Descripción del proyecto
Nitruro de galio, el «nuevo silicio»
Los sistemas y componentes electrónicos (SCE) son fundamentales para el panorama industrial europeo. Sustentan la innovación de productos y la productividad en toda la economía, y desempeñan un papel fundamental para hacer frente a los cambios sociales. En la actualidad, los SCE dependen completamente de los materiales semiconductores y más del 90 % de ellos se basan en el silicio. Con el fin de modernizar la red eléctrica y permitir la producción de energía sostenible, se están evaluando nuevas tecnologías de semiconductores basadas en el nitruro de galio (GaN). El proyecto financiado con fondos europeos eleGaNt desarrollará un nuevo método patentado para producir, sobre cualquier sustrato, capas semiconductoras de GaN con una calidad sin precedentes. Este método abre una nueva era de la tecnología de obleas de semiconductores que podría reemplazar al silicio en la industria multimillonaria de la electrónica de potencia.
Objetivo
As the world becomes digitalized, the need for more energy efficient, faster and better performing Electronic Components and Systems (ECS) becomes paramount. These ECS are fully dependent on the semiconductor materials within, currently over 90% silicon (Si)-based. Pure Si technology can no longer cater to the needs placed upon ECS for power electronics and RF applications and thus new semiconductor technologies based on gallium nitride (GaN) are being explored. GaN material properties make it the primary choice for future generations of energy-efficient, high performance power electronics devices, necessary to modernize the energy grid and allow for sustainable energy production and use. However, bulk GaN is prohibitively expensive and thus inaccessible to mainstream applications. The main approach to making the technology commercially viable, reducing its cost significantly, is growing GaN layers on other materials, such as Si. Today, this poses a major technical barrier: existing methods result in high defect densities in the GaN layers, offering a fraction of the efficiency of bulk GaN and therefore poor ECS performance. Switching to GaN-on-Si today thus offers very limited advantages. To harness the full potential of GaN in a commercially viable way, we, at Hexagem, have developed EleGaNt, a cutting-edge new method of growing GaN semiconductor layers of unprecedented quality on any substrate. EleGaNt is the first to deliver capabilities on par with bulk GaN at the cost of current market-available underperforming GaN-on-Si. Our patented EleGaNt growth method introduces a new era of semiconductor wafer tech for an energy efficient power and RF electronics market and has the potential to become the new silicon in the multi-billion power electronics industry, whilst also offering a route towards expanding the TAM for GaN tech. We will license our tech to ECS manufacturers for integration into their fabs, whilst we remain a cutting-edge tech development company.
Ámbito científico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrypost-transition metals
- natural sciencesphysical scienceselectromagnetism and electronicssemiconductivity
- natural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrymetalloids
Programa(s)
Convocatoria de propuestas
Consulte otros proyectos de esta convocatoriaConvocatoria de subcontratación
H2020-SMEInst-2018-2020-2
Régimen de financiación
SME-2 - SME instrument phase 2Coordinador
223 63 Lund
Suecia
Organización definida por ella misma como pequeña y mediana empresa (pyme) en el momento de la firma del acuerdo de subvención.