Contamination-free, Ultra-rapid Reactive Chemical Mechanical Polishing (RCMP) of GaN substrates

Gallium Nitride (GaN) substrates are ideal materials for fabrication of high-power and high-frequency devices based on III-V materials. The current state-of-the-art Chemical Mechanical Polishing (CMP) methods are plagued by several challenges, including, surface charge affects due to surface contamination, and sub-surface damages, which can limit the quality of III-V devices. Furthermore, there is a need to enhance polishing rates to increase throughput and decrease manufacturing costs. Sinmat Inc., in collaboration with University of Florida proposes to develop a surface contamination-free, Ultra-rapid Reactive Chemical Mechanical Polishing (RCMP) process for the production of epi-ready GaN substrates. This process also facilitates removal of surface/ sub-surface damage that can be detrimental to epitaxial growth. In Phase I we plan to demonstrate the feasibility of this RCMP process for polishing GaN substrates, whereas in Phase II high performance electronic devices will be fabricated on such GaN substrates.