Veeco Instruments announced today that the University of Cambridge, one of the most highly regarded research universities in the world, has ordered thePropel™ Power Gallium Nitride (GaN) Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) System for GaN-on-silicon (Si) power electronics and light emitting diode (LED) research and development.

Headed by world-renowned Professor Sir Colin Humphreys, the system will be installed at the Cambridge Centre for Gallium Nitride located in Cambridge, England. Since 2000, Professor Humphreys has carried out extensive studies of InGaN quantum wells used in LED development. GaN-on-silicon technology is considered a potential cost saving alternative to GaN-on-sapphire technology.

“After careful consideration, we concluded that Veeco’s Propel MOCVD system provides a distinct advantage over other systems to improve and expand our GaN-on-silicon R&D capabilities,” said Professor Sir Colin Humphreys, Director of Research at The University of Cambridge. “Gallium nitride is the most important semiconductor material since silicon for power electronics and LEDs. The Propel PowerGaN platform enables the growth of high performance device structures in a clean and stable process environment with low particle defects.”

According to IHS Research, the GaN power electronics device market is expected to grow at greater than 90% compound annual growth rate from 2014 to 2020 as new devices are applied to power supplies, consumer electronics, automotive and other applications.

“The Propel PowerGaN single wafer system enables the development of highly-efficient GaN-based power electronic devices that we believe will accelerate the industry’s transition from R&D to high volume production,” said Jim Jenson, Senior Vice President, Veeco MOCVD Operations. “Since its introduction, our new Propel PowerGan system has quickly gained attention for its outstanding performance. We are very excited to have our technology recognized and adopted by such a distinguished university that is at the forefront of GaN-on-silicon development.”