Herzogenrath, Germany –based Aixtron SE, a deposition equipment maker announced that in fourth-quarter 2011 it received an order from new customer Sinoepi Co Ltd, a manufacturer of wafer materials in China, for a CRIUS II-L metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor in 69x2”-wafer configuration. The system will be used for the production of epitaxial wafers for ultra-high-brightness (UHB) gallium nitride (GaN)-based LEDs.

Founded in August 2010, Sinoepi is located in the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Area. Its main products include UHB InGaN LED epitaxial wafers and chips for applications including LCD TV backlighting and LED solid-state lighting.

The new system will be delivered in second-quarter 2012. Aixtron’s local service support team will install and commission it at Sinoepi’s production complex in Beijing.

“Although this is our first new piece of equipment from Aixtron, my team is already very familiar with CRIUS technology,” says general manager Ye. “We are particularly impressed with its high performance-to-cost ratio compared to other systems, as well as the seamless and short process transfer,” he adds. “The CRIUS II-L matches our requirements for very high throughput epitaxial growth of nitride-based wafer materials... It will enable us to develop our processes quickly and efficiently,” he concludes.

“Sinoepi has opted for the CRIUS II-L after thoroughly evaluating all systems currently available on the market,” says Aixtron’s chief operating officer Dr Bernd Schulte. “The CRIUS II-L has already set new industry standards, which we back up with a service that provides everything our customers need to ramp up their production,” he adds. “We look forward to expanding our relationship with Sinoepi.”