News: Suppliers
30 October 2025
IVWorks implements mass production of 8-inch InGaN/GaN nanowire epiwafers
IVWorks Co Ltd of Daejeon, South Korea – which was founded in 2011 and manufactures 100-200mm gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial wafers for RF & power electronics applications – claims to be first in the industry to develop and implement mass production of 8-inch gallium nitride (InGaN/GaN) nanowire epiwafers. This is expected to serve as a key foundation for further enhancing green hydrogen production efficiency through artificial photosynthesis.
Picture: IVWorks’ 200mm InGaN/GaN nanowire epiwafer. Right: a scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of the nanowire structure magnified 100,000 times.
The InGaN/GaN nanowire epiwafers serve as a key component in artificial photosynthesis panels that produce hydrogen using only sunlight and water. The nanowire structure increases the reactive surface area, maximizing photocatalytic efficiency and, when implemented on large-diameter wafers, it can significantly boost hydrogen output. However, precisely controlling nanowire growth on large-diameter wafers has been extremely challenging, and, until now, no company worldwide had successfully commercialized this technology, says IVWorks. However, leveraging its proprietary patents and ongoing R&D, IVWorks has succeeded in uniformly growing GaN nanowires on 8-inch wafers.
In 2023, IVWorks established a contract manufacturing partnership with a US-based green hydrogen company for artificial photosynthesis panel epiwafers. Under this agreement, IVWorks applies its large-diameter growth technology to produce the nanowire structures designed by its partner. Through this collaboration, the initial 3-inch prototype solar panels have been scaled up to 8-inch wafers using IVWorks’ proprietary technology.
Looking ahead, IVWorks is accelerating the development of 12-inch large-diameter nanowire epiwafers. Expanding from 8-inch to 12-inch wafers is expected to increase hydrogen production by about 2.3 times. This technology is recognized as a key enabler for accelerating the commercialization of green hydrogen production via artificial photosynthesis. On 16 October, IVWorks’ CEO Youngkyun Noh presented the company’s 8-inch large-diameter nanowire wafer mass-production technology at the National Assembly seminar, highlighting its industrial significance.
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