As the world becomes digitalized, the need for more energy efficient, faster and better performing Electronic Components and Systems (ECS) becomes paramount. These ECS are fully dependent on the semiconductor materials within, currently over 90% silicon (Si)-based. Pure Si technology can no longer cater to the needs placed upon ECS for power electronics and RF applications and thus new semiconductor technologies based on gallium nitride (GaN) are being explored. GaN material properties make it the primary choice for future generations of energy-efficient, high performance power electronics devices, necessary to modernize the energy grid and allow for sustainable energy production and use. However, bulk GaN is prohibitively expensive and thus inaccessible to mainstream applications. The main approach to making the technology commercially viable, reducing its cost significantly, is growing GaN layers on other materials, such as Si. Today, this poses a major technical barrier: existing methods result in high defect densities in the GaN layers, offering a fraction of the efficiency of bulk GaN and therefore poor ECS performance. Switching to GaN-on-Si today thus offers very limited advantages. To harness the full potential of GaN in a commercially viable way, we, at Hexagem, have developed EleGaNt, a cutting-edge new method of growing GaN semiconductor layers of unprecedented quality on any substrate. EleGaNt is the first to deliver capabilities on par with bulk GaN at the cost of current market-available underperforming GaN-on-Si. Our patented EleGaNt growth method introduces a new era of semiconductor wafer tech for an energy efficient power and RF electronics market and has the potential to become the new silicon in the multi-billion power electronics industry, whilst also offering a route towards expanding the TAM for GaN tech. We will license our tech to ECS manufacturers for integration into their fabs, whilst we remain a cutting-edge tech development company.

As the world becomes digitalized, the need for more energy efficient, faster and better performing Electronic Components and Systems (ECS) becomes paramount. These ECS are fully dependent on the semiconductor materials within, currently over 90% silicon (Si)-based. Pure Si technology can no longer cater to the needs placed upon ECS for power electronics and RF applications and thus new semiconductor technologies based on gallium nitride (GaN) are being explored. GaN material properties make it the primary choice for future generations of energy-efficient, high performance power electronics devices, necessary to modernize the energy grid and allow for sustainable energy production and use. However, bulk GaN is prohibitively expensive and thus inaccessible to mainstream applications. The main approach to making the technology commercially viable, reducing its cost significantly, is growing GaN layers on other materials, such as Si. Today, this poses a major technical barrier: existing methods result in high defect densities in the GaN layers, offering a fraction of the efficiency of bulk GaN and therefore poor ECS performance. Switching to GaN-on-Si today thus offers very limited advantages. To harness the full potential of GaN in a commercially viable way, we, at Hexagem, have developed EleGaNt, a cutting-edge new method of growing GaN semiconductor layers of unprecedented quality on any substrate. EleGaNt is the first to deliver capabilities on par with bulk GaN at the cost of current market-available underperforming GaN-on-Si. Our patented EleGaNt growth method introduces a new era of semiconductor wafer tech for an energy efficient power and RF electronics market and has the potential to become the new silicon in the multi-billion power electronics industry, whilst also offering a route towards expanding the TAM for GaN tech. We will license our tech to ECS manufacturers for integration into their fabs, whilst we remain a cutting-edge tech development company.

Our method of growing pure InGaN μLEDs is completely unique. We start with a layer of thin GaN on a substrate. This layer has the same high defect density that other existing technologies struggle with. Then we add a mask made of either silicon nitride or aluminum oxide introduced by us using a high-resolution lithography process. The mask contains tiny holes ca. 100 nm in diameter which become growth sites for intrinsically defect-free InGaN pyramids. These pyramids are then reshaped into truncated hexagonal pyramids, aka InGaN platelets that are just 700 nm wide (effectively a nanoLED) and contain the active micro LED structure after regrowth on the top c-plane of the InGaN platelets. We can already grow the μLEDs on 2” wafers on a sapphire substrate, and we are developing new methods to grow 4” wafers on a silicon substrate. Our KPIs (pixel size 3.5%, FWHM <50 nm, etc.) already outcompete current commercial options for sub-2 µm-pixel size.

YESvGaN targets a new low-cost wide band gap (WBG) power transistor technology for enabling high-efficiency power electronic systems in the field of electromobility, industrial drives, renewable energies and data centers. In many applications requiring power transistors with high voltage and current rating (600…1200V, ~100A), silicon IGBT technology is nowadays used due to cost considerations accepting its lower efficiency compared to WBG solutions. The main objective of YESvGaN is to demonstrate innovative vertical gallium nitride (GaN) power transistors fabricated on a low-cost substrate such as silicon. This so-called vertical membrane architecture combines the superior performance of GaN as WBG power transistor material with the advantages of a vertical architecture regarding current and voltage robustness at a price competitive to silicon IGBTs. To this end, the entire value chain from substrate, epitaxy, process technology, interconnection technology to application in relevant power electronic systems is addressed. YESvGaN clusters the relevant competences along the value chain in a consortium of large companies, SMEs and institutes from seven European countries.