ATMI announces optical materials initiative

ATMI (Danbury, CT) is expanding its on-going venture to manufacture high-performance optical materials used in the development of blue laser diodes.

For the past two years, ATMI has maintained a venture activity to develop gallium nitride (GaN) wafers suitable in size and quality for volume manufacturing of blue laser diodes. GaN has been demonstrated to be the optimal material for solid state light generation, however, large area GaN wafers are not commercially available due to the difficulty of producing bulk GaN crystals. Commercial blue light emission devices use sapphire or silicon carbide wafers and GaN epitaxy, but lattice mismatches in these materials produce defects that limit electronic and optoelectronic device development.

ATMI has developed and patented processes that allow the manufacture of high purity GaN wafers 50mm and larger in diameter. Based on recent successes, ATMI has committed significant additional funding for continued development and pilot manufacturing capacity. In addition, ATMI has recently been awarded contracts totaling nearly $4M from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) and the Ballistic Missile Defense Operation (BMDO) to further develop GaN wafers for electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Edited by Maeve McKenna
Assistant Editor, Photonics Online