BluGlass to open new Labs
$6 million investment will more than triple capacity and customer output in semiconductor process and equipment development
Australian semiconductor technology firm BluGlass will formally open its new Paul Dunnigan Laboratories on Monday 26 August 2019.
The laboratories represent an investment of over $6 million in equipment and associated infrastructure, and incorporate two new cleanrooms at BluGlass’ facility in Silverwater, western Sydney. They are named after BluGlass engineer, the late Paul Dunnigan, and will be opened by members of his family, and the City of Parramatta Lord Mayor, Councillor Andrew Wilson.
These laboratories will more than triple BluGlass’ capacity and customer output in semiconductor process and equipment development, and will deliver benefits in cost, scale and flexibility to the opto-electronics industry worldwide. This major facility expansion will help enable BluGlass to export its technology into these high-growth global markets.
BluGlass' Remote Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition (RPCVD) technology 'grows' semiconductor layers, at atomic levels to very precise tolerances. The process improves on the industry-standard alternative in a number of areas: it operates at cooler temperatures, replaces toxic and expensive ammonia with molecular nitrogen, and provides specialist electronics manufacturers with higher-efficiency devices at lower cost.
The new laboratories will host two new RPCVD platforms. The first of these systems, the BLG-300II, is now commissioned and has started semiconductor wafer growth runs using BluGlass’ patented RPCVD process. BluGlass aims to commission the second, a commercial-scale AIX 2800 G4, towards the end of calendar year 2019, in collaboration with global semiconductor equipment leader Aixtron SE of Germany. It will be Bluglass’ largest-ever RPCVD platform.
BluGlass targets a number of specialist global LED markets, including high-performance LEDs, automotive LEDs, microLEDs (use in devices such as smartphones, tablets, and AR and VR systems), and power electronics. Industry researchers estimate that the global LED market will be worth more than US$96 billion by 2024. (Source: Allied Market Research.)
Giles Bourne, CEO and managing director of BluGlass, said: “BluGlass continues to advance and expand our ground-breaking development to help create the LED technologies and applications of the future. These new laboratories allow us to expand our revenue-generating foundry services, continue our RPCVD development and its commercial applications, advance our industry partnerships, and build new production foundations for our continued negotiations with leading specialist electronics manufacturers around the world.
“These developments in western Sydney, first at Macquarie University and now in Silverwater, are proof that Australia can be a world leader in the development of the technologies of the future.”
Andrew Wilson said he was delighted BluGlass has opened its new labs in Silverwater. “These new laboratories are representative of the incredible calibre of research and development that is taking place in the City of Parramatta. I’m pleased to see BluGlass continuing to call Western Sydney home.”
