GaN Overview

Gallium nitride (GaN) is often referred to as the “final frontier of semiconductors” for its physical attributes, its primary performance capabilities, as well as the placement of gallium and nitrogen at the extremes of the Periodic Table. GaN is a “III-V” compound semiconductor material (Gallium in Group III and Nitrogen in Group V) with a very wide bandgap and a correspondingly high bandgap voltage of 3.4 V. GaN’s physical nature includes:

>> High thermal conductivity;
>> High melting temperature;
>> Low dielectric constant; and
>> High breakdown voltage

This translates to fundamental performance advances in the area of high power, high frequency power transistors for RF transmission applications covering the 1-50 GHz band. As this band includes mobile communications; wireless local, metropolitan and wide area networking; point-to-point (LMDS) and point-to-multipoint (MMDS) microwave communications; and radar applications, GaN holds the promise of redefining the feasibility, cost and capabilities of the full range of radio communications technologies and systems.

Long recognized for its attributes, GaN has to date resisted the transition from “promising material” to “commercially viable manufacturability”. Silicon substrate material, for its cost, common availability and an established infrastructure for product packaging and assembly, is the goal for volume product of microelectronic GaN devices. The significant thermal expansion and crystalline structural mismatches between silicon and GaN induce substantial levels of tension in the GaN-Si interface. The key to the mass manufacture of GaN lies with growing an interface material between the GaN and silicon capable of absorbing and dissipating this tension. This is where the core of Nitronex’s intellectual property lies. Nitronex’s ability to develop and refine a GaN-Si interface suitable for commercial production-quality wafer yields is what sets the company apart from its competitors in the manufacture of GaN RF power devices.