Aixtron announces Partnership in EU UltimateGaN project
Consortium develops energy-saving chips for renewable energy, electric mobility and CO2 reduction
Deposition equipment company Aixtron has announced its partnership in the European research project UltimateGaN (Research for GaN technologies, devices and applications to address the challenges of the futureGaN roadmap).
The €48 million UltimateGaN is one of the largest current European research projects in the field of semiconductor development. The financing is made up of investments by industry, subsidies from the individual participating countries and the ECSEL Joint Undertaking (Electronic Components and Systems for European Leadership).
In addition to Aixtron, 25 other companies and institutions from nine countries have come together to research the next generation of energy-saving chips based on the semiconductor material GaN over the next three years. The aim is to make these power semiconductors available for a wide range of applications at globally competitive costs. The project thus makes an important contribution to greater energy efficiency and CO2 reduction.
The focus is on further miniaturisation, high quality and globally competitive costs for GaN devices. High current densities, the effect of electrical fields, and material stresses and stabilities must be taken into account. As a result, the research will take a holistic approach with the entire value chain in focus – from process development, design, assembly and packaging technologies to integrated system solutions. The consortium of partners from academia and business is therefore equally broadly based.
Aixtron is contributing its expertise as a supplier to the semiconductor industry and in the production of GaN to the research project: The production of high-quality wafers using MOCVD technology, from which the chips for further research are cut in the next production step, is carried out on Aixtron equipment at the Infineon plant in Villach (Austria).
"Energy efficiency is one of the world's most important factors in reducing the usage of limited energy resources. By developing intelligent technologies, we are making a key contribution to the global challenge of climate change. New materials and efficient chip solutions play a key role here. With this research project, we are creating the conditions for making innovative energy-saving chips available for many future-oriented everyday applications," says Felix Grawert, president of Aixtron SE. "GaN semiconductor devices are revolutionising energy use on many levels," explains Michael Heuken, VP R&D at Aixtron SE.
"The research project opens up an enormous global market potential. It enables better performance and efficiency in a wide range of applications and significantly improves user comfort. Efficient operation of servers and datacentres, fast and wireless charging of smartphones, data exchange between machines in real time, or lightning-fast video streaming become reality."
