II-VI and SemiSouth develop SiC epiwafers
The team plan to begin sampling 2-inch diameter SiC epiwafers containing layer structures up to 20 microns thick, with a wide range of n- and p-type doping (from 5e15 to 1e19 cm-3).
The epiwafers are designed for the fabrication of ultra-high power transistors and rectifiers. These devices are are key building blocks for DC-DC converters, high-power density and high-frequency power electronics, and high-frequency radar transmitters.
"We believe that close collaboration with SemiSouth has enabled both companies to make rapid progress in technology development and will ultimately lead to a lower cost of manufacturing," said Thomas Anderson, general manager of the Wide Band Gap Materials Group at II-VI.
Anderson said that II-VI obtains valuable feedback from the epitaxial material growth and device work provided by SemiSouth. “This helps us rapidly improve the material quality of our SiC substrates and tailor the substrate to meet specific requirements of SemiSouth’s epitaxial process."
“This joint development program is helping us develop our merchant epitaxy business, as well as accelerating the development of epitaxy technology,” said Jeff Casady, president and CTO of SemiSouth.
Because of the relatively high cost and early stage of both the SiC wafer and epitaxy technologies, Casady feels that the joint effort will greatly boost the products of both companies, leading to to lower costs and faster market growth for the SiC electronics industry.
The development of this technology is strongly supported by the U.S. Government. Since July 2000, SemiSouth and II-VI have received numerous major programs from AFRL, Title III, MDA, Navy EOC and ONR with a combined total of more than $10 million which have been focused on technology development, process improvement and process scale-up.