Doru I. Florescu, Veeco Instruments Inc.

Metal-organic chemical-vapor deposition (MOCVD) has steadily progressed from small-scale materials research to a mass production technology, enabling such complex optoelectronic (OE) devices as laser diodes and ultrahigh-brightness light-emitting diodes (UHB-LED). These devices support today’s consumer electronics in a wide range of applications, including optical storage for CD/DVD media and backlighting for cell phone keypads and LCD screens.

The emerging solid-state lighting market, where low-power, long-lasting LEDs are beginning to replace standard light bulbs in high-usage applications, requires performance improvements to drive down the cost of devices while maintaining superior material quality. In the case of gallium nitride (GaN)-based LEDs, brightness and uniformity have become key challenges for epi wafer manufacturers while they simultaneously seek to reduce the cost per die.