• Today's news
• Company
  News Releases
• Search
• Events

Stion Achieves 14.8 Percent Efficiency for Monolithic CIGs Module in Production
CompoundSemi News Staff

June 25, 2012...Stion of San Jose, California , announced that the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory has verified 14.8% aperture efficiency (13.4% module efficiency) for fully certified commercial copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) modules (65 cm x 165 cm) produced at its Hattiesburg, Missouri factory. The 145-watt module reportedly has the highest efficiency verified by NREL for a monolithically integrated CIGS module manufactured on a commercial production line. It exceeds the 140-watt module Stion produced on its San Jose pilot line last August.

“Reaching 14.8% efficiency on a commercial module out of our factory in MS is a significant operational and technical advancement,” said Chet Farris, Stion’s President and CEO. “We plan to continue driving our technical roadmap while maintaining our focus on capital costs and product costs.”

“This is a truly outstanding result and we congratulate Stion on its rapid progress in Hattiesburg,” said Rommel Noufi, the lead researcher for thin-film solar cells at NREL. “Achieving 14.8% efficiency using a large-area production process indicates that Stion is continuing to make significant innovations in CIGS technology that are reproducible and scalable. It speaks to the continued importance of US-made thin-film modules in helping meet the Department of Energy’s SunShot goals.” The company's first commercial shipment rolled off it 100 megawatt production line in Hattiesburg this March.

Cree Releases New Suite of Verilog-A Non-linear Device Models for its GaN RF Devices
CompoundSemi News Staff

June 25, 2012...Cree, Inc. announced the release of a new suite of Verilog-A proprietary non-linear device models for its GaN RF devices. Verilog is an industry-standard language used to describe transistor behavior for simulation purposes. Cree developed the Verilog-A RF device models for use with leading RF design platforms from Agilent ADS and AWR Microwave Office. Cree says the new device models support more complex circuit simulations including modulation envelope analysis for use in the latest broadband and multi-mode RF power amplifiers for 4G cellular telecommunications.

“The release of this new suite of device models enables RF design engineers to predict non-linear performance using harmonic balance, conduct robust transient analysis as well as use ‘real-world’ arbitrary modulation signals with envelope simulation for Cree’s GaN HEMT devices,” said Jim Milligan, director RF and microwave, Cree. “The Verilog-A models, together with envelope simulators, allow designers to directly investigate higher efficiency circuit approaches, such as Doherty amplifiers, to improve adjacent channel power ratios, spectral re-growth and error vector magnitude, while assessing if amplifier performance meets spectral mask requirements for LTE deployments.” “Transient analysis allows insight into switched-mode power amplifier configurations that may also be driven directly from digital signals,” said Ray Pengelly, RF business development manager, Cree. “Combined with such approaches as Chireix out-phasing, unprecedented efficiencies of greater than 70 percent have been demonstrated.”

June 25, 2012...Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, announced that its scientists, Jonathan Wierer Jr. and George Wang have developed a way to ease strain along the indium shell layer grown on a phalanx of nano wires of a solar cell. This allowed them to increase the percentage of indium in the solar cell by 33 percent, thereby broadening the spectrum of light that that that a solar cell can absorb. The results were published in the journal Nanotechnology.

While increasing the percentage of indium, broadens the solar spectrum that can be collected, it also reduces the material’s ability to tolerate the strain of indium gallium nitride on a gallium nitride substrate.

The researchers used a top-down fabrication process to create the uniform height, nanowire array with vertical side walls by masking a gallium nitride (GaN) layer with a colloidal silica mask, followed by dry and wet etching. Next, shell layers containing the higher indium percentage of indium gallium nitride (InGaN) were formed on the GaN nanowire template via MOCVD. Lastly, In0.02Ga0.98N was grown so that the nanowires coalescenced. This process produced a canopy layer, facilitating simple planar processing.

This produced power conversion efficiency of a modest .3 percent. However, Wierer says they represent a promising path for future III-nitride solar cell research. The nano-architecture enables higher indium proportion in the InGaN layers and increased absorption via light scattering in the faceted InGaN canopy layer, as well as in air voids that guide light within the nanowire array.

Emcore Introduces Soliant 1000 Commercial Rooftop CPV System
CompoundSemi News Staff

June 18, 2012...Emcore Corporation of Albuquerque, New Mexico USA has released the Soliant 1000 Commercial Rooftop Concentrator Photovoltaic (CPV) System for pre-production orders. The multi-junction solar cell CPV system was introduced and demonstrated in Europe for the first time at Intersolar Europe, June 13-15 in the Munich Trade Fair Centre.

Emcore claims that the Soliant 1000 offers one of the highest energy production densities of available solar systems, making it a very cost-effective for commercial rooftops in regions with high Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI). Emcore says that the Soliant 1000 generates more than 500 watts peak per panel (18 watts peak per square foot), requiring approximately 28% less rooftop area than polycrystalline and approximately 38% less rooftop area than thin-film solar panels to generate 1000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year of energy output. According to Emcore, the Soliant 1000 has the lowest Levelized Cost of Energy (LCOE), which is the final cost to produce a kilowatt-hour of solar power.

The system combines Emcore solar cell technology with a patent-pending TipTilt Tracking™ system that tracks the sun's movement to maximize critical peak-hour energy output when utility energy is most expensive. Emcore says that the Soliant 1000 panels are low profile, lightweight, non-penetrating and come fully-assembled and ready to drop-in place. The system is designed to operate for 25 years. Production and deliveries of the systems are scheduled to commence later this year.

TriQuint Introduces First 802.11ac RF Module For Next Generation Smartphones and Tablets
CompoundSemi News Staff

June 18, 2012...TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc. of Hillsboro, Oregon USA, is introducing what it says is the first 802.11ac Wi-Fi RF module for next-generation mobile devices. According to Wikipedia, IEEE 802.11ac is a wireless computer networking standard that is under development and in draft status. It allows a multi-station throughput of at least 1 gigabit per second up to a maximum of 500 megabits per second for a single link on WLAN in the 5 GHz band. Redpine Signals, came out with 802.11ac technology for smartphone application processors in December. However, TriQuint appears to be the first to produce a WiFi RF module for smartphones based on the standard.

Besides faster download speeds, TriQuint says its TriConnect™ TQP6M9017 WLAN module enables connectivity from nearly 60% further away than its predecessor, due to output power technology advances. TriQuint notes that data rates up to 1.3 gigabits per second for the standard allow transfer rates three to four times faster than current 802.11n Wi-Fi. TriQuint’s TriConnect TQP6M9017 is a WLAN module for 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth applications. It integrates two power amplifiers for the 2.4 and 5 GHz frequency bands with a switch, filtering, baluns, and other components in a 4x4mm package.

"A major manufacturer has selected our new high-performance TriConnect™ component for its next-generation smartphone, and it’s also included on a reference design by a leading chipset supplier,” said Shane Smith, TriQuint VP of global marketing for mobile devices.

Cree Releases GaN-Based, Solid-State Amplifier Platform
CompoundSemi News Staff

June 18, 2012...Cree, Inc. based in Durham, North Carolina USA, introduced the new 40-volt, 0.25-um, GaN-on-SiC HEMT process die product family to provide improved power and bandwidth through the Ku Band. The product family enables the replacement of travel-wave tubes. Market applications include marine radar, medical imaging, industrial and satellite communication.

The new GaN HEMT die products (CGHV1J006D, CGHV1J025D and CGHV1J070D) are rated at 6 W, 25 W and 70 W of output power at 40 V of drain voltage with an operating frequency range through Ku Band. The 0.25-um GaN-on-SiC HEMT process has been qualified to operate up to a drain voltage of 40 volts. According to Cree, the mean-time-to-failure exceeds more than one million hours at channel temperatures up to 225 degrees C. Cree notes that this latest die family release is supported by its proprietary, scalable large-signal device models that are compatible with Agilent’s Advanced Design System and AWR’s Microwave Office simulator platforms, enabling RF design engineers to accurately simulate advanced RF amplifier circuits.

“Cree’s 0.25-um GaN HEMT die product family offers significant improvements in gain, efficiency and power density compared to GaAs transistors over the same frequency range,” said Tom Dekker, director RF sales and marketing, Cree. “The higher gain allows for more effective power combining schemes and enables solid-state power amplifiers to be produced with hundreds to multi-kilowatts at C-Band, X-Band and Ku Band.”  

IQE Gets Automated Wafer Inspection Tool from Nanotronics
CompoundSemi News Staff

June 18, 2012...Nanotronics Imaging has supplied IQE of Cardiff, UK, with a new automated wafer inspection tool. According to Nanotronics Imaging, the nSPEC™ tool allows automated loading and scanning of III-V semiconductor wafer products including GaN, GaAs, and InP based materials. The tool reportedly enables repeatable and quantifiable object recognition to identify, categorize and record wafer features in real-time.

IQE says that the the acquisition of the tool for use in its cleanroom facilities in Cardiff, UK, follows a six month evaluation in which the reliability and repeatability of the tool was compared with existing inspection techniques. This is the second nSPEC™ tool to be installed at IQE, the first unit having been commissioned and in use at the Group’s manufacturing facility in Somerset, New Jersey.

Eliot Parkinson, general manager of IQE’s III-V manufacturing facility in Cardiff commented, “The new automated inspection system offers a compelling alternative to manual microscope inspection, with greater repeatability and significantly reduced chance of human error.”

Matthew Putman, CEO of Nanotronics Imaging, said, “Rapid inspection that gives repeatable and useful results needs to be thought of as a modern technology like the personal computer used to be, and the smart phone is now."

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