The objective of the program is to develop foundational, high-quality materials necessary for realizing practical, ultra-wide bandgap electronics and enabling their applications.
MORRISVILLE, N.C.—HexaTech, Inc. recently signed a multi-year contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of the agency’s recently announced Ultra-Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (UWBGS) program, according to a release from HexaTech.
The objective of the UWBGS program is to develop foundational, high-quality materials necessary for realizing practical UWBG electronics and enabling UWBG applications. HexaTech’s role in this program will be focused on the development of 100mm diameter, low- defect density aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates. These substrates will be essential to further expand the performance/application envelope of high voltage and high frequency electronic devices, HexaTech said in the release.
“We are extremely appreciative for this collaboration with DARPA and the support they are providing, as we continue to drive our AlN substrate technology forward,” said HexaTech CEO John Goehrke, in the release. “As the world’s leading commercial supplier of single crystal AlN material, HexaTech continues to provide cutting-edge product performance and value for our customers.”
The potential three-year contract, if fully exercised, is valued at $10.2 million. It is said to build on top of HexaTech’s previously announced 100mm development effort, “accelerating the timeline and building on the scale of HexaTech’s production process from crystal growth through substrate finishing,” the release stated.
“To fully support the technical potential of AlN substrates in both existing and new device technologies, expansion to 100mm in diameter, coupled with superior bulk quality characteristics, will be critical for several reasons, including device fabrication line capabilities, device performance, and reliability,” said Rafael Dalmau, Ph.D., in the release. Dalmau is the program’s principal investigator at HexaTech.
“The result of this program will be the direct translation of 100mm AlN substrates into volume production, enabling industry adoption by both commercial and defense foundries,” said HexaTech Vice President of Business Development Gregory Mills, in the release. “The commercialization of high quality, large diameter AlN substrates for both existing and future customers will drive critical next-generation device performance gains.”
HexaTech, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stanley Electric, Tokyo, Japan, is a prominent manufacturer of single crystal aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates. This substrate material is reported to be enabling long life UV-C light emitting diodes (LEDs) for disinfection applications, deep UV lasers for biological threat detection, high voltage switching devices for efficient power conversion, and RF components for satellite communications.
Founded in 2001, the HexaTech team is reported to have successfully solved complex material science and engineering challenges to commercialize high quality bulk AlN for volume production.