Voronezh State University won a grant of 100 million roubles for the creation of a laboratory for the production of gallium nitride and silicon electronics. The corresponding protocol was published on Friday, 11 August.
The laboratory will be opened at the Department of Solid-State Physics and Nanostructures of the VSU Faculty of Physics together with NIIET. The operation of the laboratory will contribute to the achievement of the production output of gallium nitride transistors expected by NIIET. The developed technologies can be used to create portable devices for medicine, robotics, UAVs and drones, security systems, etc. By 2030, the laboratory will also help supply 70% the domestic market with Russian electronic products. Among the conditions for participation in the competition were co-financing from an industrial partner and a university.
The project meets modern challenges and corresponds with the priorities of scientific and technological development of the Russian Federation as part of the “Strategy for the Development of the Electronic Industry”, “Strategy for the Social and Economic Development of the Voronezh Region”, and the Governor’s Project “New Industrialisation”.
Over the past 5 years, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has conducted research worth over 200 million roubles with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation and using its own funds. The idea of developing gallium nitride technologies was supported by Denis Manturov, Deputy Chair of the Government of the Russian Federation and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
“Modern electronics are based on silicon technologies. The era of silicon electronics is coming to its end as its development has reached its limit. Silicon is giving way to a new “material of the future”, a semiconductor called gallium nitride (GaN). Why GaN? The answer to this question is quite simple: it is smaller, faster, cheaper, and better. Startups have been working on the development of this technology, and in 2030 the whole world might completely leave the silicon era behind and enter the era of gallium nitride,” said Pavel Seredin, Head of the laboratory and Head of the Department of Solid-State Physics and Nanostructures of the VSU Faculty of Physics.
According to leading marketing organisations, the Asia-Pacific region will become the key player in the global market for semiconductor devices based on gallium nitride. The Voronezh enterprise NIIET is the only Russian manufacturer mass-producing devices normally based on silicon technology using gallium nitride.
“The creation of the laboratory will allow combining the efforts of leading specialists, scientists, and designers from Voronezh State University, Alferov Academic University, Zelenograd Scientific Centre, and representatives of NIIET. Our projects will considerably simplify the electronic circuits and reduce their size, decrease energy consumption by at least 50%, and significantly increase their reliability and durability. Once the VSU laboratory of gallium nitride and silicon electronics is created and equipped using a grant from the government of the Voronezh Region, it will close the circle of missing innovative equipment. In 1.5-2 years we will obtain technologies that will be implemented into production,” noted Pavel Seredin.
Educational training programmes for specialists and advanced training for personnel from regional microelectronics enterprises will be offered at the laboratory. Employees of NIIET, as well as other microelectronics enterprises of the Voronezh region, will have the opportunity to develop and practice their professional competencies in the field of individual technological operations, development of their own topology, design, and stress tests of electronic component base products.
“This unique state support measure at the federal level, aimed at the creation of university research, is truly unprecedented. The Voronezh Region will be among the first to fund the creation of an advanced scientific and laboratory complex. This is slightly different from projects like “Decree No. 218” which were aimed at commercialising technologies that were developed at the university.
The laboratory will be used jointly, both by the university and the enterprise. As a result of research and applied work, they will create a line of products and technologies for the improvement of the quality and quantity of products. We are sure that this unique project will be scaled up in other regions of the Russian Federation and will be met with a response at the federal level,” said VSU Rector Dmitry Endovitsky.
“NIIET considers technologies based on gallium nitride on silicon to be one of the drivers of its development. The enterprise has already created the required infrastructure and built clean production facilities. This project was presented to Denis Manturov, Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation and Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, as well as leaders of the industry and the administration of the Voronezh region, on 31 July 2023 and was preliminary approval. The creation of a joint VSU laboratory is one of the steps in the enterprise’s consistent policy on technological and staff development, interaction with key universities, and innovative promotion of the electronics industry in the Voronezh Region,” said Pavel Kutsko, General Director of NIIET.
