We would like to keep you up to date with the latest information on CS International 2022 by sending you push notifications.
Presentation at CS International 2022 are grouped into 5 key themes which collectively provide complete coverage of the compound semiconductor industry.
If you are interested in speaking at CS International 2022, please contact info@csinternational.net or call +44 (0)24 7671 8970.
As 5G communication migrates to mmWave FR2 bands and LEO (low earth orbit) satellite communication becomes reality, a DUV stepped defined fine line gate (Lg < 1.5um) pHEMT technology greatly enhances the throughput and is more suitable for a high volume mmWave IC production to meet the future demands in 5G and beyond era. Leveraged by UMC’s advance stepper lithography technique, Wavetek (an UMC subsidiary) developed a DUV stepper defined pHEMT T-gate technology in 2018 and successfully released that into production. An excellent threshold uniformity and reproducibility has been consistently achieved in production ever since. This achievement should lead the industry to reconsider the approach to realize an accelerated pHEMT production to meet future demand
The IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) released their sixth assessment report in August 2021 and the report paints a catastrophic analysis of our current climate, along with several increasingly dystopian views for the future. The main culprit for this view is Carbon Dioxide emissions created by energy generation. This presentation will address some of the results creating this concern, along with a discussion of how 5G and 6G networks are addressing the energy consumption issues. The presentation will close with discussion of how the advantages of compound semiconductors will enable these future, greener networks.
5G presents many opportunities for MMIC designs using compound semiconductor processes, especially at mmWave frequencies. High performance and cost-effective components are required to fulfil the potential of the mmWave (FR2) 5G bands. PRFI, a UK design house, has designed numerous components targeting 5G applications, including power amplifiers, low noise amplifiers, RF switches and front-end modules. The presentation will describe how this work started with GaAs MMICs and has expanded into using GaN-on-SiC as suitable processes have become commercially available. Measured results of 5G-suitable MMICs will be presented, and some of the key challenges associated with the design, simulation, and packaging of these ICs will be discussed.
II-VI is enabling multiple current market and technology megatrends, from the digital transformation of information networks, convergence of communications, computing and sensing, to vehicle and industrial electrification and the growth of a green power infrastructure. Thanks to our vertical integration structure and capabilities, starting from the base materials and moving up through processing and component integration, we are relentlessly building broader and more innovative solutions to serve these high growth markets. Ranging from GaAs and GaN based devices for RF electronics, optoelectronics and 3D sensing devices, to SiC substrates, devices and modules for Power electronics, II-VI continues to work at furthering our mission of enabling the world to be safer, healthier, closer, and more efficient. In this talk, we will present the latest developments from our ion implantation foundry which provides state-of-the-art services in this current and unprecedented fab environment for compound semiconductor manufacturers. We will review general innovation trends currently seen in ion implantation for compound semiconductors, such as heated ion implantation, damage engineering and the use of channeling mechanism. We will also discuss how our tailored ion implantation and engineering support, from design and simulation through processing enables CS device manufacturers to remain at the forefront of innovation.
Directly modulated lasers are cost-effective optical transmitters with low power consumption. We present two of our developed lasers. The first is membrane lasers on SiO2/Si for silicon photonics. The power consumption is 100-fJ-class per bit due to the large optical confinement. The bandwidth reaches 30 GHz but is limited by the thermal problem coming with low-thermal-conductivity SiO2. The latter, membrane lasers on SiC, are for beyond 400GbE. The high-thermal-conductivity and low-refractive-index SiC resolves the thermal problem while maintaining the optical confinement, resulting in 60-GHz bandwidth. This indicates that SiC is adaptable for not only high-power electronics but also laser technology.
Cyanide-based gold plating baths continue to be used in manufacturing today despite toxicity considerations. One practical driver is, of course, the significance of product requalification upon switching out electrolyte. Sulfate-based gold baths are formulated to produce higher nominal plating rates than cyanide-based baths and so legacy applications using cyanide-based baths also face productivity concerns. This paper summarizes work performed at a major manufacturing site to drive plating rates of an established production process well beyond standard plating rates, enabling increased production capacity. The effort combined fundamental exploration of electrochemical behavior of the bath in non-standard conditions with targeted empirical studies to identify straightforward reactor configuration changes that would enable a much faster process.
Electron Enhanced Material Processing EEMP™ Systems provide compound semiconductor device manufacturers with new processing capabilities, including, high throughput atomic layer etching, atomically smooth polishing, and stoichiometry-preserving, damage-free etching and cleaning at room temperature without cooling for small research substrates up to 300mm production wafers. VelvEtch EEMP Systems utilize a unique, asymmetrical bias-signal to pull discrete, wafer-scale, waves of precisely controls electrons from a DC plasma to drive excited-state surface chemistry reactions at material-specific, electron-energy dependent thresholds to deliver processing results that open up new opportunities to improve device performance and reduce device costs.
For new display applications like AR/MR/VR, light-field and transparent displays micro LEDs are the key contender. Their unique ability to enable super high PPI and brightness levels while being incredible small, super energy efficient and flexible to assemble in many different ways makes them indispensable for the next generation of displays. However, manufacturing maturity, yield and cost of micro LEDs is so far lagging behind requirements. In order to overcome these hurdles, micro LED display manufacturing needs to utilize the superior manufacturing excellence, high yield and low unit cost only the silicon industry offers with its 200 mm and 300 mm fabs. ALLOS Semiconductors is providing 200 mm and 300 mm micro LED epiwafer technology which can be used seamlessly in the silicon industry’s fabs. In this presentation ALLOS looks at the latest breakthroughs in bringing 200 mm and 300 mm GaN-on-Si epiwafers into production for unlocking the micro LED display revolution.
Cost-effective probing of MicroLEDs in mass-production presents a new series of challenges associated with the greatly increased quantity and density of devices per wafer, specifically regarding measurement time, spatial resolution, and wafer throughput. Here we present a cost appropriate probing solution for wafer level metrology of MicroLEDs, specifically designed to address the need for post-frontend device verification.
Porous semiconducting nitrides are effectively a new class of semiconducting material for use in devices such as light-emitting diodes. Porosity provides new opportunities to engineer properties including refractive index, and thermal and electrical conductivity. Sub-surface porous gallium nitride (GaN) is conventionally created by forming deep trenches using a dry-etching process. Porotech has developed a novel alternative etching process that can be mass-produced for commercial applications. This enables the creation of a variety of sub-surface porous architectures on top of which a range of devices may be grown, from light-emitting diodes to single photon sources – and now native red InGaN microLEDs.
Avicena is developing highly parallel LED based optical link technology for chip-to-chip interconnects in HPC, Cloud computing, and processor-to-memory disaggregation applications. The technology is based on arrays of novel GaN high-speed microLEDs, leveraging the LED display ecosystem, and Si based PDs integrated into a single CMOS chip and connected with multi-core fiber bundle. At energy efficiency of 10Tbps/mm2 @ < 0.5pJ/bit combined with excellent reliability over the industrial temperature range of -40°C to +150°C this new class of optical interconnects eliminates the inherent power, reach and interference limitations of electrical links in chip-to-chip communications.
GaN-based LEDs have established themselves over the last three decades as the dominant light source for the automotive sector up to general lighting. In contrast to these large-area highperformance LEDs, microLEDs (µLEDs) with dimensions of 1 to 50 µm are becoming increasingly interesting, mainly driven by developments in display technology. Beyond this application purpose, many other applications can be derived and have been proven by QubeDot’s SMILE Platform. SMILE is an acronym for “Structured Micro Illumination Light Engine” and covers our microLED array product range with different pixel counts and sizes, wavelengths and intensities. All light sources are directly driven via computer and pattern creation works out of the box. Technical details of these SMILE platforms and pilot application examples on how to utilize them within each application will be presented in the talk.
µLED displays can challenge LCD and OLED with better performance, efficiency and lifetime but adoption is limited by high costs. Using simple equipment fluidic assembly can build 4K displays in minutes. eLux produces high yield and uniformity by removing weak LEDs before assembly. Defects mapped by micro-photoluminescence are captured so only known good die are harvested for assembly. Fluidic assembly is gentle so excess µLEDs are recycled and the combination of selective harvest with recycling enables near 100% utilization of µLEDs. Low-cost high yield assembly using known good die is a route to economic mass production of µLED displays.
µLED displays can challenge LCD and OLED with better performance, efficiency and lifetime but adoption is limited by high costs. Using simple equipment fluidic assembly can build 4K displays in minutes. eLux produces high yield and uniformity by removing weak LEDs before assembly. Defects mapped by micro-photoluminescence are captured so only known good die are harvested for assembly. Fluidic assembly is gentle so excess µLEDs are recycled and the combination of selective harvest with recycling enables near 100% utilization of µLEDs. Low-cost high yield assembly using known good die is a route to economic mass production of µLED displays.
ICs in today’s automobiles are subjected to stringent quality as chip reliability is critical to both vehicle safety, performance and function. The automobile industry requires a zero-defect strategy, with a target to achieve ≤1 defect/million. KLA’s portfolio of solutions enable process development and effective process control to meet this zero-defect strategy. With solutions covering semiconductor wafer quality, processing, defect inspection and metrology needs, you will be able to inspect and find critical defects, measure critical process attributes and fine tune your production processes to achieve yield targets that meet automobile reliability and safety requirements.
Since the high-volume Tesla Model 3 electric vehicle (EV) adopted SiC devices in 2017, SiC technology, cost, supply chain and applications have continued to evolve. Yet there is a concern about SiC wafer supply, pushing multiple players to expand their capacity. Nevertheless, major SiC material players are moving to the device level. That’s because there is now strong traction for SiC discrete devices, and increasingly modules, in end systems in industrial, automotive and energy applications. As such, even as the pandemic has caused semiconductor shortage issues elsewhere, SiC has continued to ramp up production. EVs and hybrid EVs are taking off, while battery systems transition from 400V to 800V. We expect SiC growth to further accelerate and revolutionize our daily lives. Meanwhile, from supply chain integration and capacity expansion to technology innovation, what are the latest changes and where are SiC players going?
Silicon carbide belongs to the hottest topics of the power semiconductor industry at the moment, mainly driven by their potential to serve green energy solutions, the substantial progress in device and material quality as well as related double-digit annual revenue growth rates. The presentation will sketch more details of the historic developments as well as the key aspects for future growth which is expected in industrial and automotive applications as well. A key ingredient for future success is the right interface between chip and system and thus, selected package options will be highlighted.
Data demand and Automotive electrification continue to drive adoption of WBG and all forecasts are very enthusiast about further penetration of SiC and GaN into Silicon incumbent power markets . Power Supplies and power inverter leads the demand volume together with Data Servers. To sustain the current adoption acceleration , critical check points must be met in regards to material performance, cost and availability. We will present how AIXTRON is addressing those with dedicated SiC and GaN high throughput Epitaxy solutions, including scaling to 200 and 300mm and how these contribute to maximize wafer production in customer existing factories
The demand for Silicon Carbide (SiC) power devices is expected to grow fast in the next decade, driven by the mass adoption of electric vehicles (EV). However, the number of suppliers, especially at the material level (SiC ingots, bare wafers and epiwafers) is still very limited. Furthermore, the market is largely dominated by Japanese, US and European players. Yet, the patenting activity covering the whole SiC supply chain shows that many more players are striving to get ready for SiC demand to take off. Importantly, Chinese players are not standing still, and the patent landscape analysis draws a first picture of a complete domestic supply chain emerging in China.
Currently, compound semiconductors have attracted a lot of attention as post-Si semiconductors in various fields such as high frequency, light, and power devices become more popular. Among them, vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) are now key optical sources in gigabit ethernet high-speed optical-area networks and computer links due to their low threshold current and small structure. In our presentation, Panasonic will introduce the latest developments in dry etching processes for various compound materials such as GaAs, GaN and SiC. In addition, the latest trends in technology of GaAs plasma dicing for VCSELs will be reported.
Historical development of VCSEL technology started in 90s using 2’’ GaAs substrates and it led companies to consecutive adoption of 3’’, 4’’ and 6’’ epitaxial wafers into volume production. This was driven by continuous increase of the VCSEL die size and a growth of overall VCSEL market volume. For the last couple of years, research showed that Ge wafers have a number of advantages with respect to GaAs VCSEL wafers: lower wafer bow and flatness, absence of dislocation and significant prospects for cost reduction. In this work, we detail out the comparison between Ge and GaAs substrates for the VCSEL application, show our breakthrough in the development of ultra-low resistivity 8” n-type Germanium wafers and elaborate on how Ge wafers enable VCSEL processing in semiconductor foundries.
In this talk we will show, how state-of-the-art metrology can be applied along the manufacturing chain of optoelectronic devices, such as VCSELs, edge-emitting lasers and LEDs. We begin with in-situ metrology, applied for process control during MOVPE-growth. In a second step, we will show how post-epi wafer mapping provides additional uniformity information. Finally, as a third step, we will show examples of in-situ metrology during the subsequent plasma-etch process. It will be shown that especially the knowledge of metrology results from earlier steps allows for a much deeper understanding and that the combination of metrology results from different steps is key for a more comprehensive process control.
In recent years, there has been tremendous improvement in the performance of blue-emitting vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), and they are now on the cusp of commercialization. Here we will summarize state-of-the-art results and outline the main challenges in what comes next, namely extending the emission wavelength into the ultraviolet (UV) region. UV lasers are sought after for applications in sterilization, UV curing of materials and sensing, but have so far been difficult to realize. Our method, involving simultaneously achieving high-reflectivity mirrors and good cavity length control by selective electrochemical etching, has been essential in demonstrating the world’s first UV-B VCSEL at 310 nm. But what are the challenges to going even shorter in wavelength, and is there a limit?
The TRUMPF technology platform ViBO – VCSEL with integrated Backside Optics - revolutionizes the VCSEL technology for sensing and illumination applications. The idea of ViBO is to integrate all relevant functions, provided nowadays by an extra package, directly into the VCSEL chip. ViBO is characterized by lenses which are directly etched into the GaAs substrate. This enables a breakthrough in miniaturization. At the same time the lenses enabling extraordinary freedom of design for optical designers. The optics are monolithically integrated on wafer level, what guarantees life-long laser safety and renounce additional interfaces. The product platform allows tailored illumination for consumer or automotive applications and enables the addressability of multiple zones on a chip.
IQE has developed a novel VCSEL technology that offers lower manufacturing costs and higher production yields, entitled IQGeVCSEL™. Conventional growth of VCSELs on large diameter (150 mm) GaAs substrates is somewhat compromised by epitaxial wafers exhibiting significant bow and warp, typically in excess of 200 µm. This large bow/warp is an inherent consequence of the lattice mismatch between the GaAs substrate and the AlGaAs constituents of the thick VCSEL DBR layers, resulting in significant residual compressive strain in the epitaxial stack that deforms the final wafer. This extreme bow and warp translates to higher VCSEL chip cost due to increased yield loss and additional processing steps required to flatten the wafer. VCSELs grown on Ge substrates we have eliminated this problem because the lattice parameter of Ge sits almost midway between those of GaAs and AlAs. Substituting a Ge substrate for GaAs for this application virtually eliminates the strain that causes this bow and warp. High performance 940 nm VCSELs grown on 150 mm diameter Ge substrates exhibit epi wafer bow and warp values
The majority of high-power applications at microwave frequencies is still dominated by vacuum tube technology due to its maturity and power scalability. In recent years, a growing number of system operators has started the transition towards solid-state powered solutions, mostly employing GaN-based devices. Operating GaN HEMTs at voltages of 100 V ore even beyond that, permits substantially higher power densities than those achieved by commercial devices. Raising the supply voltage also changes the I-V characteristics of the device in favour for the high-power circuit designer. These combined virtues allow for a reduction of matching network losses and, ultimately, for the realisation more compact and efficient systems.
High voltage GaN power devices continue to evolve, reaching toward higher power ranges supported by SiC solutions. This presentation introduces the industry’s first viable 1200V GaN HEMT switches with fast-switching and low-loss for applications using 3-phase and 750 VDC or higher, such as EV drives, EV charging, PV inverters, and general industrial PSUs. The 70 milliohm HEMT uses GaN-on-Sapphire to achieve the high breakdown voltage required for 1200V and streamlined, low cost wafer manufacturing when compared to alternatives like GaN-on-Bulk GaN or QST type substrates research approaches. Attendees will gain insight into the 1200V switch’s architecture and performance, which shows excellent 900:450V buck converter efficiency of >99% at 50kHz.
Equipment manufacturers need to deliver new generations of thin film deposition systems with flexibility to address future requirements of GaN HEMT manufacturing process and reduce overall production costs. Having a solid understanding of the material performance requirements, whether intended as a diffusion barrier, an ohmic contact or a Schottky barrier, is essential. This then provides the basis to configure production solutions delivering the specific electrical, mechanical, and structural properties needed for each particular layer in the GaN HEMT manufacturing process. Suitable combinations of process technologies can then be integrated into a single cluster platform for best production efficiency. Processes already characterized and tested thoroughly by the equipment manufacturer before final delivery ensures rapid start up and entry into production.
Conformal and pin-hole free thin films enable existing and new nanomaterials for future technologies. Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is unrivaled for gas-phase deposition of conformal, dense, well-adhered, pin-hole free thin films to non-line-of-site structures. This talk will cover the tradeoffs in ALD between uniformity and speed in thin film processes, development of the “ALDx” technology to conformally coat high surface area nanofeatures at 100% step coverage, at speed of greater than 10 nm/minute, and some topical examples of applications for ALD technology on compounds semiconductor devices. ALDx thus enables the viability of conformal ALD coatings, with device relevant film properties, in multiple device applications within the compounds semiconductors field.
Today’s rapidly evolving end-market application segments have centered on several key areas of future growth: the increased mobility of consumer applications, electric vehicles and 5G communications. At the core of each of these market segments are a class of GaN-based devices more specifically known as high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). These devices are indispensable in applications ranging from onboard charging in EVs to fast-charge adaptors in the mobile computing and cell phone markets to high-speed, high-power switches in base stations enabling 5G communications. Developing this class of energy-efficient device technologies requires state-of-the-art measurement and inspection technologies for precision in materials development. This presentation introduces Onto Innovation and discusses how its metrology and inspection measurement technologies, together with ecosystem software products, enable wafer measurement and real-time feedback and control of the process equipment used in the development of GaN-based technologies in high-volume manufacturing (HVM) processes.
Gallium Nitride-based devices are making rapid progress in the market for power electronics due to their superior performance and conversion efficiency. Power devices based on GaN have been adopted in fast chargers for mobile devices and are seeing increasing adoption in power supplies for consumer electronics, data centers, communication infrastructure and electric vehicles. Critical in the manufacturing of GaN Power devices is the MOCVD technology for epitaxial deposition of Gallium Nitride and related films. This technology must deliver on the industry’s stringent performance requirements of thickness, composition, doping uniformity, and low defectivity while reducing costs via high throughput, yield, and low operating expenses. A large operating process space (in terms of pressure, temperature, and growth rates) is needed for optimization of device stacks, with excellent boundary layer control over the full process range. To support the industry’s transition to 200mm Silicon substrates for next generation devices and the roadmap to 300mm Silicon substrates, Veeco has made single wafer reactor technology accessible for 200mm and 300mm substrates with the Propel HVM® and Propel 300® systems, respectively. This advanced single-wafer MOCVD capability will be discussed in this presentation.
GaN technology has been making inroads into many RF and power management applications over the past years. Devices based on GaN/SiC and GaN/Si epiwafer technology have become fundamental to enable step-change performance improvements on system level. Especially if integrated on large-diameter Si substrates, it is possible to scale-up GaN technology at tier1 Si foundries and IDMs. In the past years Soitec has developed an optimized GaN/Si epiwafer technology to address 5G infrastructure and handset as well as power switching markets. Learn about how Soitec's latest GaN epiwafer technology combined with engineered SOI substrates can further push the limits.
GaN technology is forging ahead rapidly as it becomes a true contender for power-conversion cham across a wide spectrum of applications. Whereas GaN still shares some unique properties with silicon carbide (SiC), the other member of the WBG family, its distinctive features make it suitable for addressing new market needs. Among other features, GaN devices can operate at far higher frequencies than any other semiconductors available today permitting designers to significantly miniaturize electronic systems; GaN processing allows monolithic integration owing to compatibility with silicon-based CMOS processes; it can be processed in 8” (200mm) facilities exploiting most existing fab equipment. End applications include portable power supplies and chargers, solar inverters, and OBC and DC-DC converters for the next generations of EVs. Low-voltage GaN HEMTs, from broadly 100V to 200V, can also address today’s power-hungry data centers, enabling significant gains in efficiency and 48V hybrid systems.
Large scale monolithic integration of Gallium Nitride (GaN) transistors as well as heterogenous integration of GaN devices with other emerging materials are of increasing interest because of their potential applications in harsh environment electronics, power electronics, RF, space electronics and avionics. One of the major bottlenecks, to realize this dream is the non-existence of a high-performance p-channel GaN device. This talk will focus on the potential integration technology of GaN and its opportunities and challenges. In particular, the presentation will highlight the progress made in the design and realization of a high-performance GaN p-FET over the last couple of years.
TBA
The industrial manufacture of GaN substrates is a difficult process characterized by low yields due to defect propagation. Improving yield is paramount for scaling substrate production to meet the increasing international demands for high powered electronics. A key factor in yield improvement in processing is real-time feedback from inspection tools to assign causality and subsequently improve the manufacturing process. Therefore, the industry requires a standardized set of critical defects for the industry to monitor. Agreeing upon these standard defects will enable the inspection tool manufacturers to develop a more focused set of tools and methodologies to better serve the compound semiconductor industry. The report presents our current list standard defects, the methodology of detection, and potential improvements in inspection technology.
The world's need for power electronics continues to grow, and GaN will have its place in the power ecosystem. Vertical device architectures enable the highest powers in Si and SiC and the same is true in GaN. True vertical devices must be grown on bulk GaN, which also yields the highest quality material and better device reliability. GaN is much lower cost when thick drift regions are grown with faster growth rates and chemically pure precursors afforded by Hydride Vapor Phase Epitaxy (HVPE). Kyma’s HVPE technology is being utilized for thick, lightly doped drift regions for nascent vertical power device manufacturers.
We would like to present specific solutions from SEMILAB's wide variety of metrology portfolio for compound material characterization. The presentation focuses on non-contact and non-destructive methods' applications in process monitoring. Through relevant use cases, our goal is to highlight the importance of metrology systems at compound semiconductor related production facilities.
GaN is projected to be a $1b market by 2030 and is a critical enabling technology in some very high growth markets like automated vehicles and datacentres. There are two routes to achieving more efficient, higher operating temperature, smaller, lighter and lower cost power semiconductors – pGaN HEMTs and also GaN MISHEMTs. In his presentation, Frazer will focus on atomic layer processing solutions to create both of these next-generation GaN Power devices. He will discuss the newest developments for our atomic layer deposition low damage, high-quality dielectrics and passivation layers, and share our technology solutions for accurate, controlled atomic layer etch for pGaN HEMTs and GaN MISHEMTs.
