What happened
- HexaTech, a company based in Morrisville, North Carolina, and a subsidiary of Japan’s Stanley Electric, announced immediate production of a 100-millimetre single-crystal aluminium nitride substrate. Semiconductor Today published it on 4 November 2026.
- The launch follows the 3-inch substrate it presented in February this year.
- The company says its 2-inch, 3-inch and 100-millimetre products are available with standard lead times.
- Its chief executive, John Goehrke, credits the achievement to a development programme with public and private support over 20 years.
Why it matters
- A substrate is the disc on which chips are made. If it is larger, more devices fit in each run and the cost per unit of area falls.
- Aluminium nitride belongs to the wide-bandgap materials, of interest for making components that emit ultraviolet light or handle high power.
- According to Gregory Mills, vice president of business development, the format makes it easier to insert the material into fabrication lines and scale device production.
The number
100 millimetres. That is the new commercial diameter, which the company reaches less than a year after 3 inches, about 76 millimetres. Its next stated goal is 150 millimetres or more.
Context
HexaTech aims this product at users in optoelectronics and high-power radio frequency. Goehrke said the result will be the basis of its expansion plans and of closing the gap with other high-performance wide-bandgap materials.
The Semiconductor Today piece relies on company statements and gives no prices, defects per area or manufacturing volumes. Without those figures the product cannot be compared with alternatives from other makers. Rafael Dalmau, manager of research and development, credits the company with leading structural and surface quality, a claim not accompanied by measurements.
At Mamífero we have followed these materials. We reported that Elethron will make aluminium nitride wafers in the UK and that Bosch will split its chips into a separate division. Also that Shanghai tested a flat optic for EUV lithography and that CFS signed a letter of intent for power chips for fusion.
What’s next
- The company aims for 150 millimetres, with no public date in this announcement.
- Device makers will say whether the new size truly lowers costs on their lines.
- The arrival of other producers of this material will allow prices and quality to be compared on the market.
Bottom line
Moving to 100 millimetres is a change of size, but also of economics: it decides how many chips come out of each disc. Buyers have yet to confirm with figures what the manufacturer promises today.
Sources
- Semiconductor Today, “HexaTech announces commercial availability of 100mm AlN substrate”, 4 November 2026, link. Based on company statements.
- Cover image: DrHughManning, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Edited by Rodrigo Cornejo. How we select and verify: who writes these notes.
