The Soitec Group (Euronext, Paris), a manufacturer of silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers and other engineered substrates for the semiconductor manufacturing industry, has announced a technology breakthrough using its proprietary Smart Cut™ layer-transfer and wafer-bonding technology. According to the company, it has generated the first single-crystal, thin-film gallium nitride (GaN)-on-insulator substrate -- representing a step forward in enabling the development of high-performance blue and white light-emitting diodes (LEDs), as well as for improving current and future device performance in radio-frequency (RF) and discrete power applications.

This technology was achieved in collaboration with Picogiga International, a Soitec Group division focused on the development and manufacture of compound semiconductor material solutions. Soitec's Smart Cut technology was used by the research team to split and transfer a thin layer of GaN from a high-quality GaN donor wafer onto a carrier wafer -- generating a single crystal GaN-on-insulator substrate.

The GaN development process is based on growing epitaxial layers of GaN on bulk substrates, such as silicon, silicon carbide and sapphire. RF power devices and high-volume market blue and white LEDs will experience technical limitations in terms of power or brightness that require new technology solutions. By creating GaN-on-insulator substrates with high- quality GaN topsides, Soitec provides the industry with a solution to enhance the quality and performance of the active epitaxial GaN layers, the company reports.

Contact: www.soitec.com