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June 25, 2002...Breaking News... The applause will likely be heard around the HB-LED
world as news reaches out that Nichia Corporation has entered into a patent
cross license agreement with Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH covering indium
gallium nitride (InGaN) semiconductor and related packaging technology. The
agreement resolves all pending patent disputes between Nichia and Osram Opto
Semiconductors. "Nichia and Osram Opto Semiconductors are both pioneers
of the InGaN market, particularly for white LEDs," said Noboru Tazaki, Senior
Managing Director and General Manager of Nichia's Optoelectronics Products Division.
"This cross license with Osram Opto Semiconductors complements Nichia's fundamental
technology base, enabling us to make better products for our customers."
Press release. Longtime followers
of the exhaustive patent litigation involving Nichia's GaN development and commercialization
efforts will likely take this as a promising sign that cross-licensing may occur
with other blue spectrum GaN players, thus opening the doors more quickly for
total deployment of this exceptionally promising compound semi technology, including
GaN blue spectrum lasers... a move CompoundSemi News has been calling
for, editorially, for quite some time.
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Conexant & Alpha's Skyworks Merger Officially CompletedJune 25, 2002...Today's the day that Conexant Systems and Alpha Industries' new "Skyworks
Solutions" merger becomes real. After receiving the necessary IRS rulings,
the two proud owners filed the requisite documents in the state of Delaware
to effect the merger between Alpha and the wireless communications business
of Conexant, creating Skyworks Solutions, Inc. The merger becomes effective
after the close of business today. Skyworks' common stock will begin trading
Wednesday morning on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol "SWKS."
Under the terms of the transaction, Conexant shareholders of record as of June
25, 2002 will be entitled to receive 0.351 of a share in the combined company
and will continue to hold their existing Conexant shares. Alpha shareholders
will continue to hold their existing Alpha shares as shares in the combined
company. Skyworks is scheduled to preside at the opening of the Nasdaq Stock
Market on Wednesday, June 26, 2002 at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time (ET). The company
will host an analyst briefing from 10:00 a.m. to noon ET. Scheduled to speak
will be Skyworks' Chief Executive Officer David J. Aldrich and other members
of the senior management team. Skyworks invites all interested parties to listen
and view a live webcast of the company's presentation via the Investor Relations
section of Skyworks' website. Replays
will be available until 5:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday, July 3rd. SEI Moves Forward in Two Compound Semi SectorsJune 25, 2002...Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. of Japan (SEI) has reported two major moves
forward this month on two compound semi development fronts: GaN substrates and
optical transceivers. Their GaN progress builds on their initial 2 inch wafers
which were introduced in 2000 using a process called "DEEP" for Dislocation
Elimination by Epitaxial growth technique, which reduces dislocations by forming
inverse-pyramidal pits on the surface of the crystal. The follow-on work is
targeted at the new Blu-ray Disc optical video recording technology. SEI has
started shipping samples of their new GaN substrates and is presently working
to mass-produce them with a target rollout of April, 2003. These new substrates
features especially low dislocation areas which appear orderly in their arrangement
(thus easier real estate to avoid) and each low dislocation area measures approximately
500 microns in diameter with a density per square centimeter between 10,000
and 100,000. Considerable technical details are included in SEI's press
release. On the fiberoptic transceiver front, SEI and Finisar Corporation
have just signed a cross-licensing agreement covering "certain intellectual
properties" that both companies apparently own. The agreement includes
several issued or pending Finisar patents that apply to Small Form Factor Pluggable
(SFP) transceiver modules. Details are included in the joint press
release.
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Philips Demonstrates Small Forms Factor Blue Laser-Based Optical DriveJune 25, 2002...Building on a Nichia blue laser, Philips has recently demonstrated their first
"fully functional miniature optical disc drive." The famed consumer
electronics company, which pioneered blue laser technology (initially exploiting
ZnSe technology) is using Nichia's GaN technology to store up to 1 Gbyte of
data on a single-sided optical disk which measures 3 cm in diameter, which matches
the basic form factor constraints of most leading-edge portable devices such
as digital cameras, mobile phones, PDAs and portable Internet devices. Lending
important credibility to the compound semi blue laser sector, Philips stated,
when releasing the news, that "this prototype illustrates Philips’ leadership
in optical storage technology, which is driven by superb media robustness and
the low cost per Mbyte of the storage medium, making it optimally suited for
large-scale distribution of prerecorded content." Philips used the opportunity
to inform those new to the potential of GaN blue spectrum lasers that, "the
resulting high storage density can be exploited to reduce the disc size while
still providing a high storage capacity (e.g. 1 Gbyte on a disc of 3 cm diameter,
i.e. more than on a present CD ROM." They noted also that the main factor
determining the building height of optical disc drives is the optical objective
lens system stating that, "through the development of the world’s smallest
objective lens for blue laser recording, the height of the optical disc drive
was reduced to 7.5 mm, from the 12.5 mm or more typical in current drives. The
lens was made of plastic, instead of glass, as a means of allowing greater design
freedom resulting in a smaller drive height. Another notable contribution was
their development of an ultra-thin version of the actuator that positions and
focuses the laser beam onto the optical disc. Their first fully functional prototype
optical drive measured 5.6 x 3.4 x 0.75 cm3 and Philips stated that further
research is underway in an attempt to achieve an even higher level of miniaturization.
Press
release Qusion Scores Equitity and Supply Boost from EmcoreJune 25, 2002...New Jersey USA neighbors, Qusion Technologies of North Brunswick and Emcore
Corporation of Somerset, have reached a combination agreement that includes
Qusion supplying Emcore with product as well as unique access in return for
equity investment. Qusion, an early stage InP-based device manufacturing company,
has been under sever belt-tightening of late, will supply Emcore with external
modulators, commencing with their wide optical bandwidth electro-absorption
modulator product family. Included in the terms of this supply agreement is
an addendum that provides Emcore with "early access and influence"
on new product developments at Qusion. In addition to the supply agreement Emcore
has made a strategic investment in Qusion which will be included as part of
the young company's second round of financing. Without mentioning any percentages
or dollar amounts, and while no monies have yet changed hands, Qusion stated
that "a substantial portion" of the second round financing has been
committed by Emcore as well as leading venture firms, noting that the round
is still open to new investors. Emcore's President and CEO, Reuben F. Richards
Jr. (who is always in acquisition mode) consented to join Qusion's board of
directors. Qusion's President and CEO, Phil Wallace (formerly of Anadigics)
stated that, Emcore is, "a great complementary partner for Qusion, giving
us insight, guidance and access to leading technology." Adding to that,
Reuben Richards noted that "we expect that Qusion's technology will
enable us to extend the reach and data rate of our products. Their innovations
in material design, growth, integration and Indium Phosphide will allow us to
deliver extraordinary value to our customers." Qusion's key staff includes
Matthew Schurman, Ph.D. as their Director of Operations. Before joining Qusion,
Matt headed Emcore's Research and Applications Lab. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
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