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Editorial: Are USA Government Contracts in Jeopardy?
... There appears to be a great deal of uplifting news lately from all over the world about new R&D contracts being let to compound semi industry researchers. Many of the contracts are for our industry's wonderful energy-saving technologies, and many come from confident, forward-looking governments. In contrast, in the...
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TriQuint to Supply MMICs for New Army Radar
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 5, 2008...TriQuint Semiconductor, an RF front-end manufacturer based in Hillsboro, Oregon USA, reports that it has begun shipping gallium arsenide (GaAs) monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) to Lockheed Martin Radar Systems for the manufacture of EQ-36 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radars. The EQ-36 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar systems are reportedly being developed for the U.S. Army to identify, track, and help neutralize threats posed by mortars, artillery, and missiles. TriQuint’s MMIC’s are to be used as chipsets in the new phased array radar.
Unlike previous radar systems that date back to the Cold War, the EQ-36 system allows a 360 degree view. Lockheed Martin explains that this capability enables operators to more easily and rapidly identify hostile mortar, artillery, and missile fire. Lockheed Martin reportedly demonstrated a fully-operational prototype of the EQ-36 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar at the Association for the United States Army (AUSA)’s 2007 exposition in October. Lockheed Martin said it expects to deliver the first of the completed radars to the U.S. Army by mid-2009.
Dr. Brehm of TriQuint noted, “While fulfilling its contract for MMIC products, additional TriQuint components are being reviewed for use in other phases of the on-going program” TriQuint News Release May 5, 2008...Emcore of Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, has agreed to supply ES System of Gwang-Ju, South Korea, concentrating solar cell receivers. The $28 million contract is for Emcore to supply the concentrating photovoltaic receivers for a fully licensed and funded 70 MW solar farm in South Korea. According to Emcore, the agreement includes an advanced deposit to ensure production priority. Emcore says that production of the CPV receivers has begun, and shipments are scheduled over the next 24 months. The agreement has provisions for accelerated deliveries in addition to future purchase options under the same terms.
David Danzilio, Vice President and General Manager of Emcore's Photovoltaics Division stated, “We continue to see increased demand for this enabling product from customers around the world and this purchase order further diversifies our growing terrestrial component backlog, which now exceeds $110M. Our second automated receiver assembly line has entered into volume production and we expect to commence shipments from the third receiver line in June. When combined with the recently completed CPV solar cell capacity expansion, this assembly capability positions Emcore as the only vertically integrated CPV receiver manufacturer to the global concentrating photovoltaics industry. "
James Park, Chief Operating Officer of ES System commented, “We are convinced that the Emcore cell receiver technology provides the best solution for high concentration CPV systems both now and in the future." Emcore News Release BCC Research Predicts CVD Market to Increase to $11.8 Billion by 2013
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 5, 2008...BCC Research has released a report about the markets for chemical vapor deposition (CVD), ion implantation, and molecular beam epitaxy (MBE).
According to the report, the global market for chemical vapor deposition (CVD) will increase from $7.0 billion in 2007 to an estimated $7.3 billion by the end of 2008. The report predicts that the market for CVD should reach $11.8 billion by 2013 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2%. BCC Research contends that the ion implantation segment will grow at a CAGR of 10.1% between 2008 and 2013 and be worth $4.4 billion by the end of the study period.
The BCC report also forecasts that the molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) equipment market is expected to reach $475.4 million in 2008. The reports says that the MBE market is projected to grow at an 8.1% CAGR through the end of the forecast period to reach $701.3 million by 2013.
BCC notes that it previously published reports about the physical vapor deposition and atomic layer deposition markets. BCC says that the CVD report will compliment the other report providing analysis of the three thin-film technologies. BCC News Release
St. Andrews Researchers Created Organic Laser Powered by LED
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 5, 2008...Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, have created a visible organic laser that can be tuned to any color of the rainbow. The researchers pointed out that the laser is powered by a simple indium gallium nitride (InGaN) LED, rather than another laser, which was previously required for an organic laser. The physicists at St. Andrews contend that in addition to being more compact than previous organic lasers, they can be produced at a fraction of the cost.
Professor Ifor Samuel and Dr Graham Turnbull have used flexible plastic-like semiconducting materials to make a number of new innovations including a light-emitting sticking plaster for the treatment of skin cancer. According to the researchers, the technology could revolutionize point of care diagnosis and treatment. Professor Samuel said, "For over forty years visible organic lasers have required another laser to make them shine. We have now developed a low-cost, easy to make plastic laser, which converts the light from an LED (of the kind used in torches and traffic lights) into laser light. LEDs can be battery powered, and so this hybrid LED-laser approach can make very simple compact emitters. The lasers can give a variety of colors and are suitable for various applications such as spectroscopy or chemical sensing." The researchers findings are explained in the April 23 issue of Applied Physics Letters. Applied Physics Letters Abstract, St. Andrews University News Release Kopin Selected for Award of NASA Solar Cell Development Contract
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 1, 2008...Kopin of Taunton, Massachusetts USA, a leading provider of heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) wafers, has been selected for a solar cell development contract from NASA. The contract is Phase II of a Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) program to develop indium nitride (InN)-based quantum dot solar cells. Kopin's will partner with groups at Virginia Tech and Magnolia Optical Technologies.
"The goal of this STTR program is to develop high-efficiency solar cells that are resistant to extreme conditions while achieving high solar electric power conversion efficiency," said Dr. Roger Welser, Kopin's Director of Technology and New Product Development. "The advanced patent-pending solar cell structure incorporating InN-based nanostructures can harness a very large fraction of the solar spectrum while minimizing the effects of high temperatures and high-energy radiation. This technology will enable photovoltaic power systems of future NASA space exploration missions to operate in extreme environments with high temperature and radiation exposures."
Dr. John C.C. Fan, Kopin President and Chief Executive Officer commented, "This STTR project is part of Kopin's long-term goal to address the emerging terrestrial renewable energy market by realizing the ultimate objective of high conversion efficiency at low costs.” Kopin News Release Sunrgi Claims PV System with Wholesale Rate of 5 Cents Per kWh
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 30, 2008...Sunrgi a maker of solar concentrator systems introduced its Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics (XCPV) at The National Energy Marketers Association’s 11th Annual Global Energy Forum in Washington, DC. The company boldly contends that its new patent pending solar energy system will soon allow production of electricity at a wholesale cost of 5 cents per kWh. The company notes that at this price it is competitive with producing electricity using fossil fuels, and it is also a fraction of current solar energy cost. XCPV (Xtreme Concentrated Photovoltaics) is a system that concentrates the equivalent of more than 1,600 times the sun’s energy onto the world’s most efficient solar cells. The company boasts of 37 percent efficiency for its working prototype.
Sunrgi points out what it claims differentiates its XCPV system from any other solar energy system. According to the company the differences include: a proprietary, integrated low profile technology for concentrating sunlight; a proprietary technology and methodology for cooling solar cells; a low cost, modular system optimized for mass-production; a requirement of less land area or “roof top” space than typical solar energy systems; a technology roadmap for continuous improvement; low-cost field installation; and, a custom-designed system for easy operation and maintenance. “In a little more than a year we were able to develop and successfully test XCPV,” said Robert S. (Bob) Block, co-founder and Sunrgi principal. “We expect the Sunrgi system to become available for both on- and off-grid power applications, worldwide, in twelve to fifteen months.” Company News Release SAFC Hitech Adds Cleanroom to Facility
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 30, 2008...SAFC Hitech of St. Louis, Missouri USA, a focus area within SAFC, which is a member of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, announced the opening of a $9 million state-of-the-art cleanroom at the Company's Sheboygan Falls, Wisconsin campus. The facility comprised of an ISO Class 4 cleanroom, a distillation suite and office space, takes up 5,000 square feet. The new facility became fully operational in late April 2008. It offers in-house trace metals analysis and the capability to clean and fill containers in a tightly-controlled environment. The Sheboygan campus was selected as the site for the new cleanroom because large-scale manufacturing of products already goes on their for the material science industry for SAFC. The facility supports the silicon semiconductor, compound semiconductor, and performance materials markets.
"One of SAFC's primary business objectives is to continue to build the SAFC Hitech segment into a global leader in the supply of ultra-pure, high quality materials and technical solutions to the electronics industries we serve," commented SAFC President, Frank Wicks. "As the demand for new and increasingly efficient materials continues to grow, so does the need to attain higher and higher levels of quality and dependability from our products." SAFC Hitech News Release
Veeco Co-Sponsors MBE Awards;Seeks Nominations
CompoundSemi News StaffMay 1, 2008...Veeco Instruments, a compound semiconductor equipment maker based in St. Paul, Minnesota USA, will co-sponsor two major awards again in 2008 for those in the Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) community, the Al Cho Award and the MBE Innovator Award. According to the company the awards recognize individuals whose innovations have significantly advanced the field of MBE. Each award consists of a monetary honorarium and an engraved plaque.
The MBE Innovator Award, which was initiated in 2003, is co-sponsored by Veeco Instruments Inc. and the International MBE Organization. The purpose of the International MBE Organization is to share the latest research, progress, and discoveries about MBE in addition to sharing the new materials, applications and devices from MBE. The mission of the organization is also to provide news about the further development of MBE as a high-volume manufacturing technology. The Al Cho Award, initiated in 2004, is co-sponsored by Veeco Instruments Inc. and other participants within the MBE community. Nominations for each award can be submited until the end of the business day on June 15th. More information and nomination forms can be found at www.mbe2008.ca.
Universities, government organizations, or commercial companies worldwide can be nominated. Nominees must have shown or are currently showing innovation in MBE technology. The International MBE Advisory Committee Officials will select each winner from the submitted nominations. The recipients of each award will receiving the award at the Thursday evening International MBE Conference banquet in early August. Veeco News Release IBM, Matheson TriGas, and Taiyo Nippon Sanso Partner on Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 28, 2008...IBM, Matheson Tri-Gas/ Taiyo Nippon Sanso are collaborating on the development of manufacturing materials and processes for CMOS at 32nm and under. Matheson Tri-Gas and its parent company, Taiyo Nippon Sanso hope to research and develop new high purity gas molecules and new delivery systems for the manufacturing of atomic-scale semiconductors.
IBM will add its CMOS research capabilities to the collaboration. “Taiyo Nippon Sanso Group including Matheson Tri-Gas' cutting-edge source gases and advanced purification equipment, when integrated with IBM's state-of-the-art CMOS research capabilities, enables both companies to accelerate the pace of semiconductor innovation,” said Bernie Meyerson, Vice President Strategic Alliances and Chief Technical Officer for IBM Systems & Technology Group.
"This relationship with IBM will enable the Taiyo Nippon Sanso Group to position itself as a leading edge material supplier in the semiconductor material market beyond 32nm," said Mike Hara, Senior Managing Director of Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation. Matheson Tri-Gas News Release Canada to Fund Nanotech Research Including Solar Projects
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 28, 2008...The Nanotechnology Initiative of the National Research Council of Canada (NRC), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC), announced the five winners of a special $15-million nanotechnology research funding competition. Each proposed project will get $3 million in funding. Two of the five winners will develop new solar technology.
Researchers from the Universite de Sherbrooke and the University of Ottawa will work with scientists and engineers from the NRC Institute for Microstructural Sciences (NRC-IMS) and the NRC Institute for Research in Construction (NRC-IRC), in Ottawa to use quantum dots to produce more efficient concentrator solar cells. Researchers from Universite de Laval, Queen's University, the University of Toronto and Simon Fraser University will work with scientists and engineers from the NRC Institute for Microstructural Sciences (NRC-IMS), the NRC Institute for Chemical Process and Environmental Technology (NRC-ICPET) and the NRC Steacie Institute for Molecular Sciences (NRC-SIMS) in Ottawa will use novel polymeric nano-composite semiconductor materials to produce more efficient solar cells.
"Canada already has considerable expertise in the field of nanotechnology, and the government is ensuring that our country takes its place among the most innovative nations of the world,” said Mr. Galipeau, Royal Galipeau, Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Orleans and Deputy Chair of Committees of the Whole House. National Research Council Canada-NRC News Release Brighter Lasers for Tomorrow's Technologies
CompoundSemi News StaffApril 28, 2008...Twenty-two of Europe's top research teams have joined forces to develop new generation high brightness lasers. The research teams come from industry, internationally recognized research laboratories, and leading academic institutions. Funding of €16.25m (with €9.7m from the European Commission's Information Society Technologies Programme) will go towards the project called WWW.BRIGHTER.EU, which runs until September 2009. The project name stands for 'World Wide Welfare: High-Brightness Semiconductor Lasers for Generic Use'.
The researchers expect that the new high brightness lasers will eventually transform the fields of healthcare, communications, and entertainment.
Ultimately the collaboration hopes to make lasers smaller, brighter, more efficient, and cheaper in an extended range of colors (wavelengths). Additionally, they hope to couple more light power into smaller diameter optical fibers. Partners from 10 European countries will work together on the project that builds upon the successful WWW.BRIGHT.EU project, which was completed in 2006. Two leading universities represent the UK in the BRIGHTER Consortium: The University of Nottingham and the University of Cambridge.
Project coordinator, Michel Krakowski of Alcatel-Thales III-V Lab in France, said, “There are huge markets for laser diode technology. There are a lot of applications that currently are not possible to address without high-powered diode lasers, either because of cost, colour or portability. The goal of this project is to develop new lasers with increased power and brightness. It's about how tightly we can focus the beam.”
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
Are USA Government Contracts in Jeopardy?
Jo Ann McDonald, founding editorMay 6, 2008...There appears to be a great deal
of uplifting news lately from all over the world about new R&D contracts
being let to compound semi industry researchers. Many of the contracts are for
our industry's wonderful energy-saving technologies, and many come from confident,
forward-looking governments. In contrast, in the USA, we're seeing the first
disturbing signs of the USA government pulling back on what were presumed to be
established, secure R&D contracts.
When a relatively young, small, R&D-based
compound semi industry company quietly files for bankruptcy and someone sends
me an email with the local article stating the situation, a little alarm goes
off in this industry historian's head. What's at the heart of the problem? Did
some scoundrel from a foreign land renege on financing again? Was the startup
poorly managed? In this case the blame is being put on the USA government citing
the fact that "the military has scaled back research programs in order
to spend more on the war effort." After reading that, the little alarm
in my head instantly grew. As an industry commentator and veteran advanced technology
journalist, I feel a heads up to our readers is in order.
The company that filed for Chapter
7 bankruptcy in the USA state of Pennsylvania is three year old Caracal
Inc., headquarted in Ford City. The company is in the silicon carbide (SiC)
business and made its claim to fame via a lucrative Navy contract worth over
$1 million to supply SiC-based semiconductors for use in what was to be an all-electric
powered warship. News of the bankruptcy filing was in the Tribune Review,
Wednesday edition, April 23, 2008. (Link
to article) It noted that the Navy was 90% of Caracal's customer base, which
doesn't surprise me at all. Unfortunately, most startups chasing after government
funding put all their eggs in one basket, and most hatch rather well, providing
the USA is in a pro-R&D funding mode.
Looking back, whenever the USA goes
into anti-funding mode due to some perceived priority or another, I visualize
major government CS industry R&D advocates at the various funding agencies standing before their
beleaguered program managers and asking: "Which puppies shall we drown
today?" Government program managers hate losing funding for their programs,
especially when they've already been allocated the funds and assured the contractors that the funding is secure and the program will surely
go ahead. The only thing they hate worse is having to tell their contractors
that they won't be renewing.
Caracal is evidently now a casualty
of war, according to defense policy analyst John E. Pike, director of GlobalSecurity.org
in Alexandria, Virginia who was quoted in the Tribune Review article that "the
all-electric ship project 'comes and goes,'shifting in priority on the Navy
budget," noting also that... "Anything related to shipbuilding is
going to be in a really tight space these days and that research and development
spending in general is flat."
According to a follow-up
Trib article, Caracal plans to liquidate its assets. That article notes
that "the borough" that encompasses Ford City and the Caracal plant
is extremely concerned about the impact the bankruptcy will have on the community
since Caracal pays the town about $228,000 in rent each year under its lease,
which the borough uses to pay off debt service on the industrial development
project. The local hope is that some entity will step in that is able to utilize
the infrastructure as well as the skilled labor.
After over 30 years advising semiconductor
startups how best to succeed, I have to confess that I can't guarantee success.
I can, however, identify signs of possible failure. One blatant sign of potential
trouble is when the startup instantly goes out and buys fancy furniture to impress
would-be customers (and themselves). The next is to get themselves willfully
into patent litigation, which eventually transfers their precious venture funding
into the pockets of patent attorneys. The next obvious mistake is to put total
faith in an ever fickle USA government.
I remember when diamond technology
was the brief rage. The naïve went hell-bent for diamond-based ICs. Dream
on. We couldn't even make a good GaAs IC back then! The sensible dabblers in
diamond balanced their offerings with diamond heat sinks, and by the time diamonds
were declared dead... mostly by the government... the sensible dabblers were
already into other products, many of which were destined for commercial applications.
I feel genuinely bad for Caracal,
but they definitely have assets worth note. Plus, Caracal has good contacts within
the tight-knit wide bandgap circle. They have good IP, as proven by cross-licenses already
with Cree and cooperation deals with Kyma, so one alternative could be to meld their assets with someone stronger. Heck, we've been predicting consolidation among
WBG players anyway. But the main message I'd like to get across is to not fall into the trap of
putting such a large percentage of your business in just one place, especially if
it's a proven fickle place. Think commercial apps from the outset. Avoid known
traps. Stay smart and focused, but also spread your bets. That way you're more likely to be a cat that lands on your feet when a lucrative funding
source suddenly dries up.
If you have questions about the
solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or have news
or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of LIGHTimes and CompoundSemi News.
Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. 
My direct tel at the ranch is
+1-325-463-5345
From time to time Jo Ann may comment on companies in which she holds a
modest investment - be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time... |
