Technical Insight
Kyma receives SBIR GaN funding boost (Nitride News)
Crystal growth company Kyma Technologies (Research Triangle Park, NC) has received a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) contract for $750 000 to continue large area GaN bulk crystal growth R&D. Typical substrates for wide bandgap devices include sapphire and two inch SiC. Large area nitride-based wafers would offer manufacturers lower lattice mismatch compared to commonly-used sapphire or SiC substrates, as well as the potential to yield up to four times as many die per wafer by increasing the wafer diameter from two to four inches. To date, the two year old spin-off from North Carolina State University has sampled two and four inch AlN wafers and is also developing GaN substrates (see Compound Semiconductor November 2000, p13). Kyma says it is applying for additional contracts to support these research objectives, with a strong focus on both materials. In more news, Kyma Technologies has welcomed founder and CTO of RF Micro Devices , William Pratt, and former president and CEO of Integrated Silicon Systems, James Poitras, to its board of directors.
