Element Six Wins 2015 CS Industry Award for GaN-on-Diamond Wafer Technology

Element Six, the world leader in synthetic diamond supermaterials and member of The De Beers Group of Companies, today announced its Gallium Nitride (GaN)-on-Diamond semiconductor wafer technology has been named a 2015 CS Industry Award winner in the substrates and materials category. Hosted by Compound Semiconductor, the awards recognize achievements that drive the compound semiconductor industry forward, from research to completed end-user devices. 

"We're honored to have our GaN-on-Diamond wafers recognized by Compound Semiconductor and our industry peers. It's a special honor given that the winners are voted on by our respected colleagues and collaborators. As thermal management issues continue to challenge the industry, our team is passionate about developing viable solutions that deliver efficient and cost-effective heat extraction," stated Adrian Wilson, head of the Technologies Group at Element Six. "This recognition further underscores our commitment to provide high-power RF and high-voltage power device manufacturers with proven technology for optimal thermal management."

Leveraging technology initially developed more than 10 years ago, Element Six semiconductor wafer technology was the first-of-its-kind to be commercially available. Through ongoing research and development, Element Six has continued to advance its GaN-on-Diamond technology to cost-effectively and efficiently offer a thermal management solution for GaN radio frequency (RF) semiconductor devices, enabling the intrinsic power performance capability of GaN devices. In a study by the Raytheon Company, it was asserted that due to the fact that synthetic diamond dissipates heat more than three times more effectively than silicon carbide, GaN-on-Diamond substrates exhibit a clear advantage over other substrate materials.  

The CS Industry Awards is a peer-voted awards program honoring people, processes and products within the compound semiconductor industry. Winners were honored at an intimate ceremony on March 11 at the CS International Conference in Frankfurt. For a complete list of winners, visit www.csawards.net. 

About Element Six

Element Six is a synthetic diamond supermaterials company. Element Six is a member of The De Beers Group of Companies, its majority shareholder. Element Six designs, develops and produces synthetic diamond supermaterials, and operates worldwide with its head office registered in Luxembourg, and primary manufacturing facilities in China, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, South Africa, U.S. and the U.K.

Element Six supermaterial solutions are used in applications such as cutting, grinding, drilling, shearing and polishing, while the extreme properties of synthetic diamond beyond hardness are already opening up new applications in a wide array of industries such as optics, power transmission, water treatment, semiconductors and sensors.