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Press/news Product news AIXTRON and CrystalQ present 6-inch GaN-on-sapphire wafer
To achieve these conditions, a fabrication technology for 6-inch C-plane sapphire wafers needed to be developed that would ensure identical layer deposition results as with standard sizes like 2 inch and 4 inch. That is, a high yield for LED chip-manufacturers needed to be ensured. Therefore AIXTRON has introduced a flexible mass-production deposition equipment, the AIX 2800G4 HT reactor which is able to handle 6x6 inch sapphire wafers along with 2 inch wafers, while ensuring optimum uniformity of the epitaxy-layer growth.
With the same objective, sapphire wafer manufacturer CrystalQ has developed enhancements of the current, proprietary CMP-polishing process. Innovative fabrication tool design resulted in efficient handling and in controllability of roughness and flatness parameters of the of 6 inch C-plane sapphire substrates. Specific efforts have been put into reduction of the edge-exclusion zone to optimize the number of LED-chips per wafer. This particular development gained impressive results: the standard deviation of the wavelength on the photoluminescence map was 2,48nm (0,55%) without edge exclusion.
This development project also has resulted in implementing recycling processes (reclaiming) for 6 inch sapphire wafers, which reduces operational costs for white LED manufacturers.
The current wafer measurement reports show an excellent colour and light output performance as well as state-of the-art uniformities. This completed the joint R&D innovation project that AIXTRON and CrystalQ started mid 2005 within the framework of a European Union EUREKA collaboration.
According to CrystalQ, the project outcome promises a bright future for large diameter sapphire substrates being used for high-volume white LED production.
Press/news Product news AIXTRON and CrystalQ present 6-inch GaN-on-sapphire wafer
AIXTRON and CrystalQ present 6-inch GaN-on-sapphire wafer
Friday, 05 October 2007 09:04
Aachen, Germany / Stadskanaal, the Netherlands - AIXTRON AG and CRYSTALQ BV have presented initial test results of a 6 inch (150 mm) C-plane GaN-on-sapphire wafer. One way to increase the throughput of white LED manufacturing, while meeting the cost and yield targets, is to increase the wafer size. Currently, the standard wafer size in the industry is 2 inch and a limited group of high-end LED manufacturers have switched to processing 3 inch or 4 inch wafers. The feasibility of higher throughput requires up-scaling of existing technologies to 6 inch wafers and an attractive return on investment.To achieve these conditions, a fabrication technology for 6-inch C-plane sapphire wafers needed to be developed that would ensure identical layer deposition results as with standard sizes like 2 inch and 4 inch. That is, a high yield for LED chip-manufacturers needed to be ensured. Therefore AIXTRON has introduced a flexible mass-production deposition equipment, the AIX 2800G4 HT reactor which is able to handle 6x6 inch sapphire wafers along with 2 inch wafers, while ensuring optimum uniformity of the epitaxy-layer growth.
With the same objective, sapphire wafer manufacturer CrystalQ has developed enhancements of the current, proprietary CMP-polishing process. Innovative fabrication tool design resulted in efficient handling and in controllability of roughness and flatness parameters of the of 6 inch C-plane sapphire substrates. Specific efforts have been put into reduction of the edge-exclusion zone to optimize the number of LED-chips per wafer. This particular development gained impressive results: the standard deviation of the wavelength on the photoluminescence map was 2,48nm (0,55%) without edge exclusion.
This development project also has resulted in implementing recycling processes (reclaiming) for 6 inch sapphire wafers, which reduces operational costs for white LED manufacturers.
The current wafer measurement reports show an excellent colour and light output performance as well as state-of the-art uniformities. This completed the joint R&D innovation project that AIXTRON and CrystalQ started mid 2005 within the framework of a European Union EUREKA collaboration.
According to CrystalQ, the project outcome promises a bright future for large diameter sapphire substrates being used for high-volume white LED production.