Trio fabs GaN-on-diamond transistors

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Emcore Corp., Group4 Labs LLC and the U.S. Air Force Research Labs (AFRL) Tuesday (August 1) claimed to have demonstrated the world's first operational gallium nitride (GaN)-on-diamond high-electron-mobility-transistor (HEMT) device.

The epitaxial transistor layers were grown by metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at Emcore (Somerset, N.J.) and atomically attached to chemically vapor deposited (CVD) diamond substrates from Group4 Labs (Menlo Park).

The AFRL team fabricated the transistors, which highlights the feasibility of producing GaN-based radio-frequency (RF) devices.

"We are excited by the promise of this technology combining the most robust semiconductor material with the best heat spreader," commented Dr. Ivan Eliashevich, director of R&D at Emcore, in a statement. "Epitaxial wafers based on a GaN-on-diamond platform should enable device manufacturers to push the limits of high-power performance and reliability across a wide range of applications."

Propelled by a new wave of commercial and military applications, a growing number of device makers are scrambling in what is becoming the next gold rush in the industry: GaN.