Strategies Unlimited Predicts Increasing Demand for Advanced Substrates for GaN Devices
Source/Type: Reported News

Author: CompoundSemi News Staff

May 26, 2009... Market research firm, Strategies Unlimited, says that availability of high quality sapphire and silicon carbide substrates enabled the growth of the gallium nitride device market over the past 15 years. However, the company predicts that increasing demand for blue-violet laser diodes, UV LEDs, and high power, high frequency devices will need a greater volume of advanced substrates such as gallium nitride and aluminum nitride. The company contends that such advanced substrates are necessary to offer lattice matching and the right thermal characteristics, to enable high performance and a high yield. At the same time, Strategies unlimited forecasts that demand for higher device manufacturing throughput and lower costs will prompt manufacturers to increase the diameters of sapphire and SiC diameters from two inches to three and four inches, and ultimately to six inches.

The company points out that the effort to develop advanced substrates with improved performance and better properties is worldwide in scope and includes 80 companies and 65 universities and research centers. Strategies Unlimited predicts that based on the forecast demand for high-brightness LEDs, blue-violet laser diodes, and high-power, high-frequency electronic devices, the worldwide merchant market (excluding captive producers such as Cree) for substrates for gallium nitride devices will to grow from $280 million in 2008 to $470 million in 2013. Advanced substrates are to increase their portion of the market to 40 percent in 2013. These predictions and forecasts are in the company's new report entitled Substrates for GaN-Based Devices: Performance Comparisons and Market Assessment 2009 . Strategies Unlimited News Release

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