Why gallium nitride is becoming increasingly popular?

Gallium nitride is becoming increasing popular as a replacement to silicon for many applications in different markets: opto-electronics such as LEDs, ICT and power electronics among others.

One of the major areas where GaN is already today utilized with success is the market of opto-electronics and LEDs.

LEDs (or light emitting diodes) are semiconductor-based devices that are slowly but steadily replacing the traditional incandescent bulbs in applications such as indoor and outdoor illumination, TV screens and monitors (also using OLEDs, or organic light emitting diodes, and other kinds of LEDs) among others due to their lower power utilization and to their high lifetime which comes from the advantage that they do not need to be replaced due to filament burn out and other problems typical of traditional incandescent light bulbs.   

Currently, GaN is deposited over patterned sapphire substrates (also known as PSSs) to improve the efficiency and light output, but recent research seems to point to an improvement in the overall conditions by deposition of a thin film of GaN directly on silicon substrates therefore reducing the costs of production, since silicon is a material already widely used in electronics and therefore production and patterning of silicon wafers does not require to buy new equipment and tools.   

The main advantage of GaN-deposited substrates compared with traditional non-sputtered LEDs is higher brightness.   

Besides the LED and opto-electronics industry, another major application of GaN-deposited substrates is in the power electronics, mainly in the automobile industry and in the aerospace and satellite industries.

GaN-deposited substrates are already commonly used in applications such as power amplifiers, power supply units, rectifiers, switchers, inverters RF devices and are quickly replacing traditional silicon-based devices such as FETs, HEMTs, Schotty diodes among others due to much higher breakdown voltage, higher conductivity and larger band gap therefore offering improved performance and better reliability.   

HEMT is a kind of power IC which is crucial in many applications in the aerospace and other businesses.

HEMT is a type of field-effect transistor device which is focused on high-frequency tasks and usage of GaN leads to a higher electron mobility and breakdown voltage if compared with traditional materials such as silicon and gallium arsenide

Finally, other applications of GaN-based devices are in the automotive sector and in the solar market: hybrid and electric vehicles make heavy use of GaN-powered technology.

In the solar and other renewables market (mainly wind), the most popular and widely used GaN-based devices are: Smart Grid Power Devices, High-Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) units, power systems for wind turbines and solar grids among others

Finally, in the communication industry GaN-based devices are found in radars, satellite communication systems, mainly due to the possibility to work at high-frequency ranges   

From the consumer and from the final user point of view, GaN-powered devices are more compact and more resistant to shocks than their silicon-based counterparts.

As of today, GaN-based power semiconductors account for about 1% of the total market (currently valued at around $40 billion) but they are growing very fast and they are expected to take a larger share of the business within 5 to 10 years potentially supplanting their traditional silicon-based counterparts in the long term.

About the Author-

This article was written by Matteo Martini, author and CEO of Martini Tech, a company that provides nanoimprint, PSS patterning, MOCVD deposition, sputtering, MEMS foundry, GaN wafer, GaN LED Technology and other microfabrication-related services. Please have a look at our blog.