Strategy Analytics Names TriQuint World’s Leading GaAs Device Maker
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 15, 2008...TriQuint Semiconductor, a front-end product manufacturer and foundry services provider, was named a top RF device supplier in Strategy Analytics annual studies ranking the world's leading Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) device manufacturers. Strategy Analytics says that the GaAs device market has grown 17 percent over the previous year. SA says that TriQuint's success in the industry is based upon "strong positions in diverse end markets, a strategy that in some cases is only starting to be emulated by the company's competitors."
Asif Anwar, Program Director of GaAs Service at Strategy Analytics, said, "Strategy Analytics sees TriQuint continuing to grow from strength to strength in 2008, augmented by a strong combination of process technologies and filter and packaging capabilities." Anwar also said that "a couple of smart acquisitions (Peak and WJ Communications) will enhance TriQuint's leadership in higher-margin markets."
Ralph Quinsey, CEO at TriQuint, said, "TriQuint is committed to being a technology leader in the design, development, and manufacturing of GaAs, GaN, BAW and SAW technologies. We are utilizing our industry-leading portfolio to serve a diverse combination of high-growth, high-volume and high-margin markets." TriQuint News Release Veeco Joins CPV Consortium as Charter Member
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 15, 2008...Veeco Instruments Inc., of Plainview, New York USA, reports that it has become a charter member of the CPV Consortium. The CPV consortium is an international organization that supports the development and long-term success of the concentrator photovoltaics industry. The company notes that concentrator photovoltaic cells such as multi-junction cells and III-V cells have higher efficiencies than more conventional photovoltaic systems. Solfocus, 3M, Concentrix, Emcore, ISFOC, and Isofoton are also charter members of the consortium.
Sudhakar Raman, Vice President, Marketing of Veeco's MOCVD Operations, commented, “As the world’s leading manufacturer of metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) systems used to make CPV cells, we are pleased to be a charter member of the CPV Consortium. ” Raman added, “CPV cells provide energy conversion efficiencies much higher than traditional silicon cells – approximately 35% today, with planned efficiencies over the next few years moving into the 45% range, as compared to 13-18% efficiency for silicon cells.” Veeco News Release Germanium Wafer Slicing Technique Developed for Lower Cost Multi-junction Solar
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 15, 2008...University of Utah engineers have developed a method of slicing germanium to create thin, defect free wafers for germanium-based solar cells. According to the researchers, the new slicing method is expected to help lower the cost of germanium-based solar cells (multi-junction cells made of indium gallium arsenide and indium gallium phosphide), which are used primarily in spacecraft. According to the engineers, the the sawing method using brass-coated, steel-wire saws to slice round wafers of the brittle element germanium from cylindrical single-crystal ingots was developed for silicon wafers, which are about 100 times stronger. The new method for slicing wafers, known as wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM), reportedly wastes less germanium and produces more and thinner wafers with less waste and cracking. The slicing technique uses an extremely thin molybdenum wire with an electrical current running through it.
This method has been used previously for machining metals during tool-making.
With the improved wafer-slicing method, "the idea is to make germanium-based, high-efficiency solar cells for uses where cost now is a factor," particularly for solar power on Earth, said Eberhard "Ebbe" Bamberg, an assistant professor of mechanical engineering. "You want to do it on your roof." The researchers’ findings will be published online in the Journal of Materials Processing Technology in Early October or late September. Four-inch wafers of germanium cost about $80 to $100 each. The new method is expected to lower cost of germanium wafers by more than 10 percent. University of Utah News Release SMG Bets on Indium Price Increase
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 15, 2008...SMG Indium Resources Ltd. is banking on an increase in the demand for metal indium, according to an article in Greentech Media. The company, which filed an IPO, will be stockpiling the metal which is used in a variety of electrical applications including: certain types of photovoltaic cells, LEDs, laser diodes, and LCD screens. The company hopes to capitalize on the recent flood of interest in thin-film solar such as copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells. The metal is the byproduct of other mining, and has not been mined in great quantities. As recently as 2002, the metal cost a mere $94 per kilogram. Since about 2005, the price of the metal has fluctuated widely. It reached $835 per kilogram at the beginning of 2007. By September of 2007 it declined to about $685 per kilogram. It is currently at $560 per kilogram.
It is not clear how the market will be effected in the future. Countries such as China have increasingly exported the metal. The government of China has set quotas for export of the metal. IR Introduces GaN-on-Silicon Power Device Technology Platform
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 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.
Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... 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 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 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.
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