The partnership just comes a week after Seoul Semiconductor, Korea’s LED chip and packaging maker, unveiled nPola LED chips using GaN template sapphire substrates.
GaN template sapphire is a key base material for manufacturing nPola LED chips, a new breed of polarization-less LED chip that emit 5 times as bright light as conventional LED chips.
Yet, there are only or two GaN template sapphire substrate makers in the world, supplying them in limited volume at very high costs.
The partnership is expected to open the way for cost-reduction, speeding up the commercialization of nPola LEDs for solid state lighting solution markets.
Jump on the bandwagon
The sample of GaN template substrates will be available within this year.
Chantal Arena, vice president and general manager of Soitec Phoenix Labs, said, "Our strategy was to use production-proven silicon epitaxy equipment features and add our innovative gallium source and delivery system to create a high productivity HVPE equipment. We then successfully developed high growth rate processes that , combined with our low cost precursor, leads to a more cost effective GaN template than the ones produced by metal organic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE)."
David Reid, COO of Silian. "With our extensive sapphire substrate manufacturing expansion activities in China, we are very well positioned to take advantage of this opportunity and offer these high quality templates in a cost effective manner to our sapphire substrate customers."
According to Soitec, its HVPE-based GaN template technology can allow LED chip makers to free up as much as 60% percent of their MOVPE capacity. That translates in higher productivity.
“LED makers can now focus on improving the more custom-designed layers that make up the light-emitting part of an LED," said André-Jacques Auberton-Hervé, president and CEO of Soitec.
HPVE vs. MOVPE
"In addition to this business opportunity, we are exploring the possibility of expanding our cooperation with Silian into the field of LED lighting, leveraging Soitec's expertise in epitaxial growth developed by our Soitec Phoenix Labs subsidiary in Arizona," added he.
The complementary synergy effect was a good fit for both company’s partnership.
into the field of LED lighting, leveraging Soitec's expertise in epitaxial growth developed by our Soitec Phoenix Labs subsidiary inArizona."
Chairman Xiaobo Xiang of China Silian Instruments Group, Silian's holding company, added, "Soitec and Silian have very attractive complementary technologies. Therefore, we look forward to exploring with Soitec the mutual beneficial business opportunities offered by the vast markets of materials, LEDs and lighting."
Chongqing Silian Optoelectronics Science & Technology Co., Ltd (Silian) is a maker of sapphire substrate.
After the company acquired Honeywell’s sapphire substrate business, Silian has become China's first sapphire substrate maker with high quality large diameter sapphire substrate production and R&D capabilities.
Silian's product range covers a full spectrum of the LED supply chain, from world leading large diameter sapphire substrates, packaged LEDs, LED display screens, LED lighting applications and smart lighting system control technology.
Soitec is a world leader in generating and manufacturing revolutionary semiconductor materials.
Soitec's products include substrates for microelectronics (most notably SOI: Silicon-on-Insulator) and concentrator photovoltaic systems (CPV). The company's core technologies are Smart Cut™, Smart Stacking™ and Concentrix™, as well as expertise in epitaxy.
Soitec has manufacturing plants and R&D centers in France, Singapore, Germany, and the United States.