Gallium Nitride on Silicon Materials Assessment for GaN-Based Low Noise Amplifiers using Pendeoepitaxial Growth Techniques

Nitronex will develop GaN on silicon substrates for GaN-based LNAs utilizing pendeoepitaxial growth techniques. The properties of these revolutionary low-defect-density GaN on Silicon wafers makes higher performing power devices with a high degree ofdevice integration possible resulting in system level improvements in military (power transmission, radar, wireless communications), industrial, and consumer applications. PENDEOEPITAXY-TM is a radically new method of lateral growth using MOCVD, shown toreduce defect densities by 4 orders of magnitude. In addition, GaN growth on silicon provides an optimal process route for integrating Gallium Nitride with silicon on a fundamental atomic level. This integration allows for the device level combinationof CMOS devices on silicon with power FETs on Gallium Nitride. The properties of pendeoepitaxal grown GaN films will be evaluated using non-destructive methods to correlate structural, mechanical, optical and electrical properties with expected electronicdevice performance. SEM, AFM, Hall, C-V, and x-ray mapping will be correlated to structural and device properties including lateral coalescence, wafer tilt, dislocation density, electron mobility, and carrier concentration across 50 - and 100-mm wafersduring phase 1. Additionally, GaN-based HEMTs will be fabricated and tested to analyze the expected benefits of employing lateral growth techniques for low noise device properties.Electronic devices (MODFET, HEMT, etc.) need low-defect density wafers ofGallium Nitride in order to achieve the device application breakthroughs for which these GaN on Silicon has tremendous potential. Through this work, a substrate for GaN-based HEMTs and for the direct integration of GaN electronics with silicon deviceswill be developed and available for sale.