Physics / mechanism
Competitive landscape
Competes with HfO₂ and ZrO₂ (higher-k, preferred for CMOS gate dielectrics), SiO₂/SiON (mature, lower interface quality on III-V), and Si₃N₄ (passivation, lower thermal conductivity). For substrates, SiC displaces sapphire in high-power GaN-on-SiC RF; AlN challenges it for UV-C epitaxy. In thermal management ceramics, AlN (180 W/m·K) wins on conductivity. Al₂O₃ holds where cost, optical transparency, and ALD conformality dominate.
| Material | Dielectric k | Thermal (W/m·K) | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Al₂O₃ | 9–10 | 30 (crystal) / 20 (poly) | Low |
| HfO₂ | 25 | ~1 | Medium |
| AlN | 8–9 | 180 | High |
Companies using
Connected ideas
Sources
Frontier (open questions)
- To be added.