Fairfield Crystal Technology

Fairfield Crystal Technology will develop a new technique to accelerate the growth of gallium nitride (GaN) single-crystal boules. A boule is a large crystal that is cut into wafers and polished to provide a surface, or substrate, suitable for fabricating a semiconductor device. Fairfield Crystal Technology’s unique boule-growth technique will rapidly produce superior-quality GaN crystal boules—overcoming the quality and growth-rate barriers typically associated with conventional growth techniques, including the current state-of-the-art hydride vapor phase epitaxy technique, and helping to significantly reduce manufacturing costs.

If successful, Fairfield Crystal Technology’s boule-growth technique would produce low-cost, high-quality GaN substrates for use in a variety of power electronic devices, including power inverters and converters.