In order to incorporate environmental considerations into the decision criteria used to select substrates for radio-frequency integrated circuits (RF IC) technologies, we report here a comparative cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) for Si and III-V state-of-the-art RF technologies. It appears that the global warming potential (GWP) of GaN-on-SiC is penalized by the high manufacturing energy of SiC wafers. Although less impactful than SiC, GaAs substrates show a higher GWP than Si-based technologies, which is also linked to an energy-intensive wafer fabrication. For GaN-on-Si, the epitaxy of the 2.5 um-thick III-N layers represents an important part of the emissions making it 30% more impactful than TR SOI substrates. In terms of abiotic depletion potential (ADP), the relatively large amount of Ga and As required to fabricate GaAs wafers leads to the highest ADP of all substrates. SiC also shows a high ADP due to the energy-intensive wafer fabrication. A significantly lower ADP is obtained for Si-based technologies.
Vanhouche, B, Cardinael, P, Boakes, L, Ragnarsson, L-Ã…, Rolin, C & Raskin, J-P 2024, Environmental Analysis of RF Substrates. in Electronics Goes Green 2024+ (EGG). International Conference Electronics Goes Green 2024+: From Silicon to Sustainability, EGG 2024 - Proceedings, IEEE, pp. 1-8. https://doi.org/10.23919/EGG62010.2024.10631181
Vanhouche, B., Cardinael, P., Boakes, L., Ragnarsson, L.-Ã…., Rolin, C., & Raskin, J.-P. (2024). Environmental Analysis of RF Substrates. In Electronics Goes Green 2024+ (EGG) (pp. 1-8). (International Conference Electronics Goes Green 2024+: From Silicon to Sustainability, EGG 2024 - Proceedings). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.23919/EGG62010.2024.10631181
@inproceedings{49def8c9fce4468a8645f0eabd7c281e,
title = "Environmental Analysis of RF Substrates",
abstract = "In order to incorporate environmental considerations into the decision criteria used to select substrates for radio-frequency integrated circuits (RF IC) technologies, we report here a comparative cradle-to-gate life cycle assessment (LCA) for Si and III-V state-of-the-art RF technologies. It appears that the global warming potential (GWP) of GaN-on-SiC is penalized by the high manufacturing energy of SiC wafers. Although less impactful than SiC, GaAs substrates show a higher GWP than Si-based technologies, which is also linked to an energy-intensive wafer fabrication. For GaN-on-Si, the epitaxy of the 2.5 um-thick III-N layers represents an important part of the emissions making it 30% more impactful than TR SOI substrates. In terms of abiotic depletion potential (ADP), the relatively large amount of Ga and As required to fabricate GaAs wafers leads to the highest ADP of all substrates. SiC also shows a high ADP due to the energy-intensive wafer fabrication. A significantly lower ADP is obtained for Si-based technologies.",
author = "Benjamin Vanhouche and Pieter Cardinael and Lizzie Boakes and Lars-{\AA}ke Ragnarsson and Cedric Rolin and Jean-Pierre Raskin",
note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2024 Fraunhofer IZM.",
year = "2024",
doi = "10.23919/EGG62010.2024.10631181",
language = "English",
isbn = "9798350388220",
series = "International Conference Electronics Goes Green 2024+: From Silicon to Sustainability, EGG 2024 - Proceedings",
publisher = "IEEE",
pages = "1--8",
booktitle = "Electronics Goes Green 2024+ (EGG)",
}