IQE looks to US, EU CHIPS Act for GaN expansion
Substrate supplier IQE is preparing an application for funding under the US Chips Act to expand its gallium nitride (GaN) epi wafer production.
“We have actively engaged with them on compound semiconductors, but there was an education issue first on compound semiconductors and the supply chain,” chief technology officer of IQE Rodney Pelzel tells eeNews Europe.
It is also looking at a European site with backing from the EU Chips Act. “We have discussion with two of the major places with large amounts. They are actively courting us. For us we don’t need multiple facilities, we need a location in the UK or EU that enables us to progress and continue with the strategy of having manufacturing and development in the region,” he said.
Despite being based in Cardiff, Wales, the company has struggled with government support, which CEO Americo Lemos has been very vocal about.
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“The UK is very frustrating. I’ve been as blunt as I can with the UK government,” said Pelzel. “There is a desire to fund R&D only and not support manufacturing. We are beating that drum very hard.”
The available talent pool is also key for a location. “That is the major concern with where you put facilities these days, because the innovation is in a different area the skill set is subtly different. Epitaxy is different enough that hiring someone from a silicon fab can be a challenge in some areas.”
All the silicon wafers with a GaN epi layer have a 150mm and 200mm diameter as this is the low cost manufacturing of devices. The next step though is larger 300mm wafers.
“We have plans to process 300mm wafers. We don’t have in house yet today but it will go there. For me GaN for power has a long runway but GaN for microLED is a really big opportunity. The explosion for AI is going to help microLED and 300mm as it will drive the creation of additional 300mm fabs for the economics and the backplane for microLED AR displays will take more sophisticated devices.”
It’s not just about the additional size of the equipment for the 300mm wafers but how they are clustered for efficiency, he says.
“When you start factoring in the geopolitics and regional restrictions, there is a need for more GaN capacity in this region,” he said.
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