News Article
Kyma expands AlN template manufacturing capacity
The firm's aluminium nitride based templates act as a replacement for bare and patterned sapphire substrates by manufacturers of blue, green, and white LEDs.
Kyma Technologies has expanded its AlN template manufacturing capacity for both sapphire and silicon based AlN template products.
Kyma’s AlN templates are manufactured using its patented plasma vapour deposition of nanocolumns (PVDNC) technology, which provides LED manufacturers with throughput, cost, and performance benefits.
The expansion of Kyma’s AlN PVDNC template manufacturing capacity is based on successful customer qualification of products fabricated in its newest high volume PVDNC reactor, the commissioning of which was announced by the company earlier this year.
LED customer feedback indicates significant improvements in LED brightness, reverse voltage, and electrostatic discharge yield. Similar benefits have been previously verified using Kyma’s lower volume manufacturing tools which the company has used since it was founded in 1998.
Kyma has also qualified the tool for production of PVDNC AlN on silicon wafers. Several customers report improved device properties for both RF and power switching applications.
Kyma says qualification of this new tool was not a small task and that its design is totally new compared to earlier designs, with key design changes targeting improved tool uptime, shorter process cycle time, and better process repeatability and uniformity.
“We are pleased to qualify our new reactor for both sapphire and silicon based PVDNC AlN template products,” said Heather Splawn, Kyma’s Chief Operating Officer. “Doing so represents not only a significant boost to our manufacturing capacity; it also validates our improved tool design approach which should prove beneficial for our continued expansion plans going forward.”
Kyma believes that the market for nitride semiconductor devices is estimated to be $9B in 2011 and is expected to reach $90B over the long term, including $60B in visible lighting applications and $30B in power electronics applications.
