News Article
GTAT reveals SiC furnace for 100mm wafers
The company's latest product line targets growth opportunities in the silicon carbide power electronics market
GT Advanced Technologies has launched its new SiClone100 SiC production furnace.
The SiClone100 uses a sublimation growth technique capable of producing high quality semiconducting bulk SiC crystal that can be finished into wafers up to 100 millimetres in diameter.
SiClone100 furnace
In its initial offering, the SiClone100 is targeted at customers that have developed their own hot zone, qualified a bulk crystal production recipe and are looking to begin volume production.
"GT's new SiClone100 furnace addresses the need in the power electronics industry for more high quality SiC material for use in advanced, high power, high frequency devices," says Tom Gutierrez, GT's president and CEO. "The SiClone100 lays the foundation for our SiC product roadmap that is expected over time to provide customers with access to a complete production environment including recipes, hot zones and consumables capable of producing up to eight-inch SiC wafers."
GT has leveraged its crystal growth technology to offer customers who are looking to move from lab to fab a reliable platform to begin volume production of SiC bulk crystal.
The SiClone100 furnace is equipped with a state-of-the-art control system, which helps to automate the growth process by integrating the furnace electronics into the human-machine interface (HMI) control.
The tool uses a bottom loading design making it easy to load the hot zone. The control system provides increased flexibility for users to customise process recipes and control key production parameters such as temperature, profile, ramp and gas flow, which improves run-to-run control repeatability thus helping to lower manufacturing costs. GT's onsite engineering and support help customers quickly ramp to volume production.
The company continues to expect SiC furnace sales to contribute to less than 1 percent of its calendar year 2013 revenue and expects the SiC revenue ramp in 2014 and beyond to develop at a gradual pace given the lengthy design cycle associated with new power devices.
