For about 60 years silicon has
been the basis of semiconductor technology. Over half a century, in
semiconductor applications, a GaN wafer manufacturer has prepared vast strides.
Crystal Structure of GaN-
Gallium nitride is manufactured
using metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD and it is a wurtzite
crystal structured semiconductor. In this process, to form the crystal gallium
and nitrogen are combined. For this, there are various mixtures but one example
is the use of ammonia (NH3) is employed in GaN synthesis as the nitrogen and
trimethylgallium as a gallium source.
There are some uniformity issues
in the crystalline structure of GaN’s; sometimes you will find millions of
defects per centimeter range. In reducing the number of defects per centimeter
to anywhere between 100 and 1000 the most modern MOCVD techniques have been
used and allow them to grow and use larger GaN crystals as wafers. The compound
that is formed when scientists can synthesize GaN wafer to a low degree of an error has several distinct crystalline properties that in semiconductor
applications provide its desirable traits.
Breakdown Field of GaN
Silicon has a breakdown field of
0.3 MV/cm and GaN's breakdown field is 3.3 MV/cm. Because of this reason,
gallium nitride becomes ten times more capable of supporting high voltage
designs before failing. A higher breakdown field indicates that over silicon in
high voltage circuits such as high-power products gallium nitride is superior.
In similar voltage applications, GaN wafer
supplier and engineers can also use GaN along with maintaining a
significantly smaller footprint.
GaN Electron Mobility vs. Silicon
As compared to silicon's
electrons the electrons in gallium nitride crystals can move over 30% faster.
In RF components this electron mobility gives gallium nitride a distinct
benefit for use, as compared to silicon it can handle higher switching
frequencies.
Benefits of GaN
Over silicon one of the most
significant benefits of gallium nitride are its bandgap, which provides it
various electrical properties that prepare it for higher power applications.
However, the GaN wafer has a bandgap
that's nearly triple silicon’s than to excite a valence electron into the
conducting band of the semiconductor uses significantly more energy.
