[email protected] November 1, 2012 Silicon Carbide (SiC) LED Chip to Reach High Performance and Low Cost
Dec 21, 2014
November 1, 2012
Silicon Carbide (SiC) LED Chip to Reach High Performance and Low
Cost
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 3
An LED Lamp is a Complex System
LED Chip:– Determines raw
brightness and efficacy
Phosphor system:– Determines color point,
color quality and color point stability
Package:– Protects the chip and
phosphor– Helps with light and heat
extraction– Primary in determining
LED lifetime
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pg. 4Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
GaN on SiC
1: 0.967 (3.3% mismatch)
GaN on Sapphire
1: 1.148 (14.8% mismatch)
Why We Grow GaN on SiC
GaN
SiC
GaN
Al2O3
• Lattice Mismatch
• >15x Thermal conductivity
370W/m°K 23W/m°K
Simple* 2D ** Cartoon
* Drawn to scale. ** SiC, GaN, and Al2O3 are actually 3D Hexagonal crystalline structures
pg. 5Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
Lattice Mismatch Drives Chip Defects
• Minor imperfections are merely dark spots– Fewer defects = brighter
chips– Brighter chips = lower
system cost
• Major defects affect production yield and reliability
in the field– Yield is strongest driver of
LED cost
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 6
Reliability Impact of an Epi Defect
LED ChipSide View
LED ChipTop View
• Normal operation, no defects, current spreads evenly across the chip surface, uniform light
• Undetected epi defect, point loss of light begins
• Over time, current begins to flow into the defect, causing it to grow
• Ultimately, the defect causes a cascading failure of the chip
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 7
Testing For Defects – Before They Are a Problem
I
V
Latent epi defects can be tested for; screened out by Reverse Voltage
test
SiC
Sapphire
Sapphire
SiC
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 8
US DOE Roadmap
US DOE MYPP, April 2012, p.68
DOE LED Roadmap
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 9
Chip Gen 2
Chip Gen 3
Chip Gen 1
LED Chip/Product Architecture Development History
How the Roadmap Really Works
Time
Lu
men
s P
er
Watt
2004 2006 2010
200
100
150
50
2012 201420082002
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pg. 10Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
XB and EZ LED Chip Architectures
• SiC substrate• InGaN epi MQW growth• Mirror• Contact• Flip• Top-side Contact• Bevel saw cut
XB Power Chip Architecture
• SiC substrate• InGaN epi MQW growth• Mirror• Bonding Metal• Flip• Add Si substrate• Remove SiC substrate• Bottom-side Contact• Surface roughening• Top-side Contact
EZ Power Chip Architecture
~2002 ~2006
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 11
Better Epi, not More Epi
• SiC Substrate• InGaN epi MQW growth• Mirror• Isolation layer• Contacts and vias• Flip• Under-fill• Bevel cut• Surface cut
Best combination of– Light extraction– Robust, reliable design– High Yielding,
Manufacturable– Low cost
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2011
Direct Attach (DA) SiC Chip
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 12
DA: Robust, Low Cost Flip Chip Architecture
Flip Chip X EZ DA units
Chip Thickness 12 125 335 µm
Under-fill area 0.81 0 0.08 mm2
Die Attach/Thermal Path
0.19 1.0 0.92 mm2
Wire Bonds 0 3 0 --
• Direct Attach SiC Chip:– 25x thicker chip robust, manufacturable (= low
cost)– 1/10th the amount of under-fill less CTE mis-
match, more robust, higher assembly yield (= low cost)
– 5x more die attach area – better thermals, lower RTH, higher reliably (= lower system cost)
>25x
0.1x5x
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pg. 13Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
GaN on SiC
1: 0.967
GaN on Sapphire
1: 1.148
What About GaN on Silicon?
GaN
SiC
GaN
Al2O3
GaN on Silicon
GaN
Si
1: ??
Most analysis assumes GaN on Si will achieve:– Same yield as SiC/Sapphire– Same performance as SiC/Sapphire– Same reliability as SiC/Sapphire– Wafer bowing and other technical
challenges are cheaply/easily solved– 8” Si fabs are fully depreciated and can
deal with Compound Semi complexities– LED fabs are somehow not depreciated at all– Giant LED companies are asleep, have not
fully analyzed this technology also
Are these good
assumptions?
pg. 14Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
But Silicon Substrates are Really Cheap!
• True. $200-300 cheaper (currently; 6”, 150mm)
• But…– There are >17,000 1*1mm
chips on a 150mm wafer
– 5% better yield on SiC – or even sapphire – could completely offset this difference in substrate cost
• And, GaN on Si may also– …require additional materials
and process steps to fabricate
– …have poorer chip reliability
– …have lower lumen output, LPW performance due to higher defect rates… (dimmer chips = higher system cost)
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 15
Higher Performance LEDs Saving Money – At The System Level
• SiC LEDs can be driven harder, run hotter
• You are paying for the lumens anyway, SiC allows you to use them (= low cost)
http://ledsmagazine.com/features/9/2/3
pg. 16Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
Higher Performance LEDs Means Fewer LEDs
Reducing LED count is a much stronger lever on reducing system cost than cutting LED ASP...
pg. 17Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
Hypothetical Example of the Cost Impact of Increasing LED Performance, Fully Utilizing LED Capacity
• 4000 lm LED Area Light
• Includes optics, LED cost, reduction of LED count, driver, housing
• Driving harder reduces system level cost
LED
Driver
Optic
Housing
pg. 18Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
Real Example of the Cost Impact of Increasing LED Performance, Fully Utilizing LED Capacity
2007• 42 LEDs• 650 lm• 12W
>$100 Commercial Wholesale
2011• 8 LEDs• 575 lm• 10.5W
$<25 Retail
pg. 19Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
Get all the Lumens You are Paying For
• > 1100 lumens (hot)• < 20 Watts• > 55 lumens/Watt• ≥ 80 CRI• > .90 Power Factor• Energy Star light
distribution
http://www.cree.com/ref
Drive hard, run hot, save money
Omni-directional, same cost as LP/MP snow cone!!!
pg. 20Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc.
SiC: Reliably Driving Harder, Saving Money
TM-21Lumen
MaintenanceProjection
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 21
Same Performance, 60% Lower LED Cost• Identical downlights:
Same flux, CCT, CRI, light distribution
• Both exceed Energy Star LPW and lifetime requirements
√√√
√√
http://www.cree.com/products/pdf/XLamp_XPG_Operating_Capacity.pdf
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 22
Next 2x Lumen/$ Product Platform Coming Soon
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
Cost (log)
Lu
men
s
2011Platforms
2012 SC³ Platforms
1mm2 DA chip
0.7mm2 DA chip
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2013 NextGen Platforms
2mm2 EZ chip
1mm2 EZ chip
4mm2 EZ chip
XB-D
XT-E
XP-E
XP-G
XM-L
200 LPW in 2012
Copyright © 2012 Cree, Inc. pg. 23
SiC Highest Performance, Low Cost
XT-E
XP-G2
XB-D
XLamp Discrete
XLamp HVW
XM-L HVW
XT-E HVW
MT-G2
XLamp Arrays
NEW
• Low LED cost– Lowest defects, highest yields– Shipping billions. TODAY.
• Highest reliability– Fewer defects– Robust screen for field defects– 2-15x better thermal conductivity
than silicon, sapphire– Higher reliable operating
temperatures
• Lowest overall system cost– Higher drive currents, higher
lumens– Fewer LEDs per system
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