Cambridge GaN Devices (CGD) is the first semiconductor company to include individual GaN chip 2D barcodes that can be read by a commercial code reader, enabling IC manufacturing position on a wafer to be identified.

The fabless, clean-tech firm develops a range of energy-efficient GaN-based power devices to make greener electronics possible. It is now demonstrating its commitment to innovation with another industry first: the incorporation of an individual 2D barcode on a GaN IC, which can be read by a standard, commercial code reader. This not only enables CGD to scan packaged devices and identify the circuit and the batch, but also to learn exactly whereabouts on the wafer each individual die was made. This is of great significance in providing vital data concerning process ruggedness and reliability.

“We engineered the incorporation of individual 2D barcodes with our packaging team to give us complete ownership of the process and the ability to resolve any reliability issues. We know, for example, that yields are lowest at the wafer edge – now we can see how the position on the wafer might affect device performance. This information can be fed back to the foundry to enable continuous manufacturing process improvements,” said Zahid Ansari, CGD VP of operations. “The ability to immediately identify a device using a cheap, commercial barcode reader also has huge implications for speeding up anti-counterfeiting measures, which will be of great interest to companies operating in hi-rel fields.”

According to Giorgia Lnogomardi, CGD CEO, GaN is still a relatively new technology, certainly when compared to traditional silicon for power electronics applications. She said: “By incorporating 2D barcodes we are able to provide extremely fast feedback to ourmanufacturing supply chain, which helps cement our relationships and scale-up for high volume manufacture.”