SAN JOSE, Calif. — Propelled by a new wave of commercial and military applications, a growing number of device makers are scrambling in what is becoming the next gold rush in the industry: gallium nitride (GaN).
The wild rush in panning for GaN started last week, when Cree Inc. (Durham, N.C.) acquired Intrinsic Semiconductor Corp. (Dulles, Va.), a developer of silicon carbide (SiC) and GaN wafers, for $46 million.
Then, IC-equipment supplier sp3 Diamond Technologies Inc. (Santa Clara, Calif.) last week announced a $750,000 Phase II contract from the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for use in developing GaN-based silicon-on-diamond (SOD) devices. The project includes two subcontractors: Nitronex Corp. (Raleigh, N.C.) and TriQuint Semiconductor Inc. (Hillsboro, Ore.)
Another entity, EntreMetrix Inc. (Irvine, Calif.), recently formed a new venture — Advanced Nitride Devices — which will focus on the manufacturing of GaN and aluminum nitride (AIN) semiconductor materials and devices.
And on the device side, a growing number of compound semiconductor specialists and other entities have recently entered or expanded into the GaN front, including Eudyna Devices, Group4, IMEC, Matsushita, RF Micro Devices, TDI, Toshiba, TriQuint, among others.
In development for decades, GaN has suddenly emerged from the labs to become a primary component in higher-end LEDs. GaN is being used to make blue LEDs, thereby enabling next-generation Blu-Ray DVDs to hit the marketplace.
There is also a sudden interest in developing standalone GaN-based discrete parts. Targeted to replace conventional gallium-arsenide (GaAs) technology, GaN claims to possess a large heat capacity and wide bandgap properties, making it ideal for a range of fast-growing consumer and communications markets. And the military is quietly pouring millions of dollars in GaN R&D and contracts, it was noted.
"Gallium nitride is still in the nascent stage," said John Palmour, co-founder and executive vice president of advanced devices at Cree, a supplier of semiconductors and devices for the solid-state lighting, power and communications markets.
"The challenge for gallium nitride has been its reliability," he said in a recent interview. "And only in the last two years have you been able to go out and buy [standalone discrete GaN] devices."
Another stumbling block for GaN is the ability to manufacture the technology in volumes. Today's GaN devices are manufactured on 3-inch substrates and below, but some vendors are working on 4-inch (and above) GaN-based products as a means to cut costs.
Still, there's a mad rush to enter or expand into the GaN arena — and for good reason. The GaN-based device market is expected to grow from $3.3-to-$3.4 billion in 2005 to $3.5-to-$3.6 billion in 2006, according to Strategies Unlimited Inc. (Mountain View, Calif.). The total market for all types of GaN devices is expected to hit $7.2 billion by 2009, according to the research firm.
In fact, the number of companies and research centers with GaN activity has increased from 350 organizations in 2000 to over 500 entities in 2005, according to the firm.
