In the past few years, the GaAs wafer market has been dominated by radio
frequency (RF) applications. But as of 2020, according to Yole Développement’s
latest research, photonics and LEDs now represent the main drivers for these
markets.
Yole Développement (YD): Could you please
introduce Vital Materials and its history to our readers? What business model
has Vital Materials chosen and why?
Hari Balasubramaniam (HB):Vital
Materials has been in the GaAs/InP/Ge substrate space for more than five years
now and has one of the largest production capability among GaAs and InP
substrate manufacturers. We are vertically integrated and offer many product
solutions in the compound semiconductor industry, including substrates,
metalorganic (MO) sources and ultra-high purity (UHP) materials for MOCVD and
MBE. Our careful product selection reflects our approach to partner with
customers and offer them a comprehensive set of product solutions. This will create
a great value proposition for our customers for current and future products.
YD: Could you please introduce yourself to
our readers? What are your responsibilities?
HB: I am
Director of Sales for Vital’s Compound Semiconductor Products for the US region
and also work on the Technical Sales team for CS Products for other regions.
YD: What is your product portfolio, product
line or service?
HB: Primarily
GaAs and InP substrates and also MO sources, specifically TMGa, TMIn, TMAl, and
TEGa.
MO Sources – Courtesy of Vital Materials
YD: How do your GaAs substrates add value?
HB: We
provide GaAs substrates that are competitive on the world stage in terms of
product performance and value. We can offer standard and custom GaAs substrates
for a wide variety of radio frequency (RF) and optoelectronics applications.
YD: Which markets do you target with GaAs
substrates?
HB: We offer
GaAs substrates for next generation optoelectronic and RF applications.
YD: You have access to material sources, such
as gallium. Can you explain to our readers how this can be an advantage?
HB: Having
control of the inputs and raw materials in addition to a strong technology
platform gives us the unique advantage of providing cutting-edge products with
a strong cost model that can be leveraged as our products mature into high
volume. Also, having control over the raw materials gives us the ability to
control our delivery schedule, with less dependency on external disrupting
factors. For example, in the current scenario with the COVID-19-induced
disruption in the industry supply chain, which resulted in shipping delays at
some other manufacturers, we were able to maintain our shipping schedules. In
fact, we were able to help some of our customers with quick turnaround spot
orders to make up for some delays from other vendors. This is a unique value
proposition that we can provide that is well recognized by our customers.
YD: Vital Materials has also recycling
facilities for advanced materials. Can you tell us more about the value that
having this capability adds?
HB: A lot of
companies are starting to see the value in a single company that can partner
with them on multiple products, like substrates and MO sources, fab materials
like metal targets, and that can also offer recycling services and provide a
closed loop solution. Rather than working with several different vendors for
various aspects of a supply chain, it is beneficial to work with a single
partner who can work with you across many links on the supply chain. It is a
much more desirable model for high volume manufacturing.
YD: In the GaAs wafer supply chain, we see
new Chinese suppliers taking a bigger share in the GaAs LED market. What is
Vital Materials’ position in this segment? Which substrate diameter are you
offering, and how is it evolving?
HB: We are
the market leaders for 100mm GaAs substrates for LED applications. We are using
that market manufacturing knowledge and economies of scale for other emerging
markets such as higher performance GaAs RF devices and VCSELs and other substrate
platforms such as 150mm.
YD: In the display market, there is
significant development of red miniLED and microLED lights and competition
between GaN based LEDs and GaAs based LEDs. In this context what value do GaAs
microLEDs add? Also, this market will evolve rapidly. How is Vital Materials
preparing for this?
HB: We
continue to work with leading players in the LED space who are already our
customers and leverage our existing relationships with them on these emerging
technologies as well.
YD: The VCSEL market has seen strong growth
thanks to the penetration of 3D sensing technology in smartphones. What is
Vital Materials’ roadmap to follow the evolving specifications for the
laser-grade substrates?
HB: We are
excited to work with many VCSEL manufacturers closely to help them meet and
push the boundaries of VCSEL-grade GaAs substrates. As the industry matures and
there is higher deployment of VCSEL chips in existing markets, and as we move
towards new applications, the correlations between VCSEL device performance and
substrate quality is being well studied and understood. We work with our
customers to look at this data together and tailor our products to help them
meet their product criteria.
YD: What is your status in RF GaAs
substrates? What is your position in this market?
HB: We are
working with some RF epitaxy foundries on cost-effective solutions for GaAs
substrates for advanced RF applications.
GaAs Substrates 4†and 6†– Courtesy of Vital Materials
YD: As of today, there is almost no demand
for 8†GaAs wafers. Do you see any development in the coming years? Which
application will drive the 8â€market?
HB: There are
some very early stage discussions and opinions on how, as volumes increase on
GaAs platforms, would it make sense for the industry as a whole to look at a
larger diameter? But we think this is not anything imminent. There is capacity
in the existing 6†supply chain, so investment in 8†infrastructure in terms of
epitaxy and fab are not likely in the next two to three years. That being said,
we do have capability for 8†GaAs that we can bring online. Maybe the microLED
markets could be the potential drivers, but not anytime soon.
YD: Could you please describe your product
roadmap for GaAs substrate products for coming years?
HB: We are
working primarily with VCSEL and RF manufacturers to work on products for
existing and next generation devices. We are working actively on high quality
and cost effective products that can help our customers get to the next level
in terms of device performance and cost metric.
YD: What is your target revenue or market
share target in five years from now? How will you drive this evolution?
HB: Our
business model is to closely partner with our customers. We have a close and
open working relationship with them and there is mutual sharing of data as we
look at the markets together. Similar to others in the industry, we have a
positive outlook on the GaAs markets for the next five years. While we would
not like to make a comment on any target revenue or market share, what we would
like to emphasize is that based on our unique working model, supply chain
characteristics, strong technical team, combined with astute management and
leadership, we should be strongly positioned to be among the top two or three players
in the GaAs substrates markets within the next three years.
YD: Are there any other aspects you would
like to mention?
HB: These are
very exciting times for the GaAs industry as a whole, with a lot of potential
for new products and applications, especially in VCSELs, RF, LEDs. Vital would
like to take this opportunity to thank our existing customers for their
continued support and also our new customers for inviting us to be a part of
this exciting journey.