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September 11, 2008...International Rectifier Corporation of El Segundo, California USA, announced the development of a gallium nitride (GaN)-based power device technology platform. The company boasts that its new platform can provide improvements in key application-specific figures of merit (FOM) of up to a factor of ten compared to state-of-the-art silicon-based technology platforms. IR says that it also dramatically increases performance and cut energy consumption in end applications in market segments such as computing and communications, automotive and appliances. IR says that its GaN-based power device technology platform is the result of five years of research and development, and it is based on the company’s proprietary GaN-on-silicon epitaxial technology.
According to IR, the high throughput, 150mm GaN-on-Si epitaxy, together with subsequent device fabrication processes offer customers a commercially viable manufacturing platform for GaN-based power devices.
“We fully anticipate the potential impact of this new device technology platform on the power conversion market to be at least as large as the introduction of the power HEXFET by IR some 30 years ago,” IR’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Oleg Khaykin said.
IR notes that prototypes of several new GaN-based product platforms will be available to leading OEM customers at the Electronica tradeshow which takes place in Munich, November 11-14, 2008. Company News Release Monocrystal Launches 8” Sapphire Wafers for LEDs
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 11, 2008...Monocrystal, a maker synthetic sapphire located in Stavropol, Russia, announced that it has began production of its ultra-large 8” C-plane epi-ready sapphire wafers for LED manufacturing in August. The company says it leveraged its technology for large sapphire crystal growth to quickly ramp production of its the new generation sapphire wafers for LEDs. Monocrystal boasts that it has produced large sapphire crystals that exceed 65 kg since late 2005. The company also cited its proprietary wafer fabrication technology developed earlier in spring for production of the new generation ultra-large 8” R-plane sapphire wafers for RFICs. Monocrystal says it has already shipped its 8” wafers to LED and RFIC customers.
The company points out that over the past few years the solid state LED market has been transitioning from conventionally used 2” wafers to more economically efficient larger diameter 3” and 4” wafers. “It is expected that this will lead to a significant price reduction for LEDs and hence their use will become more economically attractive. That is why we believe that our 8” wafers could be a trigger for mass demand and large-scale adoption of the solid state general lighting – a huge market,” said Oleg Kachalov, VP Sales and Marketing of Monocrystal.
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QPC Lasers Demonstrates First High Power Surface Emitting Eye-Safe Laser for DOD
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 11, 2008...QPC Lasers of Sylmar, California USA, announced that the company has successfully completed its initial Department of Defense (DOD) contract to develop and deliver high power eye-safe surface-emitting diode pumps for directed energy weapons applications. The company points out that the technology is of key importance in the DOD’s high energy laser applications because it enables cost effective, wafer-based fabrication. QPC Lasers has been invited to submit a proposal for a much larger follow on contract. The company says that this milestone development is of key importance in the future of DoD high energy laser applications because this technology enables the fabrication to be wafer based and extremely cost effective. The Company has been invited to submit a proposal for a much larger follow on contract.
“Battlefield lasers using conventional diode pump technologies are prohibitively expensive and present hazards to the eyes of friendly personnel, severely limiting their utility," said Dr. Jeffrey Ungar, co-founder and CEO of QPC. "QPC's demonstration points the way to a new generation of laser weaponry which combines the low cost of `wafer-scale' manufacturing with beams that are 100,000 to 1,000,000 times less hazardous to our soldiers." Dr Unger says that the lasers could be used for other defense applications including: rangefinding, covert/active illumination for surveillance, and remote sensing. He added that the company is shipping them to medical customers for dermatological and vein treatments and industrial customers for applications such as welding and cutting. Company News Release Solarig Completes 22MW PV Connection to Grid in Spain
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 8, 2008...Spanish photovoltaic company, Solarig has connected to the grid all its photovoltaic projects scheduled for 2008 totaling 22 megawatts under the current Spanish feed in tariff. They represent an investment of 132 million Euros. Solarig uses a variety of PV generation technologies including: cadmium telluride thin-film modules, 3rd generation CPV systems (concentrators with double axis trackers) with Fresnel lenses and triple junction high efficiency cells. It also uses monocrystalline modules with double axis solar trackers. Additionally, the company has started to develop building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) projects to integrate photovoltaic systems in roofs and façades of shopping centers, industrial warehouses and other types of buildings.
The company hopes to soon have projects around the world. In the past few months Solarig has reportedly opened new branch offices for the development of photovoltaic projects in Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, France, South Korea and United States. It has also opened a European Marketing Platform in Malta. In China, the company reportedly produces monocrystalline silicon cells and modules through a joint-venture with a Chinese leading photovoltaic manufacturer and has recently inaugurated its representative office in Beijing. Solarig says it manages a large international portfolio of photovoltaic solar projects in Southern Europe, United States and South Korea. In addition, the company says that it will soon start to build its first photovoltaic park in Italy. Company News Release Skyworks and Ember Partner to Develop Portfolio of Front-End Modules for ZigBee Applications
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 8, 2008...Skyworks of Atlanta, Georgia USA, announced that it is partnering with Ember to develop a portfolio of ZigBee front-end modules. The company says that the modules will target applications such as smart meters in energy management, home area networks (HAN), and industrial automation. ZigBee is a wireless network standard that is designed for remote monitoring and control, and sensor-network applications. West Technology Research Solutions (WTRS) is forecasting the ZigBee/IEEE 802.15.4 market to grow at an annual rate of over 117 percent from approximately 8.4 million units shipped in 2007 to as many as 516 million in 2012.
“Skyworks’ partnership with Ember accelerates our efforts in the energy management industry by more than doubling our addressable market for front-end modules,” said Stan Swearingen, Skyworks’ vice president and general manager of Linear Products.
Bob Gohn, Ember’s vice president of marketing commented, “We are making it easier than ever for our customers to deliver exceptional performance in their products across a wide range of ZigBee-based applications.”
The companies have released several front-end modules that are capable of working together in ZigBee applications.
Skyworks News Release IQE Launches New Epitaxy Services for Improved MEMS Capabilities
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 8, 2008...IQE of Cardiff, UK, announced the addition of an extensive range of new epitaxy services for enhanced MEMS capabilities. The company points out that engineered substrates enable the greatest degree of flexibility in both the design and manufacture of MEMS devices. Additionally the company says they allow customers to design their products free of the limitations of standard bulk silicon substrates. IQE says different doping levels and species within each layer can also be accommodated as can epitaxial layers on SOI. Its new epitaxial services for MEMS applications include: thick virtual SiGe substrates, thin super-lattice structures, SiGe etch stop layers, and SiGe epitaxy for applications such as IR sensors. The company boasts a wide range of materials capabilities with multi-layer Si, SiGe and Ge epitaxy.
IQE notes that the substrates come in wafer sizes up to 200mm. The company says its new enhanced services are suited to technologies based on SOI or bulk silicon wafers, and its single wafer reactors offer excellent resistivity and thickness uniformity with tight control of doping and other critical film parameters. IQE says its reactors allow abrupt transitions between differently doped layers, and they produce films free of bulk silicon defects. Alistair Hoy, Sales Manager for IQE's Silicon Products Division said, "Many key players are turning to engineered substrates to facilitate greater flexibility and control over their design and manufacturing processes. The use of epitaxial layers opens up an exciting new range of possibilities for the MEMS technology sector." Company News Release Nissan Motor Co. Develops a SiC Inverter for use in a Vehicle
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 8, 2008...Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. of Tokyo announced the development of a silicon carbide diode-based inverter for use in a vehicle. The company has reportedly launched tests using an X-TRAIL FCV (Fuel Cell Vehicle) equipped with this technology. The technology may one day go into hybrid electric, full electric, or fuel cell vehicles. Inverters on electric-powered vehicles control the direct current electricity coming from the power source, and convert it to alternating current. Nissan notes that their size has often set limitations on vehicle layout. The inverter reportedly employs a new Nissan-developed heterojunction diode (HJD) structure. Nissan says that the SiC diode and HJD structure together reduce the overall size and weight of the inverter and dramatically improve its reliability.
Nissan says that previous silicon diodes used in electric-powered vehicles created power losses and required heat dissipation countermeasures. However, the company contends that its newly developed SiC diode provides high power efficiency with improved heat resistance and reliability to create a high breakdown voltage, large capacity inverter. The company boasts that its new SiC inverter's diode surface has been reduced by 70% and the circuit energy efficiency has been improved by 20% in comparison to previous diodes. Additionally, the company says that simplification of the system's cooling mechanisms allows for further reductions in the size and weight of the inverter by 15% to 20%. The company says it aims to further reduce the inverter size by employing SiC diodes on the transistor. Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. News Release Avago Files for $400 million IPO
LIGHTimes StaffSeptember 4, 2008...Avago, a maker of compound semiconductor devices including LEDs has filed a registration statement with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to make an initial public offering (IPO) of its common stock. The proposed maximum aggregate offering price is $400 million. The IPO was on August 29, 2008. The company is listed on the NASDAQ under the stock symbol "AVGO". The offering is being made through Deutsche Bank Securities, Lehman Brothers, Morgan Stanley, Citi, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Banc of America Securities, and KKR.
The company has initial public offering, but it is by no means new to the business. It had its roots as a division of HP. Then it spun out to become Agilent Technologies. Then in the later part of 2005, it was acquired by KKR and Silver Lake Partners, and became an independent company. The company has reportedly amassed an intellectual property portfolio of more than 2,000 issued and pending patents. Its key strengths include solid state lighting, LED lamps, and displays, in addition to cellular phones, data networking & telecom, equipment printers, optical mice enterprise storage and servers, consumer appliances industrial feedback sensors & motor controllers, auto signaling & dashboard illumination, LCD & plasma televisions.
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