Photovoltaics Becomes Top GaAs Growth Market, Strategy Analytics Says
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 6, 2008...Strategy Analytics has released its latest predictions about the gallium arsenide bulk substrate market. In its report entitled, "Semi-conducting GaAs Bulk Substrate Market 2007-2012." SA predicts that while LEDs will continue to be the largest market for GaAs bulk substrates accounting for 39 percent of demand, the end demand from the photovoltaic market about 20 percent has the potential to grow at a CAAGR (compound annual average growth rate) of 79 percent through 2012. The company said that three- and four-inch material accounted for 70 percent of the GaAs wafer output in 2007 and the market for larger diameter material will continue through 2012. Also, VGF and VB-based substrates made up 64 percent of wafer output in 2007 and this will increase to 75 percent through 2012.
"Mitsubishi Chemical, Sumitomo Electric Industries and Hitachi Cable are the market leaders," noted Asif Anwar, Director of Strategy Analytics' GaAs service. "Collectively, the Japanese leaders accounted for over 64 percent of the total market. Other significant suppliers in 2007 in rank order included AXT, Dowa, Freiberger Compound Materials and Neosemitech." Strategy Analytics News Release
TriQuint Wins $4.5M Navy Contract for Development of GaAs Amplifiers
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 6, 2008...TriQuint of Hillsboro, Oregon USA, announced that the Office of Naval Research (ONR) has awarded it a 21-month, $4.5 million contract to advance manufacturing methods for producing high-power, high-frequency gallium arsenide (GaAs) amplifiers. TriQuint was chosen because of its experience developing high-performance, high-reliability amplifiers for defense and aerospace applications, according to Dr. David Fanning, TriQuint contract program manager. The new program’s goal is to extend the use of the high voltage gallium arsenide pHEMT technology to higher frequencies, Dr. Fanning said. TriQuint indicated that the first phase is to develop a new high-frequency, high-power device technology that will extract circuit design models. In the second phase, TriQuint will design and fabricate high power MMICs. TriQuint indicated that it is the sole contractor for the project, which it will complete at its Richardson, Texas facility.
Dr. Fanning said that TriQuint’s high voltage pHEMT (pseudomorphic high electron mobility transistor) GaAs technology will be the focus of the new ONR program since it provides higher power density (more power per square millimeter of surface area) and efficiency compared to other processes. These performance characteristics are required for critical Navy applications including phased array radar, electronic warfare and communications systems.
Dr. Gailon Brehm, TriQuint’s Defense and Aerospace Product Marketing Director said, “This enhanced high frequency technology will extend the capability of our GaAs process family to the higher voltage needed for both military and commercial applications at frequencies above 20 GHz. ”
Company News Release October 6, 2008...While the credit crisis has hit Wallstreet and Main Street to some extent, Bank of America was likely happy to extend credit secured with actual assets to a compound semi device maker with a bright future, Emcore.
Emcore Corporation, announced that on Friday (3 October) the company closed a $25 million revolving credit facility with Bank of America. The company said that the asset-backed credit facility will allow it to borrow up to $25 million that can be used for working capital, letters of credit and other general corporate purposes.
The credit facility incorporates both LIBOR and Prime-based borrowing alternatives and is subject to certain financial covenants and a borrowing base formula. Emcore secured the credit facility with certain of its assets. The agreement matures in September 2011. According to the company, the facility will add to its financial flexibility as it continues to pursue its growth strategy. Emcore News Release Hague Corp to Buy Solterra Assets
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 7, 2008...Hague Corp., a company based in Nevada that engages in the acquisition and exploration of mineral properties, reports that it has signed a binding letter of intent to purchase the assets of Solterra Renewable Technologies, Inc. (Solterra). Solterra has technology for quantum dot solar cells. Solterra contends that quantum dot solar cells have the potential to turn more than 90 percent of the solar energy collected into electricity. This is about three times the theoretical limit of silicon solar cell efficiency.
Dr. Michael Wong and a team of reseachers at Rice University produced tetrapod quantum dots at a 95 percent lower cost than existing production processes, according to Solterra. Dr. Wong and the group of researchers spun-off the company Solterra Renewable Technologies Inc. Unlike conventional silicon, quantum dot solar cells can produce either high voltage or high amperage, Solterra said. Additionally, they can be placed behind a protective shell for greater longevity, the company indicated. Greg Chapman, President of Hague, stated, “We are extremely pleased to be working with such a company as Solterra. Their vision of capturing renewable solar power is truly on the cutting edge of alternative sources of energy.” Solterra Renewable Technologies Inc. News Release DOE to Give up to $17.6 Million for Solar Photovoltaic Technology Development
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 1, 2008...The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced up to $17.6 million for six early stage photovoltaic (PV) module incubator projects. The projects focus on the initial manufacturing of advanced solar PV technologies and support President Bush’s Solar America Initiative. President Bush’s Solar America Initiative aims to make solar energy cost-competitive with conventional forms of electricity by 2015. The industry will reportedly share in at least 20 percent of the total investment cost that is expected to reach up to $35.4 million.
The DOE says it supports the use of clean energy technologies such as solar energy to diversifying the USA’s energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and foreign oil dependence. The DOE points out that it is the lead agency for President Bush’s Advanced Energy Initiative, and it is committed to the diversification of USA’s energy resources through widespread commercialization and deployment of clean solar energy technologies. The DOE contends that the development of innovative technologies such as solar will help provide long-term economic, environmental, and security benefits to the United States.
Of the funding, just 17 percent, $2.97 million will go to Spire Corporation for the development of non-silicon solar cells. The company of Hudson, New Hampshire USA, plans on developing triple-junction tandem solar cells. It will grow differentiated bi-facial cells on a gallium arsenide substrate to allow more optimization of device layer optical properties. The company is targeting cell efficiencies over 42 percent using a low-cost manufacturing method. DOE News Release Sapphire Material Market to Grow Past $400 Million in 2012
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 2, 2008...Research firm, Yole Development of France has release a report outlining the sapphire electronic application business.
The company report predicts that the sapphire material market for electronics will surpass $400 million by 2012. Yole points out that sapphire material is mainly used for two applications in the electronics market, gallium nitride (GaN)-based LED and RF switch devices for mobile phones.
Yole says that the sapphire substrate market for electronic applications has reached a volume of 4.61 Million wafers including (2” equivalent) for LEDs and several 10’s of thousands of 6” wafers for SoS RF applications in 2007. Yole predicts that the sapphire material market for electronics will grow at a 21 percent annual growth rate to reach $402 million by 2012.
According to the company, nitride LEDs has been the main driver of growth in the market with a 15 percent CAGR for several years to $100 million in 2007.
Yole indicated that in 2007 the revenue for SoS at the substrate level was in the below the $35 million range, but it is expected exceed $100 million in 2011.
With prices for 2-inch substrates down to $17 per wafer in Asia, companies are looking elsewhere. Demand for 4-inch wafers is reportedly booming. Big players such as Showa Denko and Samsung are moving to 6-inch wafers, the company said. Monocrystal appears to be ahead in the bigger wafer development after a demonstration of 8-inch c-plan sapphire. Yole Development Flyer Nitronex Releases 5.1-5.8GHz Perfomance Data on its 5W GaN-on-Si RF Power Transistor
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 1, 2008...At WiMAX World 2008 in Chicago, Illinois USA, Nitronex, has released it 5.1-5.2 GHz and 5.7-5.8GHz performance data for its 28V, 5W class GaN-on-Si high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). Called the NPTB00004, it achieves 27 dBm (400mW) average output power at 2% EVM in 5.2 GHz WiMAX systems, and 28 dBm (630mW) average output power at 2% EVM in 5.8 GHz WiMAX systems (single carrier OFDM, 64-QAM ?, 8 burst, 20ms frame, 15ms frame data, 3.5MHz channel bandwidth, peak/avg = 10.3dB). This data is now available in the NPTB00004 datasheet available on the Nitronex website.
Ray Crampton, Director of Marketing at Nitronex commented, “The NPTB00004 is a uniquely versatile product that, combined with other broadband devices from Nitronex, allows designers to develop power amplifiers for multiple frequency bands using a common power device lineup.”
Company News Release Consortium Rescues Caracal Inc. from Bankruptcy to Focus on R&D and Cost Efficient Manufacturing
CompoundSemi News StaffOctober 1, 2008...Caracal Inc., a maker of silicon carbide wafers was rescued from Chapter 7 bankruptcy last month after an international consortium purchased the company.
Caracal went into Chapter 7 bankruptcy in April after a $1.2 million per year contract from the U.S. Navy was not renewed. (Ref: Editorial).
One of the companies in the consortium, Osaka New Metals and Chemicals Corp., Ltd. of Japan, is listed as one of the contacts for Caracal located in Heritage and Technology Industrial Park of Ford City, Pennsylvania USA. Caracal describes the the purchasing consortium as stable and strong with a long-term outlook. A representative of the consortium indicated that it planned to focus on research and development especially in creating more cost efficient manufacturing methods.
Caracal insists that all of its assets remain intact despite the recent bankruptcy filing. The company says that it will continue to develop its gas-based crystal growth process and chlorinated epitaxial process, which it says can grow high quality epitaxial layers at very high growth rates 10 to 20 times faster than conventional growth techniques (more than 100µm/hr, compared to 5–10µm/hr for conventional chemistry). Caracal also points out that it will continue to offer grinding and slicing services for a number of its customers. Company Website RFMD Adds to Asian Presence
CompoundSemi News StaffSeptember 29, 2008...RFMD of Greensboro, North Carolina USA, has announced the opening of
a customer support center in Bangalore, India. The company points out that the new customer support center in Bangalore is part of its growing presence in Asia and specifically in India.
RFMD says it will conduct applications engineering, customer service, sales management, and technical sales from its Bangalore customer support center. RFMD says that with the employees going to the new center the company will have a total of nearly 100 sales, applications engineering, and customer service employees working in seven customer support centers throughout Asia. RFMD says that the Bangalore center will allow the company to support regional manufacturers in Greater India, The company says that these manufacturers are increasingly developing leading-edge products for wireless and other applications. The available customer base in India includes growing markets such as aerospace and defense, broadband, cellular, WiFi and WiMAX, and wireless infrastructure, according to RFMD.
Greg Thompson, RFMD's vice president of sales for its Multi-Market Products Group, said, “Our Bangalore center will provide product designers in India with real-time access to our world-class technical support; this center will also provide assistance to a wide range of customers as they drive greater levels of functional integration in RF applications across multiple growth segments. We are excited to offer customers in India greater access to the most diverse portfolio of RF components available." Company News Release Our news features are reported
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