AMMONO Launches Fabrication Of 2-Inch Semi-Insulating GaN Substrates For Space Application

AMMONO S.A., the manufacturer of high quality gallium nitride by ammonothermal method, succeeded in development of a new type of highly resistive 2-inch AMMONO-GaN semiconductor crystals. The crystals possess a high structural quality, confirmed by narrow X-ray diffraction rocking curves (20 arcsec) and large curvature radius (reaching few hundred of meters). The resistivity, estimated by capacitive and microwave methods, is at least 1010 Ω cm, proving extremely isolating properties of the new material. The crystals were successfully used for production of 2-inch highly-resistive substrates. The work was performed in frame of European Space Agency PECS programme “Low Dislocation GaN for Space Applications” under contract number 4000108320/13/NL/KML and supervision of dr Andrew Barnes (ESA).

New type of AMMONO highly resistive material is our response to the specific demands of the future semiconductor materials used in space technology.

“Our new semi-insulating AMMONO-GaN substrates – said Marcin Zając PhD, senior scientist and project coordinator at AMMONO - enable efficient epitaxy and processing of GaN-based High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs). High substrate resistivity prevents from parasitic current leakage in lateral transistors, which is necessary for a proper operation of the final device. Moreover, it is expected, that the offered very low dislocation density of the AMMONO-GaN substrate and epitaxial device structure is a key issue in device reliability, which is essential for the application of the developed material in space electronics -transistors for RF communication, radars, DC-DC power converters, high efficiency solar panels and many others”.

The detailed parameters and measurement results were presented at the ESA 7th Wide Band Gap Semiconductor and Components Workshop 11-12 September 2014, ESA-ESRIN, Frascati (Rome), Italy, by dr Marcin Zając.

AMMONO is interested in establishing commercial and scientific collaboration, both in frame of the domestic and international projects. For further details please contact our team.

About AMMONO
AMMONO S.A. is a Polish semiconductor company founded in 1999. On the basis of a proprietary patented technology it has developed a unique ammonothermal gallium nitride manufacturing method. Today AMMONO is the world leader in extremely low dislocation gallium nitride substrate manufacturing, exporting its products world-wide. Main applications of GaN are next generation of high power electronics, optoelectronics and detectors. AMMONO has won the prestigious Compound Semiconductor Industry Award for the best product in 2012 and has been ISO9001 certified since 2009.

About ESA
The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. It is an intergovernmental organization, created in 1975, with the mission to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space delivers benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Poland joined the European Space Agency in 2012.