office grants trademark registration for AlixLabs’ APS process
