Tragedy Strikes Emcore (Updated)
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 12, 2010...In an apparent domestic violence dispute, police say a man entered an Emcore Corporation office in Albuquerque, New Mexico and opened fire. He killed two employees then turned the gun on himself. Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Shultz said that the shooting was related to a custody dispute with the 37-year-old gunman's girlfriend, who survived the attack. Shultz identified the shooter as Robert Reza, 37, who had addresses in Rio Rancho and Albuquerque. The shooting left employees fleeing for cover. Police arrived within minutes of being called at 9:30 a.m and locked down the entire southeast side of the city as a precaution. Five officers entered the building within three minutes of the call. The complex was soon surrounded by police vehicles and helicopters circled overhead. Schultz said the gunman had children who live outside Albuquerque and said they were taken into custody by “another agency.”
Emcore produces components enabling voice, video, and data transmission over fiber optic cable. The company also produces GaAs-based multi-junction solar cells for satellite and terrestrial applications. The police stated that no announcements concerning the other victims would be made before Tuesday. The team at CompoundSemi News offers our sincerest condolences to the Emcore employees, and their families for their loss. July 12, 2010...Strategy Analytics reports that the GaAs substrate market posted a 10 percent year on year increase in substrate volumes. The company says that the slowdown in early 2009 was followed by a robust recovery in the second half of the year, driven by the demand for next generation cellular handset platforms.
Strategy Analytics says that orders started to filter through in the second quarter of 2009 as end-users looked to re-build stock levels. Additionally the company's models showed that by the end of the quarter that the market started to see robust demand for materials and devices through the GaAs industry supply chain.
The company's report entitled, "Semi-insulating GaAs Substrate Markets: 2009-2014,” forecasts volume demand growing at a CAAGR of 12% through 2014. Strategy Analytics says that the GaAs substrate market is worth $217 million based on an examination of supply chain dynamics, coupled with extensive analysis of end-demand drivers for SI GaAs bulk substrates.
“The strong recovery was helped by an incumbent position in the overall Power Amplifier (PA) market for cellular terminals,” noted Asif Anwar at Strategy Analytics. “This was further helped with the RF (radio frequency) front-end architectural requirements of next generation handsets.”
Mr. Anwar concluded, “Next generation handsets dictate an increase in the ratio of PAs per terminal as well as more complex switching requirements. This helped the market for SI GaAs bulk substrates to maintain recession-defying growth in 2009. It will also underpin growth moving forward.”
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Skyworks PA Enables First Commercial LTE Device
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 12, 2010...Skyworks Solutions, Inc. of Woburn, Massachusetts USA, reports that Samsung Electronics is using its power amplifier (PA) modules for the GT-B3710 – a high speed 4G USB modem. Samsung claims that the device is the world’s first long-term evolution (LTE)-commercialized device. Samsung's 4G modem supports the 2.6 GHz band for LTE service.
The Skyworks PA utilized in the device is the SKY77706 LTE PA module. Skyworks says that the small and efficient module is designed for multiple handset and data card applications. Skyworks also boasts that the PA allows consumers to enjoy the benefits of high-speed data services such as advanced Web TV broadcasting, online gaming and Web conferencing. 4G systems offer higher data rates for data and streamed multimedia than previous generation
“Skyworks and Samsung are pleased to develop LTE technologies for today’s leading handset OEMs, infrastructure suppliers, and operators worldwide,” said Dr. Gene A. Tkachenko, senior director of engineering at Skyworks. “With LTE network commitments increasing worldwide, Skyworks is once again at the forefront of enabling next-generation solutions to help boost network throughput, improve efficiency and performance, and simplify roaming to deliver the ultimate consumer experience regardless of the platform.” Silan Orders six Aixtron Crius II Systems for Increased GaN UHB-LED Production
LIGHTimes News StaffJuly 8, 2010...Aixtron reports that Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd (Silan) of Hangzhou, PR China placed an order for six new Aixtron Crius II Systems for GaN ultra high brightness blue/green LED production. Aixtron says that the new order is for six CRIUS II systems in the 55x2-inch configuration. Silan reportedly placed the order in the second quarter of 2010. The company will take delivery of the systems during the period of the fourth Aixtron indicated that its local support team will commission the new reactors at the Silan’s facility in Hangzhou, China.
Hangzhou Silan Microelectronics Co., Ltd. is primarily engaged in the development, manufacture and sale of integrated circuits, LED products and other electronic components.
Mr. Jiang Zhongyong, General Manager Silan Azure, commented, “We are looking to carry out a major capacity increase for our nitride LED wafers so naturally we turned to Aixtron. Their new generation Crius II systems have demonstrated major improvements such as higher growth rates, high pressure growth and the more than doubling of productivity. Therefore, I am convinced that the Crius II will meet our need for process flexibility, uniformity in thickness, doping, and composition.”
Tony Pearce, Managing Director Aixtron said, “The CRIUS II will be delivered with the ARGUS multi-channel pyrometer allowing real-time surface temperature measurement and analysis that enables to monitor the thermometric distribution across the whole of the MOCVD growth surface in the CCS system.”
President Obama Commits $2 billion for Two Solar Companies
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 5, 2010...As part of the $2.3 pledged for Solar Projects back in January, President Obama announced on his weekly video address that the U.S. Department of Energy has offered the conditional commitment of $1.45 billion loan guarantee to Abengoa Solar Inc. The President also announced the conditional commitment of $400 million loan guarantee to Abound Solar.
Abengoa Solar, a company based in Spain with offices in Denver, Colorado, will reportedly use the money for the construction of the largest concentrating solar power plant in Arizona (70 miles southwest of Phoenix).
The plant will be able to supply 250MW of power and will have reportedly have 6 hours of molten salt thermal energy storage to generate electricity well into the evening to help meet the summer peak demand. Obama said that the money would help generate 1500 to 2000 permanent jobs. Abound Solar will reportedly use the funding to expand its operations in Longmont, Colorado and purchase of the empty Chrysler Getrag facility in Indiana to produce CdTe-based thin-film solar cells.
“After years of watching companies build things and create jobs overseas, it’s good news that we’ve attracted a company to our shores to build a plant and create jobs here in America," said President Obama.
Colorado's Governor Bill Ritter said, “Abound is already a job-creation engine in Colorado and this Recovery Act loan guarantee will translate to more jobs, cleaner energy and bolster our standing as a hub of clean energy entrepreneurialism.”
TowerJazz and Vishay Intertechnology Expand Relationship to Include Planar MOSFET and Super Junction MOSFET Devices
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 5, 2010...TowerJazz, a specialty foundry, and Vishay Intertechnology,a low-voltage power MOSFETs producer, report the expansion of their business relationship to include planar MOSFETs and Super Junction FET Power MOSFETs.
The companies expect that production of these products under the terms of the expanded relationship will add tens of millions of dollars in additional yearly revenue.
Vishay siliconix says it chose to expand its relationship with TowerJazz because of its excellent technical capabilities, especially its production achievements with its Trench technologies. For this reason, Vishay Siliconix will reportedly continue to be one of TowerJazz’s top five customers. The new devices will reportedly offer lower conduction losses, and save energy in power factor correction (PFC) and pulsewidth modulation (PWM) in electronics such as LCD TVs, PCs, servers, switch mode power supplies, and telecom systems.
“Along with the announcement of our new 600-V Super Junction FET power MOSFETs, our expanded foundry agreement will enable us to support the very significant demand that we expect for this device,” said Serge Jaunay, Senior Vice President, MOSFET division, Vishay Intertechnology.
“The work that was invested in the last couple of years has now matured to create this important business upside,” said Dr. Itzhak Edrei, Executive Vice President of Business Groups and Business Development, TowerJazz Our news features are reported
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