SSF mobility grant brings Linköping University professor Galia Pozina to 2-year GaN research collaboration with SweGaN

– “Funded by a grant from the Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research, Linköping, we are pleased to share that University professor Galia Pozina will lead two year research project at SweGaN in a 50% position starting January 2024, confirms Jr-Tai Chen, CEO at SweGaN. Galia is a highly esteemed scientist within the gallium nitride community, with long and extensive expertise in growth and characterization of semiconductors.”

– “While the grant itself is aimed at fostering thought leadership and knowledge sharing between industry and academia and contributing to future-oriented research initiatives, we are excited to have a leader such as Galia on board to conduct this unique project focusing on reduced production costs. Galia will work in close cooperation with and as part of the team led by our new R&D Manager, Anders Lundskog.”

About SSF’s mobility grant
The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Research supports personal mobility between different sectors in society as an important factor for disseminating knowledge and technology. The mobility between industry and academia is a unique way of stimulating renewal that will contribute to Sweden’s future competitiveness. The target group of this grant is well established individuals in academia, research institutes, and industry who will  return to their original appointment after a limited, defined, period of exchange service in a sector in which the person is not currently yet active. The purpose of the programme is to increase personal mobility, knowledge transfer, and cross-fertilization between sectors.

The strategic mobility case for Professor Pozina involves transitioning from academia to industry, with Linköping University as the home organization and SweGaN AB as the host.

Mobility project goal at SweGaN – reduced production costs
The project goal is to correlate process parameters with material imperfections, impurities, and defects across the entire wafer surface. Defects and impurities in GaN exhibit unique signatures in luminescence spectra. Thus, the project seeks to create a non-destructive protocol for characterizing GaN-based epitaxial structures, connecting luminescence peaks to the presence and concentration of impurity and defect. In contrast to many chemical analysis methods, luminescence offers non-destructive quality control of wafers.

This endeavor will lead to reduced production costs and increased yield.. Given the company’s expansion and the construction of a new facility for scaling up the production of GaN materials, this task holds substantial importance.

-“Working at SweGaN AB will provide me with valuable real-world insights into emerging technologies, as well as the challenges that must be addressed for developing future highly efficient electronic devices, says Galia Pozina, a professor at Linköping University.

-“This transfer of knowledge has the potential to offer new directions in my studies, thereby enhancing the quality of the research. The strategic mobility to SweGaN AB promises to extend networking opportunities and foster collaborative research grants. From this point of view, the opportunity to collaborate with SweGaN AB within epitaxially growth holds significant potential for future investigations upon the return to the university, continues Professor Pozina.”

Which markets and target groups are significant for this research?

The research focuses on the development of GaN-based structures for electronic devices. Thus, the semiconductor industry, also in Sweden and the EU, is a key target. The research and development of non-destructive methods for defect identification has great importance also for the Centre for III-nitride technology (C3NiT, Vinnova), which focuses on cutting-edge research in III-nitride semiconductors for power and high-frequency electronics.

“-The project’s outcomes may appeal to customers in industries emphasizing sustainability, such as 5G technology, electric vehicles, and renewable energy,” says Professor Pozina.

How will the joint research help SweGaN position for the future?

The joint project/research aims to improve the quality, to increase the yield and thereby to reduce the production costs of GaN-based structures for electronic devices. By achieving industrial readiness and addressing challenges aligned with market needs, SweGaN AB can enhance its competitiveness. The utilization of optical properties for non-destructive quality assurance is expected to reduce process costs and enhance process reliability, providing SweGaN customers with more efficient and cost-effective solutions.

About Linköping University
Linköping University in Linköping, Sweden, conducts world-leading, boundary-crossing research in close collaboration with the business world in fields that include materials science, IT, and hearing. The university has 32,000 students and 4,000 employees on four campuses, while international rankings consistently place LiU as a leading global university.