【Member News】Self-Developed Casting Method: Garen Semiconductor Achieves Stable Mass Supply to Leading Global Companies

      Previously, the mainstream global technology route for gallium oxide substrates was represented by the Edge-defined Film-fed Growth (EFG) method developed by Japanese companies. Although this technology has achieved a high level of maturity, its key limitation lies in the reliance on expensive iridium crucibles, which directly restricts production expansion and cost reduction. This also creates uncertainties for downstream customers in terms of delivery schedules and pricing.

      Based on its independently developed casting method, Garen Semiconductor has established a differentiated technology route featuring Chinese innovation. This approach significantly reduces the consumption of precious iridium materials and substantially lowers production costs. The crystal growth efficiency is more than 10 times higher than that of the EFG method, while enabling the growth of ultra-thick crystals with higher wafer yield per ingot. The process is also simpler and more controllable, removing key barriers toward large-scale production.

      According to evaluations conducted by NextGO.Epi, substrates supplied by Garen Semiconductor demonstrate excellent crystal quality, with the X-ray rocking curve full width at half maximum (FWHM) below 90 arcsec, significantly outperforming comparable products.

      Over the past year, Garen Semiconductor’s gallium oxide substrates have undergone multiple rounds of performance validation and process adaptation evaluations by NextGO.Epi.

      Using Garen Semiconductor substrates, NextGO.Epi successfully achieved epitaxial layer growth with thicknesses reaching 450 nm. For the (100) crystal orientation, an electron mobility of 140 cm²/V·s was achieved at a carrier concentration of 4×10¹⁷ cm⁻³. For the (010) crystal orientation, an electron mobility of 135 cm²/V·s was achieved at a carrier concentration of 5×10¹⁷ cm⁻³.

      The epitaxial wafers demonstrated stable and reliable performance, with overall properties exceeding those of comparable products. Gallium oxide power devices fabricated on these epitaxial wafers are expected to achieve higher breakdown capability and lower conduction losses.

      This performance is enabled by Garen Semiconductor’s unique fully self-controlled “equipment–crystal growth–substrate–epitaxy” integrated technology system, which ensures excellent batch-to-batch consistency and further strengthens the strategic cooperation between the two companies.