UC San Diego Reports New Record for Wireless Base Station PAs
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 1, 2008...According to the researchers at UC, San Diego, power amplifiers typically consume ten times more power than they generate, for only a 10 percent efficiency rate. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego reached over 50 percent efficiency for a base station power amplifier in the lab three years ago. Now the same group of researchers report topping an average 58 percent power added efficiency ( PAE ), reportedly the best rate for a single-stage WCDMA base-station power amplifier. The record was achieved during recent tests in the High-Power Amplifier Laboratory of the UCSD Division of Calit2. The amplifier had an average output power of 42 watts and a gain of 10.2 decibels. The researchers point out that at 58 percent PAE, 50 watts of output power would require only 86 watts of DC power, rather than the 500 watts required by today's high power base stations.
The recent study also reports the best reported improvement in linearization. To attain better linearity and the 58 percent PAE on a WCDMA WiMAX base-station power amplifier, the researchers used high-voltage heterojunction bipolar transistors ( HVHBTs ) based on gallium arsenide ( GaAs ), rather than silicon technology of most 3G base stations. This is a marked departure from the gallium nitride ( GaN ) metal semiconductor field effect transistor ( MESFET ) used for the record 50 percent average PAE in 2005. The transistor devices were fabricated using TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc.’s GaAs HVHBT process, and three TriQuint engineers co-authored the resulting CSICS paper.
UC, San Diego News Release
 |
Johanna Solar Technology Starts CIGSSe Solar Cell Production
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 1, 2008...Johanna Solar Technology GmbH, a solar cell producer based in Brandenburg, Germany, reports that it has begun producing CIGSSe thin-film solar modules. The cells are based on copper indium gallium sulfur and selenium. Reportedly, a molybdenum layer is applied first for the electrical contact. Then, precursor layers of the copper, indium and gallium are applied. Next a gaseous diffusion process with sulfur and selenium forms a crystalline coat absorber layer. Johanna Solar says that the CIGSSe technology is completely black and offers both technological and aesthetic advantages.
“An important milestone has been achieved. All necessary steps for the commercialisation of our high quality and high yield thin-film solar modules have been introduced," said Dr. Volker Probst, CTO of Johanna Solar. "With this, the production site with a nominal capacity of 30MW is ready for serial production, only one year after the installation of the process equipment. "
“The road-map for the further technological development of our production is clear," said the Johanna managing directors Peter Forch and Gerhard Bookjans. Forch and Bookjans indicated that the goal is the continuous increase in efficiency and the reduction of production costs. “This will be rewarded by the market," they said.
The products made by Johanna Solar Technology GmbH will be distributed through aleo solar AG from early summer 2009 onwards. Johanna Solar Technology News Release
December 1, 2008...3S Photonics of Nozay, France, a maker of laser chips and components for telecommunications, has increased its production capacity of terrestrial mini-DIL uncooled pump laser modules. According to the company, the increased production is to support the growing demand of its customers. 3S points out that its new 1999 PLU Series 980nm uncooled pumps have already been qualified by many customers worldwide.
The company says that the 1999 PLU pump module operates without any thermoelectric cooler and therefore has drastically reduced overall power consumption and power dissipation. The module uses a compact mini-DIL package measuring 7 x 13mm, height of 5.1mm max. 3S boasts that the PLU pump module can operate over the widest temperature range currently available on the market (Tcase from -5C° to +75°C) with operating power of up to 250mW at +75°C. According to the company, the wide temperature range comes from the use of its proprietary chip that it introduced more than 1 year ago. Company News Release
 |
First Solar Awarded Second Pilot Project
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 1, 2008...First Solar, Inc., of Tempe, Arizona USA, announced that Southern California Edison (SCE) selected First Solar for the second project of its 250 MW rooftop initiative. The company recently completed a 2 megawatt (MW) solar installation on the rooftop of a commercial building in Fontana, California. This was SCE's first project in its plan to install 250 MW of solar generating capacity on Souther California rooftops over the next five years. After a formal bid process, SCE today announced the selection of First Solar for the second project of its 250MW rooftop initiative. The second project will reportedly be a 1MW project installed on a commercial building in Chino, California.
"SCE is leading the energy sector with its innovative strategy to use commercial rooftops in highly populated areas for new solar generation installations, selecting sites where customer peak demand is highest," said John Carrington, executive vice president of global marketing and business development at First Solart. "SCE's 250MW solar rooftop initiative brings essential energy sources to the grid quickly, supports California's economy with new green jobs and protects our environment by developing more clean solar energy for Californians."
"This innovative solar rooftop initiative is a natural extension of our industry leadership in renewable energy," said Ted Craver, Edison International chairman and CEO. "We are driving solar technology forward and identifying creative new ways to integrate solar power into the electricity grid. A program of this scale could transform solar generation, helping bring costs down and providing us with another important way to meet the environmental challenges of the future."
First Solar News Release Avago Technologies Offers First Complete GPS RF Front End Module With FBAR Filters
CompoundSemi News StaffNovember 26, 2008...Avago Technologies of San Jose, California USA, announced an integrated GPS low noise amplifier (LNA) with what it says are high performance levels. The ALM-1712 integrates a GPS LNA and two FBAR filters. This results in a complete and compact high-performance GPS RF front end module that the company says simplifies the design of a wide range of GPS applications. The ALM-1712 is designed for the 1.575 GHz frequency band, targeting handset GPS, recreational and in-vehicle GPS receiver and GPS antenna applications.
According to Avago, simultaneous GPS, and other location-based GPS services, require high level of receiver sensitivity. Avago's ALM-1712 is reportedly a complete GPS RF front end that the company says delivers very low noise figures, high linearity and superior out-of-band rejection performance. The company says that it integrates a GPS LNA with pre and post high-rejection FBAR (film bulk acoustic resonator) filters to simplify and shortens the RF design process, reduces component count, and provides excellent RF performance levels that are critical in the use of GPS applications.
Company News Release TriAccess Technologies Announces New On-Chip Linearization RFIC Amplifier Solution for CATV Edge QAM
CompoundSemi News StaffNovember 26, 2008...TriAccess Technologies, a provider of CATV FTTH (Fiber-To-The-Home) radio frequency integrated circuits (RFIC) based in Santa Rosa, California USA, launched a new RFIC with on-chip linearization. The company says that the TAT7467, a differential RF amplifier covering the CATV band, delivers improved RF output capability with reduced power consumption. It uses a patent-pending on-chip linearization process for 75-Ohm CATV DOCSIS 3.0 Edge QAM applications. Production shipments are scheduled for end of Q1 2009.
According to Chris Day, President and Chief Technology Officer of TriAccess Technologies, “The TAT7467 has been designed for switched digital video (SDV) and video on demand (VOD) content, allowing customized programming to be switched to different subscribers.” The RFIC is the first to apply on-chip linearization using a single-die GaAs integrated circuit developed specifically for CATV networks." TriAccess says it dramatically lowers heat levels and requires less cooling while maintaining high RF output. Company News Release TEL and Edwards to Jointly Develop Abatement Solution for Etch Processes
CompoundSemi News StaffNovember 26, 2008...Edwards of Crawley, West Sussex, UK, reported that it will jointly develop
a perfluorocarbon (PFC) and carbon monoxide gas abatement system with Tokyo Electron Limited (TEL) for etch equipment. The new gas abatement system, the PA-01E, will be available mid-year 2009.
The PA-01E system will help to reduce PFC pollution resulting from the dielectric film etching processes used in semiconductor manufacturing. It will have a plasma abatement device, collectively developed with Adtec Plasma Technology Co., Ltd., Hiroshima , Japan , to offer a high transformation rate and stable operation. It is also designed to have a significantly lower cost-of-ownership due to its reduced requirement for energy, consumables and maintenance.
“We are excited to enter into this joint development agreement with TEL,” said Nigel Hunton, Edwards’ CEO. “The contribution of PFC gases to global warming has been extensively documented, and we look forward to working with TEL’s engineering staff to provide an effective, low cost-of-ownership gas abatement system specifically designed to reduce the dangers of PFC pollution as a result of the semiconductor etch process.”
Edwards News Release
Emcore Deploys First CPV System in China with the XinAo Group
CompoundSemi News StaffNovember 24, 2008...Emcore Corporation of Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, announced the deployment of a concentrator photovolataics (CPV) system in China with the XinAo Group, one of China's largest energy companies. A 50 kilowatt(kW) test and evaluation system is fully installed and operational as part of an earlier agreement. The system is already producing power in accordance with specifications. Compound semiconductor-based multi-junction solar cells operating at 500x concentration, power the system. Emcore says that it and XinAo continue to have discussions about the possible construction of a joint-owned CPV system manufacturing plant in China. The plant would produce CPV systems designed and certified by Emcore. Dr. John Iannelli, Corporate Chief Technology Officer and General Manager of Emcore's Solar Power Division stated, "We are pleased to introduce the first CPV terrestrial power system in China in partnership with the XinAo Group and look forward to pursuing other solar power opportunities in China's emerging renewable energy market."
In early October, Emcore notes that it was granted access permits for its 850-kW commercial solar park installation in the Extremedora region of Spain. In addition, Emcore expects several other pilot sites to be deployed by the end of the year. Emcore says that it is continuing its investment to develop a next-generation system design with enhanced performance (including a module efficiency of approximately 30%) and much improved cost structure.
According to Emcore, the new design (Generation III) is scheduled to be in volume production by the second half of calendar 2009. Emcore reported that it has recently responded to several requests for proposals from public utility companies using Gen-III products as its baseline. Emcore says it expects to get positive feedback on the proposals before the end of 2008. Emcore News Release Vishay Releases New N-Channel Power MOSFETs
CompoundSemi News StaffNovember 25, 2008...Vishay reports that it added to its family of Gen III TrenchFET power MOSFETs with the release of a new 20-V n-channel device. According to the company, the device offers the industry's lowest on-resistance and on-resistance times gate charge with this voltage rating in the PowerPAK SO-8 package type. The SiR440DP provides a maximum on-resistance of 2.0mΩ at a 4.5-V gate drive and 1.55mΩ at a 10-V gate drive. On-resistance times gate charge, a key figure of merit (FOM) for MOSFETs in dc-to-dc converter applications, is 87 at 4.5V.
The company contends that these specifications represent an improvement for on-resistance of 23 percent at 4.5V and 22.5 percent at 10V, and a 27 percent lower FOM compared to the closest competing devices optimized for low conduction losses and low switching losses. Vishay says its Siliconix SiR440DP will be used as the low-side MOSFET in synchronous buck converters and in secondary synchronous rectification and OR-ing applications. Its low conduction and switching losses will enable more power-efficient and space-efficient designs for voltage regulator modules (VRMs), servers, and many systems using point-of-load (POL) power conversion.
Vishay has also released the new 20-V SiR866DP and SiR890DP n-channel power MOSFETs in the PowerPAK SO-8 package type. Respectively they offer on-resistance at 4.5V of 2.5mΩ and 4mΩ, on resistance at 10V of 1.9mΩ and 2.9mΩ, with typical gate charges of 35.3nC and 20nC. Company News Release
Fullspectrum project breaks European CPV Record
CompoundSemi News StaffNovember 24, 2008...Scientists working on the Fullspectrum project have developed photovoltaic (PV) multi-junction (MJ) solar cells which are able to convert 39,7 % of the energy of sun light into electricity.
Fullspectrum is an integrated project involving 19 European public and industrial research centres from seven EU Member States, as well as Russia and Switzerland. Fullspectrum is coordinated by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Instituto de Energía Solar and started in November 2003 with an overall budget of € 14,7 Million of with the European Commission financed € 8.4 Million.
The researchers announced after their final workshop today in El Escorial, Spain, that 39.7 percent is the highest percentage conversion efficiency ever reached in Europe,
The main barrier to large-scale deployment of PV systems is the high production cost of electricity, due to the significant capital investment costs. Research is engaged to reduce manufacturing costs and to raise the efficiency of the cells. The scientists point out that silicon-based conventional PV cells converting only a fraction of the spectrum attaining about 17 percent conversion efficiency.
The project's multi-junction solar cells are reportedly able to catch more sun light energy due to their composition of different materials, including gallium, phosphorus, indium, and germanium. As the researchers point out, multi-junction solar cells are expensive and have been used primarily applications in space. However, concentrating sunlight 100s of times allows significantly reduced cost. The project will look at concentrating sunlight well above 1000 times the natural solar power flux. Fullspectrum News Release Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
For submissions or content suggestions, you can contact us using
editor -at - compoundsemi.com
For more information and to reserve promotion space contact
Info7 -at - compoundsemi.com
or call +1 (512) 257-9888
|
