磷化銦晶圓
Product Development
- 2 and 3 inch S-doped/ n-type semiconductor InP single crystal
- VGF growth system
- high temperature and high pressure
single crystal growth furnace
- single crystal growth control system
- Advantage of InP based device
- excited wavelength match to the fiber communication (1310 ~ 1550 nm)
- high electron mobility
- high thermal conductivity
- low power loss
- low noise
Market Status
Applicaiton and development of InP based device
- Optical fiber communication
- global cable laying = earth/moon distance x 8; 15 % increase/year (ref. Corning)
- urban development of FTTx; by Verizon/AT&T; @ Level 3
- long haul DWDM by fiber communication increasing: 10 Gbs →40 Gbs→160 Gbs
- Optoelectronic integration circuit
- For a faster transmission and enhanced system function, Optical-to-Optical (OEO) conversion costs of the data transmission can not be ignored as the increased of discrete components.
- cost considerations force the fiber communications components shift from a discrete component to a photonic integrated circuits (PIC)
- InP photonic integrated circuits, in recent years, getting breakthrough in the optical communications as the electronic integrated circuit technology development of Si.
- Millimeter wave in military communication
- Technology for frequency agile digitally synthesized transmitters program (DARPA, 2003), demanding the development of transistors with cut-off frequencies of up 500 GHz。
- Sub-millimeter wave imaging focal plane technology (DARPA, 2006), building an imaging system operating at 340 GHz。
- Terahertz electronics program (DARPA, 2009); Phase I: 670 GHz, Phase II: 850 GHz, Phase III: 1030 GHz。
InP based optoelectronic device industry
Table. Turnover of InP device industry in USA, 2009’ (U$)
| Company |
Epitaxy |
Device |
Total Sales Revenue
(U$ M) |
InP Chip Sales Revenue Related Among Total (U$ M) |
| JDS Uniphase |
Yes |
Yes |
1,200 |
480 |
| Finisar |
Yes |
Yes |
550 |
250 |
| Infinera |
Yes |
Yes |
308 |
280 |
| CyOptics |
Yes |
Yes |
280 |
250 |
| Oclaro |
Yes |
Yes |
286 |
115 |
| Avago |
Yes |
Yes |
1,570 |
390 |
| Opnex |
Yes |
Yes |
326 |
130 |
| |
|
|
total U$ 4,520 M |
total U$ 1,895 M |
Ps.
- Turnover from the number of public information
- Optical communication company chosen in USA
InP based optoelectronic device industry
- More than 150 InP based optoelectronic components manufacturers and research institutes
- InP based optoelectronic device market status
- sales of InP based laser and photodetectors > US$2.0 B
- market size of InP based optoelectronic device > US$5.0 B
- Similar to the GaAs, InP based optoelectronic device has grown and being mature for decades study.
- Production cost
- most important factor: lack of cheap/good InP wafer
InP wafer industry status
Only 5 global manufacturers of InP wafers
| USA |
AXT Inc., Crystacomm Inc. |
| Japan |
Nikko Materials, Sumitomo Electric |
| France |
InPact |
Nearly 80 % of the wafer supplied by Japan, and the price is expensive.
Total market opportunity
Source of Technology
InP crystal growth process

Innovation of single crystal growth technology

Temperature gradient in VGF

Single crystal grown by various technologies
| Features/ Technology |
VGF |
LEC |
VCZ |
| Material purity control |
excellent |
acceptable |
good |
| Stoichiometric control |
excellent |
hard |
good |
| Dislocation density |
10 3 / cm 2 |
10 5 / cm 2 |
10 3 / cm 2 |
| Thermal stress |
low |
high |
medium |
| Dopant control |
good |
hard |
acceptable |
| Uniformity & consistency |
excellent |
hard |
acceptable |
| Crystal diameter control |
easy |
hard |
hard |
| Labor cost |
low |
medium |
high |
| Equipment costs |
low |
medium |
high |
| Yield |
medium |
high |
high |
| Crystal length |
medium |
long |
medium |
| Automation |
good |
poor |
poor |
Simultaneous Synthesis and VGF growth
- Cornerstone
- key technology: VGF
- Advantage of VGF: crystal quality & yield
- Objective
- more streamlined steps
- cost down: time, equipment, space, labor…
- competitiveness: lower price product
- Difficulty
- hardware: heating element, crucible supporting design, high pressure gas flow control, temperature gradient…
- urgency: funds…
- Superiority: an expert in VGF
Comparison of InP single crystals fabricated by DTI and others
| Characteristics / Manufactures |
DingTen
(Taiwan) |
AXT(US) |
Sumitomo
(Japan) |
InPact
(France) |
| Growth method |
SS-VGF |
VGF |
VCZ |
LEC |
| Dopant |
sulfur |
sulfur |
sulfur |
sulfur |
| Carrier concentration ( x 1018 cm-3) |
~ 1.7 |
0.8 ~ 8 |
2 ~ 8 |
3 ~ 10 |
| Mobility (cm2V-1s-1) |
1,400 |
1,000 ~ 2,500 |
1,000 ~ 2,000 |
1,300 ~1,600 |
| Etching pit density (cm-2) |
< 4,000 |
100 ~ 5,000 |
500 ~ 5,000 |
100,000 |
| Crystal diameter (inch) |
2 |
2 & 3 |
2, 3 & 4 |
2 & 3 |
Main task in this project
- High temperature/high pressure furnace development
- Multiple heating system
- Crucible and supporting desing
- Thermal simulation and temperature gradient
- Crystal quality analysis
- Optoelectronic characteristics analysis
- Crystal quality control
- Process optimization of 2” S-doped InP single crystal
- Process optimization of 3” S-doped InP single crystal
Technical Specifications
(I) InP single crystal
Table . Technical specifications evolution of InP single crystal through this project
| Specifications |
Before (2009’) |
After (2012’ Q1) |
| Single crystal diameter (inch) |
2 |
2、3 |
| Crystal type |
S-doped, n-type semiconductor |
S-doped, n-type semiconductor |
| Orientation |
(100)±0.5° |
(100)±0.5° |
| Carrier concentration (cm-3) |
1.7 x 1018 |
2 ~ 8 x 1018 |
| Resistivity (ohm-cm) |
1.9 x10-3 |
0.6 ~ 2.5 x 10-3 |
| Electron mobility (cm2V-1SS-1) |
1,900 |
1,000 ~ 2,000 |
| Etching pit density (cm-2) |
~ 4,000 |
≤500 |
| Yield (%) |
20 |
50 |
| Ingot length (inch) |
1 |
2 |
| Crystal growth rate (mm/h) |
2 ~ 3 |
5 |
(II) high temperature/high pressure furnace
Table . Technical specifications evolution of high temperature/
high pressure furnace through this project
| Specifications |
Before (2009’) |
After (2012’ Q1) |
| Pressure tank - materials |
SA106B
stainless steel |
SA106B
stainless steel |
| diameter (mm) |
200 |
300 |
| thickness of plate (mm) |
15 |
20 |
| max. pressure (atm) |
75 |
100 |
| Heating element |
1 or 4 |
6 |
| heater diameter (mm) |
70 |
90 |
| refractory |
Al2O3 |
Z-type fiber Al2O3 |
| max. temperature (°C) |
1,500 |
1,600 |
| Max. working temperature (°C) |
1,300 |
1,400 |
Competitive Analysis
- Advantage of SS-VGF ® DTI
- reduce the InP single crystal growth process; diminish the facilities, space, and operator; cost down
- get high quality and low-cost products
- Hardware R & D
- high temperature/high pressure tank
- R & D capability – teamwork of materials science and engineering, electrical and electronics, mechanical engineering
- high temperature/high pressure furnace – General manager Rudy
- InP single crystal growth – Dr. Hu
- analysis and QC – Mr. Jason, Dr. Chen
- factory – Mr. Tsai
Cost Estimation
| Material & Supply |
Unit |
Unit Price (US $) |
Unite Quantity Per Run or Ingot |
Total Quantity |
Amount (US $) |
| Indium* |
Kg |
$700 |
0.95 |
.95 |
$665 |
| Red Phosphorous* |
Kg |
$800 |
0.25 |
.25 |
$220 |
| Quartz Tube |
pc |
$200 |
1 |
1 |
$200 |
| pBN Crucible |
pc |
$1500 |
1/10 |
1/10 |
$150 |
| Furnace Heating |
pc |
$4000 |
1/50 |
1/50 |
$80 |
| Miscellaneous for Crystal Growth |
run |
$200 |
1 |
1 |
$200 |
| Simultaneous Synthesis and VGF growth, InP single crystal cost (U$/kg) |
$1515 |
| Material & Supply |
Unit |
Unit Price (US $) |
Unite Quantity Per Run or Ingot |
Total Quantity |
Amount (US $) |
| Indium Phosphide Poly-Crystal* |
Kg |
$2000 |
1.2 |
1.2 |
$2400 |
| Red Phosphorous* |
Kg |
$800 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
$176 |
| Quartz Tube |
pc |
$200 |
1 |
1 |
$200 |
| pBN Crucible |
pc |
$1500 |
1/10 |
1/10 |
$150 |
| Furnace Heating |
pc |
$4000 |
1/50 |
1/50 |
$80 |
| Miscellaneous for Crystal Growth |
Run |
$100 |
1 |
1 |
$100 |
Traditional processes of poly crystal synthesis and VGF growth,
InP single crystal cost (U$/kg) |
$3106 |
*A 20% of quantity of increased due to material waste during process
Expected Benefits
- Increase market value and share
- Production capacity of 2” and 3” S-doped InP single crystal > 1,000 kg/year
- Create the market value of InP wafer around U$ 8M ~ 10M (10 % of global market share), and a market value of the related laser/fiber communication device up to U$ 200M
- Intellectual property rights/ Patent
- 1 patent and 1 research paper every year
- IP: furnace, heating element, supporting of crucible, high pressure gas flow controlling, key technologies of single crystal growth