SDK to Take Over SiC Epitaxial Wafers Business from ESICAT
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 8, 2008...Showa Denko K. K. (SDK) has agreed to take over ESICAT Japan's silicon carbide (SIC) epitaxial wafer business by the end of this year. According to SDK, the main focus of its SIC wafers will be for power device applications. SDK notes that ESICAT produces SIC wafers by forming a thin layer of single-crystal SiC on the surface of SiC bulk wafers. Showa Denko insists that development of SiC devices has been delayed because of lack of stable supply of high-quality SiC epitaxial wafers in Japan. SDK hopes to eliminate the problem with the acquisition.
ESICAT reportedly uses proprietary technologies and research results owned by the National Institute for Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), the Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), and SDK. Japan's AIST supported ESICAT as one of its “technology transfer ventures.” SDK says that this allowed the use of its intellectual property and facilities. ESICAT has been selling SiC epitaxial wafers since November 2006, and has continued to increase uniformity and decrease defect density. SDK and ESICAT have agreed on the business transfer to expand the business and encouraging the growth of the SiC epitaxial wafers market for power device applications. At ESICAT, SDK will reportedly continue in its research strategy to develop SIC wafers and technology for power electronic applications. SDK News Release
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HRL Laboratories Demonstrates Graphene RF Field-Effect Transistors
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 8, 2008...HRL Laboratories of Los Angeles, California USA, reported demonstrating what it says is the first graphene RF field effect transistors (FETs). Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms densely packed in a honeycomb crystalline lattice configuration. Some have described graphene as chicken wire on an atomic scale. HRL says the development was part of the Carbon Electronics for RF Applications, or CERA program, a 51-month, three-phase program to develop a new generation of carbon-based radio-frequency (RF) integrated circuits for ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-power applications.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center (SPAWAR) sponsored the effort that will attempt to exploit the unique qualities of graphene carbon to create components to enable unprecedented capabilities in high-bandwidth communications, imaging, and radar systems. HRL is reportedly collaborating with a group of universities, commercial companies, and the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) on the program. According to HRL, most previous demonstrations of graphene FETs have most used exfoliated graphene films, "HRL, working with the NRL, demonstrated graphene FETs using epitaxial film operating in the RF frequency range,” said Jeong-sun Moon, Senior Research Scientist with the Microelectronics Laboratory at HRL. “This is a key step toward wafer-scale high-speed graphene RF FETs that operate in the RF domain." HRL News Release December 8, 2008...Alfalight of Madison, Wisconsin USA, has released a 940 nm, 6 W, uncooled multimode laser diode for cladding-pumped telecom fiber amplifiers. The company boasts that the new laser provides higher output at pricing comparable to previous 4 W devices. Alfalight says that the new laser actuall improved the dollar-per-watt performance by about 50%. The AM6-940B-20-608 device includes a thermistor for temperature tracking, supporting complete system diagnostic and performance monitoring. It is available now in a compact, hermetic 6-pin package and is offered with a 105 um, 0.22 NA fiber. Target telecom applications are erbium-ytterbium fiber amplifiers for CaTV and FTTx networks.
Ron Bechtold, vice president, sales and marketing said, "With this latest 940 nm device we continue to advance dollar-per-watt performance for high-reliability laser diode pump solutions for telecommunications applications." Company News Release NCKU Professor Elected as IEEE Fellow
LIGHTimes StaffDecember 4, 2008...Professor Ching-Ting Lee, Dean of College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science and Distinguished Professor of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Tainan, Taiwan, has been elected as a 2009 Fellow of Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), The IEEE has been viewed as one of the world's leading professional associations for the advancement of technology. The IEEE says that Professor Lee's notable contribution and scientific achievement mainly relates to gallium nitride (GaN) based optoelectronic and microelectronic devices such as LEDs. NCKU News Release, Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Ascent Solar Achieves Over 9.5 % Conversion Efficiency for CIGS Modules
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 3, 2008...Ascent Solar, a maker of copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells reports that it has achieved greater than 9.5% for its monolithically integrated CIGS modules. According to the company, the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has independently verified that the modules have operated with up to 9.64% conversion efficiency. Ascent Solar notes that the modules tested at NREL were produced from the its 1.5MW pilot production line.
"We have been working to achieve these efficiencies during our internal optimization process, and we view this achievement as a tremendous breakthrough. The test modules measure six inches wide by one foot long and serves as our building block for portable power and building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) products," said Dr. Prem Nath, Sr. Vice President of Manufacturing for Ascent Solar. "Our goal continues to be the commercialization of flexible thin-film CIGS modules using a plastic substrate, which we hope will uniquely position Ascent Solar to provide light weight flexible photovoltaic material at low cost." Company News Release Rubicon Amends Sapphire Supply Agreement with Peregrine Semiconductor
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 3, 2008...Rubicon Technology of Franklin Park, Illinois USA, a supplier of sapphire substrates, reports that it has amended its supply agreement with Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation, its key silicon-on-sapphire RFIC customer. Under the amendment, Peregrine agreed to purchase material from Rubicon in 2008 and the first half of 2009. However, under the amended agreement Peregrine has committed to source at least fifty percent of its sapphire purchases from Rubicon through 2011. Rubicon also reported that it had purchased $2 million in Peregrine's preferred stock during Peregrine's recent financing round.
Raja Parvez, CEO of Rubicon Technology, said, "As the leading provider of high-quality sapphire wafers, this amendment to our agreement provides some relief to our customer as they work through their inventory and re-affirms our long-term position as a key supplier to this global market."
Mr. Parvez added, "Our strong financial position provides us the flexibility to reinforce our relationship with Peregrine through this investment, validating the strength of our valued business partnership as industry leading innovators, and demonstrating our commitment and belief in the long-term growth opportunities in the global SoS RFIC market." Rubicon News Release
Global Solar's CIGS Thin-Film Solar Array Goes Live in Tucson, Arizona
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 3, 2008...Global Solar Energy of Tucson, Arizona USA, reports that its 750 kilowatt copper indium gallium diselenide system is now operational. The company contends that the solar array powered by CIGS technology is the largest fully operational CIGS solar array in the world. MMA Renewable Ventures owns the system system produced by Global Solar and installed by SOLON. The company says that the Tucson system is the first commercial-scale deployment of the its CIGS thin-film solar technology. The system will reportedly help power its Global Solar's manufacturing plant.
The array covers 310,000 square feet at Global Solar's manufacturing plant and features a ground-mounted solar array that uses 6,600 SOLON solar modules incorporating Global Solar's CIGS thin-film solar cells.
"This new solar system solidifies the vitality and longevity of CIGS technology in the thin-film space," said Mike Gering, president and CEO of Global Solar Energy. "We are proud to be instrumental in this industry first and excited to be a part of one of MMA's cutting-edge projects."
Global Solar is reportedly purchasing the power generated from MMA Renewable Ventures under the terms of a long-term commercial financing agreement. The thin-film solar power system will generate more than 1.1 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of renewable electricity annually at Global Solar's 100,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility. Global Solar says that the system will offset about 30,000 tons of carbon dioxide over its expected 25-year lifetime.
Global Solar News Release Bosch to Use Infineon Chip for Automotive Radar
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 3, 2008...Infineon Technologies of Neubiberg, Germany announced that Robert Bosch GmbH, one of the largest automotive component suppliers, will utilize one of its chips in its next generation of automotive radar systems. An Infineon chip from the company’s RASIC (Radar System IC) product family is being used in Bosch’s new LRR3 radar sensor system (third-generation Long Range Radar). According to Infineon, the LRR3 has been developed for Adaptive Cruise Control, ACC, at ranges up to 250 meters, and predictive radar-based safety functions such as predictive brake assist systems, collision warning features and automatic emergency braking. Infineon makes the radar chip using silicon-germanium (SiGe) technology; it is therefore smaller and more cost-effective than components based on the more expensive gallium-arsenide (GaAs) technology.
Dr. Dirk Freundt, LRR3 Project Manager for Bosch commented, “By employing Infineon’s innovative radar chips and avoiding the use of costly special-purpose semiconductors, it has been possible to significantly enhance the functionality of the Bosch sensor, and considerably reduce system costs.”
Market researchers at Strategy Analytics predict that by 2011, of the three million vehicles with remote warning systems, some 2.3 million will use radar systems. The researchers contend that by 2014, seven percent of all new cars could be equipped with a remote warning system, predominantly in Europe and Japan. Infineon News Release Our news features are reported
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