National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan has signed a joint venture agreement with privately owned Taiwan Nitride Material, Inc., for the production of aluminum nitride (AlN). Both parties agreed to invest NT$30 million (US$932,000) for research and development of AlN, a semiconductor material widely used for heat radiation and insulation in microelectronics and optoelectronics. NCKU will realize an 18% share from transferring the production technique and expects to generate at least NT$100 million (US$3.1 million) in revenues from development of the technology over the next 10 years. Taiwan Nitride Material plans to apply AlN to the problem of heat dissipation, which is often encountered in LED devices and the main cause of failure, especially in lighting and large-screen TVs. Other applications of AlN include optoelectronics, dielectric layers in optical storage media, electronic substrates, and chip carriers that require high thermal conductivity. The technology also is suited to military applications and to steel and semiconductor manufacturing. The agreement is designed to foster continued partnership between the university and company as development continues.
Source: Reuters