Epistar has reported that its board has decided to spin off the company’s VCSEL (vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser) epitaxial wafer foundry business. The company plans to transfer the VCSEL epitaxial wafer foundry business to a newly-established wholly-owned subsidiary, tentatively named Epistar Semiconductor. The company has scheduled the completion of the transfer …
Chip Fabs
INEX Microtechnology Chooses Keysight Advanced Design System Automation Software to Deliver GaN Process Design Kit
INEX Microtechnology Limited of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, a maker of semiconductor and MEMS devices, selected Keysight’s Advanced Design System (ADS) electronic design automation software to provide the company’s Gallium Nitride (GaN) Process Design Kit (PDK). INEX Microtechnology Ltd provides micro- and nano-fabrication services to emerging technology supply chains internationally. The company …
Plessey Semiconductor Now in Horticultural Lighting
Plessey Semiconductors, a private UK company that manufactures gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) LEDs, reported that it has signed an international and exclusive license agreement to produce and sell the LED-based horticultural lighting solutions from PhytoLux®. According to the terms of the agreement, PhytoLux will essentially become Plessey’s brand of horticultural lighting …
Imec Adds 300mm Cleanroom
The nanoelectronics research center Imec in Leuven, Belgium has announced the opening of its new 300mm wafer cleanroom. The addition of the 4000m2 new facility brings the total area of the facility’s research cleanrooms to 12,000m2. Imec is among the most advanced research facilities in the world dedicated to scaling …
Compound Photonics Acquires Europe’s Largest GaAs Semiconductor Manufacturing Facility from RFMD
Compound Photonics, a maker of projectors for mobile devices, has agreed to purchase a gallium arsenide (GaAs) manufacturing facility from RFMD in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, England. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Compound Photonics plans to use the 53 acre site with its 50,000-square-foot GaAs wafer fab to …
RF Micro Devices(R) Announces New Gallium Arsenide Sourcing Strategy
RF Micro Devices, Inc. of Greensboro, Massachusetts USA, announced a new Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) sourcing strategy intended to increase manufacturing flexibility, expand gross margin, and support aggressive growth. As part of the new strategy RFMD says it will phase out manufacturing in its Newton Aycliffe, UK-based GaAs pHEMT facility and …
IMEC Launches 200mm Fully Integrated Silicon Photonics R&D Platform
Imec announced the launch of its silicon photonics platform which essentially integrates a design kit with customized fabrication services it calls Multi Project Wafer through ePIXfab. ePIXfab is a consortium of partners coordinated by an IMEC-UGent partnership. IMEC claims that the research and development platform enables cost-effective R&D of silicon …
New Raytheon Factory Fabricates Silicon Carbide Electronics
Raytheon has set up a new silicon carbide plant in Scotland. The silicon carbide foundry opened in January 2013 in Glenrothes, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) north of Edinburgh in Scotland’s “Silicon Glen” high-tech region. The company’s technicians are using high-voltage beams of ions, to build circuits from synthetic wafers …
on February 4, 2013 in Starting Substrates/Wafers incl LED Materials – CS/SSLnet, Equipment/Materials, Services, Solar and Concentrated PV, Chip Fabs
Zephyr Photonics Launches Semiconductor Fabrication and Foundry Business Unit
Zephyr Photonics, Inc., of Zephyr Cove, Nevada USA, announced the launch of its Semiconductor Fabrication and Foundry Services (SFFS) business unit. The company, a manufacturer of harsh environment, optical interconnect solutions for intelligence, defense, aerospace, energy and industrial applications, has a 10,000 square foot cleanroom with growth, processing, testing, and …