AlN, Aluminum-Rich AlGaN, Ga₂O₃, and the Next-Generation MOCVD Reactor

Chanhassen, Minnesota —Agnitron Technology is excited to be featured as the cover story in Volume 32 Issue 3 of the Compound Semiconductor magazine for its recent progress in AlN, aluminum-rich AlGaN, Ga₂O₃, and next-generation MOCVD reactor development. The article, titled “Advancing AlN and aluminum-rich AlGaN,” highlights Agnitron’s latest work in ultra-wide-bandgap epitaxy, including high-quality AlN and AlGaN growth using Agnitron’s Agilis 100 platforms and the newly introduced horizontal AgniGaN 400 MOCVD reactor. Key results include AlN growth rate exceeding 6 µm/hr, excellent thickness uniformity, reproducible electrical performance, and continued progress in Ga₂O₃ process development, including nitrogen compensation strategies for next-generation power electronic devices.

A major highlight of the article is Agnitron’s integration of a high-power deuterium vacuum ultraviolet (D₂-VUV) source directly into the showerhead gas distribution flange of its RIS Agilis 100 reactor, enabling direct UV exposure of the wafer during MOCVD growth Si doped AlN layers. To Agnitron’s knowledge, this represents a first-of-its-kind reactor-integrated approach for D₂-VUV-assisted MOCVD growth of AlN. The article reports that this capability improves Si dopant activation and/or suppresses compensating defects in AlN, leading to a measured resistivity of approximately 2.74 Ω·cm, the lowest ever reported for MOCVD-grown Si-doped AlN. These results demonstrate Agnitron’s continued focus on practical reactor innovation, using new hardware concepts to directly improve material performance and accelerate the development of ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductor devices.  

A PDF version of Volume 32 Issue 3 can be found on Compound Semiconductor’s website here: https://compoundsemiconductor.net/magazine/689

Agnitron’s article is also posted as a separate piece on Compound Semiconductor’s website at the link provided here: https://compoundsemiconductor.net/article/124026/Advancing_AlN_and_aluminium-rich_AlGaN