News Article
Sandia Seeks Partnership Opportunity for GaN Lift-Off
The firm’s patent pending process involves a layer of silica microspheres being deposited over a GaN seed layer on an inexpensive substrate such as silicon and achieves a reduced defect density.
Sandia National Laboratories is seeking partners for commercializing a patent pending surface patterning technology for metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) growth of Gallium Nitride (GaN) and related materials which enables lower defect densities and facilitates liftoff of epitaxial layers.
Sandia says its technique may provide improved quality GaN material for applications in solid state lighting and high power transistors. A layer of silica microspheres is deposited over a GaN seed layer on an inexpensive substrate such as Silicon (Si).
As GaN is grown by MOCVD up through the interstices of the close-packed array of microspheres, strain is mitigated while threading dislocations bend and terminate at the microspheres, resulting in a uniform GaN layer with defect densities reduced by approximately two orders of magnitude over GaN grown on unpatterned surfaces in similar conditions.
The epitaxial layer can then be bonded to a thermally conductive material such as Aluminum Nitride (AlN) or diamond for superior heat sinking, and released from the native substrate by selective etching of the microspheres. The etch process is less expensive and works on a greater variety of substrates than current laser liftoff methods. The substrate may be potentially reused.
It is anticipated that commercial licenses may, on a competitive basis, grant exclusive rights in pre-negotiated, defined fields of use for reasonable consideration to qualified interested parties. Partnerships to commercialize this technology may also take the form of Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADAs) or nonexclusive commercial licenses.
Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory managed and operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corporation, for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration under Contract DE-AC04-94AL85000. SAND# 2011-0008P
