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October 23, 2002...TriQuint Semiconductor, headquartered in Hillsboro, Oregon USA and regarded
as one of the compound semi industry's major GaAs component and module manufacturers,
will soon add InP expertise to their broadband communication capability, via
their recently announced acquisition of Agere System's optoelectronic business,
which is centered in Pennsylvania and Mexico. The acquisition involves $40 million
in cash to Agere and the 300 target professionals from Breinigsville, Pennsylvania
and Matamoros, Mexico which will be closely aligned to TriQuint's well-regarded
"TriQuint Texas" GaAs-based Millimeterwave group, which is headquartered
in Dallas. The Dallas operation is a well-proven MOCVD based manufacturing facility
using Emcore platforms, that originated as part of Texas Instruments. Included
from Breinigsville (which is equipped with both Emcore and Aixtron platforms
plus IP that is rooted and heavily intertwined with the famed AT&T Bell
Labs) will be approximately 80 development engineers, 20 marketing people, and
50 process engineers, plus 150 assembly & test manufacturing and engineering
people in the Mexico, which is dominated by assembly and test. The Breinigsville
operation has extensive capability in InP MOCVD manufacturing (among other compound
semi-related technologies). Specific component capability from Agere includes
lasers, detectors, modulators, passive components, arrayed waveguide-based components,
amplifiers, transmitters, receivers, transceivers, transponders, and even a
bit of MEMS capability. The agreement does not include Agere's optoelectronics
components for CATV transmission systems, for which a separate buyer is still
being sought. Ralph G. Quinsey, President and CEO of TriQuint, underscored that
this was a natural fit for TriQuint... "This acquisition makes us one
of the world's leading suppliers of optical modules and components. Clearly
the market has been under a lot of pressure over the past two years, but we
believe that this acquisition will position us for substantial revenue growth
and profits when this market recovers. We are extremely excited about this opportunity."
Through a transitional manufacturing agreement and to ensure seamless service
to customers, Agere will supply components for TriQuint for a short period following
the transaction closing, which is expected in January. More details can be found
in The McDonald Report editorial, this issue, and in TriQuint's
news release.
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TDI Announces 2" p-Type GaN Templates Grown by HVPEOctober 23, 2002...Technologies and Devices International, Inc. (TDI) of Silver Springs, Maryland,
USA headed by wide bandgap pioneer Vladimir Dmitriev, has made another hefty
contribution to GaN technology with their demonstration of 2-inch diameter GaN
templates with p-type electrical conductivity, grown by Hydride Vapor Phase
Epitaxy (HVPE). TDI's p-type GaN template consists of a sapphire substrate and
high quality, highly doped, thick p-type GaN epitaxial layering. The technology
breakthrough is expected to open even newer and wider application doors to GaN-based
components. According to TDI, and based on current industry reported data, to
date only n-type thick GaN layers have been grown by HVPE and the compound semi
industry has been long awaiting p-type material. “This is the first sampling
of p-type GaN templates by HVPE technology. The well-recognized benefits of
GaN HVPE growth technology have included low production cost, high material
quality, and high growth rate. Combining that with p-type doping capability
opens an opportunity to design, develop, and fabricate novel GaN devices that
were not previously possible”, said Vladimir Dmitriev, President and CEO
of TDI. “Until now, lack of p-type GaN substrate materials has been a very
real and, thereby, a limiting factor for realizing many new and important GaN
device designs. TDI’s sampling of p-type templates, using our patented HVPE
technology, opens a new avenue for GaN device development”. Realizing the
importance of getting these into the merchant market as quickly as possible,
TDI is planning to move p-type GaN templates into large-volume production in
the first quarter of the year 2003. “Our experience in mass production of
n-type GaN templates shows that it is a realistic goal, “ confirms Dr. Dmitriev.
TDI has already begun shipping test samples of p-type GaN templates to prospective
customers towards this goal. More details, including the technically important
fact that the concentration of electrical carriers (holes) in TDI's p-type GaN
layer can be varied in a wide range from 1016cm-3 to 1018 cm-3, are included
in the TDI news
release which includes excellent supplemental information for those unfamiliar
with the details and differences of p-type and n-type GaN and their significance
to the marketplace. AXT Reports Continued Hard Times Buffered by Transition to ChinaOctober 23, 2002...Not every publicly held compound semi company's quarterly earnings rates news
coverage, but AXT's earnings
report does because that particular company, headquartered in Fremont, California
(right in the middle of Silicon Valley which has been especially hard-hit by
the market recession) is a major supplier of VGF starting material as well as
offering leading edge LED products. Plus, AXT is one of the first to plant manufacturing
roots in mainland China. The comments from Morris Young, President and CEO of
AXT, tell it like it still is and where the action is... or isn't. "Economic
conditions continue to pose challenges for our industry. Indium phosphide revenue
continues to be affected by weak demand for telecommunications laser diodes.
The volume of gallium arsenide substrates we shipped was relatively stable,
but our revenues were impacted by a continued decline in average selling prices.
Finally, revenues in our optoelectronics segment declined compared with the
second quarter as we worked with our largest customer to qualify our latest
generation of high brightness light emitting diodes. As a result of these
continued difficult market conditions, AXT is reducing their staff, "particularly
here in the U.S., using our inventory more aggressively in order to reduce materials
purchases, and reducing capital expenditures. We are very proud of our success
in transitioning to China and we believe that it will provide us with substantial
cost advantages over our competitors," said Morris.
Intense Photonics Scores More CapitalOctober 23, 2002...Intense Photonics of High Blantyre, Scotland, which specializes in compound
semi device manufacturing that revolves around Intense's Quantum Well Intermixing
(QMI) technique, has announced that it has received an additional £750,000 (US$1.18m)
investment from Italian based Alice Ventures. The addition of Alice's investment
closes Intense's series B funding round. The additional funding takes the round
led by Cazenove Private Equity previously announced on August 22nd 2002 to £11.25m
(US$17.6m). For those tracking who's investing in what... and how much... Alice
Ventures joins the syndicate consisting of Cazenove Private Equity, FNI Venture
Capital, TTP Ventures together with first round investors 3i and ACT Venture
Capital. Intense Photonics will use the funds to further accelerate the development
of its product range and strengthen its marketing effort. To date, Intense Photonics
has successfully secured funding totaling £21.25m (US$33.6m). Commenting on
the additional funding David Lockwood, CEO of Intense Photonics said "Alice
Ventures adds a further European dimension to Intense and brings a new network
of contacts that complements those already provided by our existing investor
base. This latest investment is also a further endorsement of the company in
a period of unprecedented turmoil in the sector". Seiko's Into VCSELs and Aixtron Gets Hold of 8" Freiberger GaAs SubstratesOctober 23, 2002...Add Sieko Epson Corporation to your list of VCSEL players and put Freiburger
on your list of the first company to make their 8" R&D wafers ready
for high end MOCVD platforms. According to MOCVD equipment supplier, Aixtron,
which recently announced
the startup of an AIX 2400 with an 8x3" configuration at Seiko Epson, the
platform will be used for the production of GaInAsN materials. Aixtron is also
the source for an update on 8" starting GaAs wafers, which are not likely
to be seen coming online for another few years, since 6" material is just
now getting truly suitable for volume manufacturing. We first heard of Freiberger's
efforts back in August of 2000 when they presented their original announcement
at ACCGE-12 that, under an R&D product funded by the German government,
Freiberger first presented their VGF-grown 8" material. Aixtron AG is also
a German-based company. Thanks to another recent Aixtron announcement,
we now know that Freiberger is obviously progressing well enough with their
200mm (8") VGF GaAs that Aixtron is joining the other major MOCVD equipment
supplier, Emcore, in tailoring their high end machines for 8" wafers when
and if the market wants them. Emcore has had 8" capability for some time,
but there remain major issues to overcome before they'll become a popular commodity.
Those questions revolve around fragility and wafer weight/thickness, similar
to what 6" had to go through before people were first willing to invest in 6"
lines. Since virtually nobody is setting up new GaAs fabs, the 8" market
appears about 2 years out. Other substrate suppliers rumored to be perfecting
8" GaAs are Hitachi and Sumitomo. When it comes to larger diameter substrates,
the claim by Aixtron recently that they have installed several tools for SiGe
growth is perhaps the more interesting news out of Germany because many compound
semi players are genuinely interested in the here and now realities behind just
how much of the GaAs market will be taken over by SiGe, over and above SiGe's
unique application slots. If you have progress or news to share on any of these
interesting compound semi fronts, drop
us a line. Sandia Expands New Materials Focus Into BiologyOctober 23, 2002...Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, New Mexico, which has many departments
involved in novel compound semi materials and component development, has announced
that it is expanding its work in biotechnology into areas such as areas such
as the creation of new materials. "The same way computers dominated the past
20 years, biology is going to dominate this new century like nothing else will.
How can Sandia not go into biology?" said Bill Camp, Sandia National Laboratories
Director of Computers, Computation, Information & Math Center. Sandia defines
biotechnology as "the coming together of traditional inorganic sciences
of physics, engineering and chemistry with biology" underscoring that the
biotech field is making new and complex types of research possible. Included
are topics of interest to the compound semi community, namely: sensors, computing,
nanoscience, robotics and materials science, all of which Sandia notes are benefiting
from the influx of biotech into their worlds, just as the biological sciences
are advancing from the new interfaces with the physical and engineering sciences.
The focus at Sandia, a Department of Energy national laboratory, on biotech
started about three years ago when Al Romig, Sandia Vice President for Science
& Technology and Partnerships, and Mim John, Vice President for the California
Laboratory, began advocating that Sandia expand research efforts in the new
field. They felt that Sandia could have an even a greater impact on keeping
the United States safe by adding biology to the science and technology base
at Sandia for nuclear weapons and other purposes. This fiscal year about $21
million of Sandia's $1.7 billion annual budget is devoted to biotech projects.
For those interested in working with Sandia on their new biotech initiative,
we refer you to their website
section listing the various programs involved, which are full of Sandia's
traditional colorful details and great storylines. Toshiba Shows Where DVD Is HeadedOctober 23, 2002...For those tailoring blue spectrum laser diodes into next generation DVDs, Toshiba
Corporation offers input of how those end systems will be configured by announcing
that it will soon launch what they're calling "the world's first DVD recorder
that has the ability to connect to the Internet." Slated to be out and
on the holiday shopping market by mid-December, and dubbed the RD-XS40 the innovative
recorder will feature a built-in hard drive with an industry-high 120GB of storage,
which amounts to a capability of recording around 156 hours of movies. Whether
that capability is dependent on our industry's wide bandgap technology or not,
Toshiba is targeting the RD-XS40 at families that maintain what's termed "always-on"
broadband connection to the Internet. What the DVD-RAM recorder has is an LAN
terminal (which could also be powered by the compounds) that enables it to be
connected to the broadband modem in the given household. And since that DVD
recorder is "always online," users can set the device to record programs
from anywhere using a PC or Internet-capable cellular phone (and we all know
cellphones are full of compounds semi devices). Bottom line... the RD-XS40 is
slated to retail for around 150,000 yen and Toshiba is targeting sales at 10,000
units per month. In case they end up only available in Japan (which is traditionally
the case with these type first rollout products), those outside Japan might
want to consider getting holiday orders in to your Japanese colleagues and conduits
early. GCS's InGaP Process Has High Breakdown VoltageOctober 23, 2002...Global Communication Semiconductors (GCS) which expands its compound semi foundry
offerings frequently, has announced that it can now offer customers a proprietary
High Breakdown Voltage InGaP HBT foundry process tailored to address demanding
wireless infrastructure needs such as base stations. “With our High Breakdown
Voltage process we can address the stringent requirements of infrastructure
applications in terms of both performance and reliability. Until now the only
other choice was pHEMT and GCS’ proprietary High Breakdown Voltage InGaP HBT
process allows for a more compact IC, higher yield and a superior combination
of power and linearity. These are significant achievements considering the stringent
requirements,” commented Dr. Sam Lee, GCS' new Chief Executive Officer.
GCS is based in Torrance, California USA, an ISO 9002 certified company, provides
compound semiconductor foundry services to the wireless telecommunication and
high-speed networking industries. GCS currently offers foundry service for both
InGaP and InP HBT processes and provides optoelectronic foundry services for
PIN diodes used in the fiber optic communication market. More details are in
GCS' news
release Inphi Offers High Speed Market Two MSA Compliment Mod DriversOctober 23, 2002...Inphi Corporation, a relative newcomer to the InP high speed IC scene (founded
in November 2000 and based in Westlake Village, California USA), has introduced
two new MSA-compliant modulator drivers for the high end SONET OC-192 and SDH
STM-64 fiberoptic network systems markets. These ICs are added to Inphi's 10-43
Gbps driver family geared to provide OEMs with a wide array of high-speed, low-power
options from a single component supplier. The new components are capable of
driving a variety of differential Mach-Zehnder modulators. Specifically, the
1311DZ and 2011DZ provide network equipment manufacturers with a robust, cost-effective
solution for metro, long haul, and ultra-long haul telecommunications markets
and for broadband instrumentation and automated test equipment (ATE) applications.
The 1311DZ supports non-return-to-zero (NRZ) data rates up to 12.5 gigabits
per second (Gbps), while the 2011DZ supports NRZ data rates up to 20 Gbps or
return-to-zero (RZ) data rates up to 12.5 Gbps for maximum versatility. Inphi
reports that both devices exhibit superior edge rates and excellent eye quality,
low jitter (less than 0.5 picoseconds rms) and fast rise and fall times (less
than 18 picoseconds) as a means of helping ensure high-quality signal output.
Power consumption is also held to a minimum, with each device dissipating less
than 1.9 watts at an output level of 6 volts differential peak to peak. Intelligent Sensors Get SquirrlyOctober 20, 2002...Since there never seems to be enough news about advanced sensors, we though
readers supporting that sector would enjoy reading a recent Forbes Magazine
article
titled: Sensors Gone Wild authored brilliantly by Benjamin Fulford. It
seems an advanced motion sensor outdoor experiment in the California desert
proved that squirrels eat quite a lot of moss, which humans evidently didn't
realize prior to the proof. But what we liked best in the article was the point
made that this finding was an amusing side of an ambitious $40 million experiment
which had the goal of exploring the uses of intelligent sensors, a technology
our CompoundSemi News editorial staff has tracked for many years. When
Forbes finally covers one of our favorite topics, it must finally be getting
real. Here a taste of the article to whet your appetite to read the whole thing.
It's the language that makes it interesting: "Eventually large swaths of
the Earth will communicate with the digital realm using millions of miniature
sensors. 'We will really be able to instrument the physical world,' says Deborah
Estrin, a UCLA computer science professor who runs the Center for Embedded Networked
Sensing, which oversees the James Reserve project. Sensors will be placed in
bridges to detect and warn of structural weakness, and in water reservoirs to
spot hazardous materials. Hospitals will track patients with such things as
wireless bandages that warn of infection. Truck drivers will be able to dodge
traffic jams based on slow-ups twenty cars ahead. Urban planners will track
groundwater patterns and how much carbon dioxide cities are expelling, letting
them make better land-use decisions. Farmers will be able to apply fertilizer
and water only to the exact bits of the field that need them." Give
it a read... it just gets better. 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
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