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Editorial: Blue 2003 is Happening!
... Once in a Blue Moon (literally and figuratively), a technology defies all the odds... even a lingering worldwide economic downturn. Our GaN-based Blue Spectrum LED and laser diode technology is doing just that. As quantified and qualified at Strategies in Light (Strategies Unlimited's prestigious annual LED-insider event) held earlier...
Jump down to the full story
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Features:
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March 2, 2003...Major manufacturers and implementors of tunable laser technology are continuing
to team in a vigorous move towards strengthen their community voice and demonstrating
solidarity as a means of expanding their collective customer base. The latest
to publicize their working relationship are iolon, Intel, Bookham and Santur,
which have joined forces in a coalition to set the framework for expanded tunable
laser deployment. The mechanism behind their expanded relationship is a Multi-Source
Agreement (MSA) for tunable lasers based on the Optical Internetworking Forum's
(OIF) tunable laser implementation agreement (IA) that was first published in
November 2002. The OIF IA is supported by more than 20 companies, including
system vendors, component manufacturers and chip vendors. The MSA is designed
to provide system vendors increased flexibility by enabling them to source components
from more than one tunable laser manufacturer and it allows companies to streamline
product designs by setting standards for functionality, size and optical performance,
resulting in faster time to market for tunable laser products and solutions.
Upon entering into the MSA, iolon (which is deliberately spelled with a lower
case "i"), Intel, Bookham, and Santur each commented on what the
strengths of the coalition means to them, and to helping invigorate the tunable
laser market. Those comments, plus more details are included in the MSA
Group news release and the actual specifications and a full list of all
companies participating in the MSA can be viewed over the MSA's website,
the URL for which is: www.TunableLaserMSA.com. Optical Spending Finally Moving Forward AgainMarch 1, 2003...According to a new study from Infonetics Research, worldwide optical spending
is finally reoccurring. The report is full of helpful market numbers and names
of the major leaders in the field and quantifies their individual improvements.
The report states that optical hardware revenue, worldwide, increased to $2.24
billion in 4Q02, which is up slightly from 3Q02, totaling $9.82 billion in calendar
year 2002 and Infonetics has generously shared the basic names and their individual
performance, plus the geographic breakdowns in their company
news release. “The 6% Q-Q increase in intelligent optical hardware revenue
is good news,” said Michael Howard, principal analyst and co-founder of
Infonetics Research. “Intelligent optical hardware revenue is the basis for
most of the positive 4Q02 results from major manufacturers. Service providers
are finding it more difficult to invest in legacy equipment.” Endwave Acquires Key Transceiver Line from Dover's Arcom WirelessFebruary 26, 2003...Endwave Corporation, a relatively quiet communications sector supplier with
exceptional credentials that padded itself from the telecom downturn with a
healthy bank account, has made another strategic acquisition. Endwave has purchased
from Arcom Wireless Inc. (a subsidiary of Dover Corporation), an Arcom transceiver
design, equipment and the intellectual property licenses required to manufacture
and supply a 58 GHz integrated transceiver product that is currently being supplied
by Arcom to an existing major European Endwave customer. "Although this was
a relatively small transaction, this acquisition has strategic value by enlarging
our relationship with a European OEM as we support them going forward with the
supply of transceiver modules," said Ed Keible, CEO and President of Endwave
Corporation. Endwave expects to begin seeing revenues in the third quarter of
2003 from the acquired product. For those unfamiliar with Endwave, it is tightly
focused on RF subsystems for both the transmission and reception of data signals
in broadband wireless systems, specifically manufacturing products used in high-speed
cellular backhaul and enterprise access applications. With more than 35 issued
patents covering its core technologies and flip chip IC technologies, Endwave
is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California USA. Company
news release. InP Device Supplier, CyOptics, Acquires CENiX's Allentown Packaging OperationsFebruary 26, 2003...CyOptics, which is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts USA and has R&D
facilities in Israel, is further broadening its InP-based component foundry
capability by expanding into packaging and test, via their acquisition of the
optical component packaging capabilities of CENiX Inc. The automated packaging
and test facility acquired is located in Allentown, Pennsylvania USA. The purchase,
the amount of which was not revealed, will boost CyOptics' output capability
to over 10,000 components per month, should the InP marketplace start improving
significantly... and CyOptics feels that's dependent on companies such as themselves
broadening and improving their offerings. “We believe that in order to turbo-charge
this industry, our customers require large scale device integration and 2X cost
reductions from current prices, in their overall supply chain. This consolidation
of two best in breed players gives us the technology and low cost structure
to meet our customers’ needs”, said John Pilitsis, President and CEO of
CyOptics. In acquiring the new packaging factory, CyOptics gains the ability
to provide a wide selection of components, including cooled and uncooled DFB
lasers, electro-absorption modulated lasers (EML’s), and PIN and APD receivers.
In addition, CyOptics can now supply customized parts for high volume applications,
including lasers and detectors for small form factor transponders and transceivers.
More information is included in CyOptics' company
news release. Matheson Tri-Gas to Market ATMI's SAGE Gas Source LineMarch 1, 2003...Two mainstay compound semi industry gas source suppliers, Matheson Tri-Gas,
Inc., and ATMI, Inc., have entered into a manufacturing and distribution agreement
to expand ATMI’s SAGE product line in the compound semiconductor manufacturing
market. The SAGE line provides a pathway for the industry’s first bulk storage
supply of consistent, high purity arsine and phosphine for III-V manufacturing.
ATMI, Inc. developed the sub-atmospheric gas storage and delivery technology,
beginning with the introduction of its SDS (Safe Delivery Source) product in
1995 and ATMI holds 50 U.S. patents related to sub-atmospheric gas storage and
delivery. Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc., supports the agreement with over 75 years
of experience in manufacturing, marketing and distributing high purity gases
and chemicals, including a leading position as a supplier to the compound semi
industry. "The feedback that we are hearing from our customer base is that
process repeatability and tool availability are critical to their successes.
The numerous Cost of Ownership advantages associated with SAGE® enable our customers
to fully realize these benefits,” said Fred Greene, Matheson Tri-Gas, Inc.,
Compound Semiconductor Marketing Manager. More details are included in the company
news release. U of Michigan Teams with TSEE to Improve GaN-based Electronic ComponentsFebruary 26, 2003...Thanks to backing from the USA's Office of Naval Research (ONR), which cares
a lot about advancing high power/high temperature devices, Professor Dimitris
Pavlidis and his team of researchers from the University of Michigan's III-V
Integrated Devices and Circuits Group is moving from a "home brew"
MOCVD research platform to a commercial tool. A new Thomas Swan Scientific Equipment
(TSSE) 3x2" MOCVD reactor has been successfully commissioned for Michigan group.
The new reactor system will be used for the R&D of high power/high temperature
GaN-based HEMT devices and MMICs as well as sensors and two terminal devices
for signal generation, amplification, mixing and multiplication. Nitride community
contributions from Professor Pavlidis' group over the last ten years have addressed
MOCVD growth, Negative Differential Resistance (NDR) diodes, low-high frequency
noise and power characteristics of HEMTs. The move towards components for communications
and sensing is aimed at integration of such components with other passive, active,
and optical devices. The R&D group has signed a cooperation agreement with
TSEE for the development of nitride growth procedures suitable for optimum electronic
device performance. Company
news release Another GaNzilla Roaring Toward South EpitaxyMarch 2, 2003...Emcore Corporation of Somerset, New Jersey USA has scored another sale to South
Epitaxy Corporation of Taiwan of their monster MOCVD platform, lovingly nicknamed
"GaNzilla." The E300 GaNzilla platform is specifically designed to
produce GaN epiwafers and devices and this E300 joins his monster brother at
South Epitaxy, which is already in full production mode. With the addition of
this system, South Epitaxy is expected to significantly increase their capacity
for the production of GaN materials for use in end applications such as blue
spectrum LEDs. "As evidenced by this repeat order from South Epitaxy, the
GaNzilla platform provides customers with unparalleled advantages for high volume
GaN LED production” commented Tom Miehe, Emcore's VP of Sales and Marketing.
“Having recognized a rapid return on their initial GaNzilla investment, South
Epitaxy is moving forward with this second order to meet their LED volume demands.”
Company
news release. 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
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or call +1 (512) 257-9888 |
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The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
Blue 2003 is Happening!February 24, 2003...Once in a Blue Moon (literally and figuratively), a technology defies all the
odds... even a lingering worldwide economic downturn. Our GaN-based Blue Spectrum
LED and laser diode technology is doing just that. As quantified and qualified
at Strategies in Light (Strategies Unlimited's prestigious annual LED-insider
event) held earlier this month, blue is THE hot apps sector right now. And the
blue spectrum is not only hot within our compound semi industry, it's the hottest
thing to hit solid state semiconductors since Intel popularized the first microprocessors.
Why are Blue Spectrum components enjoying market acceptance? That's
obvious, at least to those of you who make the starting substrates, the epi
platforms and everything that goes into them, and those who make the LED
and
LD die and the packages and systems in which they reside. The compound semi
industry has been slugging away at perfecting the art and science of
Group III
Nitride technology for over 30 years now, and it's been 10 years since
the Nichia
team made its tremendous long-life and brightness breakthroughs that
changed
the name of the game almost overnight from laboratory curiosity status
to market
reality. Blue spectrum LEDs, as pioneered initially by Cree, Inc., using
SiC,
made full spectrum solid state lighting possible. Nichia's GaN-based
devices
made blue spectrum LEDs very bright and longer-lasting. Now, GaN on
either SiC
or sapphire, or as grown in thick layers and utilizing novel lift-off
techniques,
have made competing technologies almost history.
The Nitrides Rule when it comes to solid state LEDs over the entire
blue spectrum. And Group III Nitride materials are beginning to penetrate the
laser diode field as Nitride LDs get designed into progressively more systems
for higher density storage and more complex, faster, smaller performance tasks,
such as for DVDs and hard drives. And the technology literate mind boggles as
our industry researchers progress in their collective efforts to make bigger
and better bulk GaN single crystals that follow the development path of their
fellow single crystal substrates, silicon, GaAs, InP, and SiC.
Who's Who in Bright Blue? We know who they are, and cover their achievements
daily in CompoundSemi News. Epiwafer and device makers such as Lumileds, Nichia,
Cree, Toyoda Gosei, Osram Opto, Highlink, and systems integrators such as GELcore,
Dialight, Permlight, Rohm, Sony, and the tireless suppliers all up and down
the infrastructure foodchain, such as Emcore, Aixtron, Matheson TriGas, Saint
Gobain... the list grows every day and their contributions are enormous. Yes,
we know them, but does the outside world understand and appreciate what they're
doing? Should they care? You bet they should... and they will.
We're hosting Blue
2003 as a Major Media Event and Technology Review to
make sure they do. Blue
2003 is our first annual "Hot Apps" Conference, this year
honoring the blue spectrum sector. It will be held in Dallas, Texas USA June
11-13. In our unique role as the only online-only total compound semi resource
portal, and as such, we have the distinct privilege of being free to champion
all events and all print publications. That casts us in the unusual
role as Industry Press Agents. As such, we're inviting all the major trade press
journalists and key members of the mainstream business press corps to be our
guests at Blue
2003 to get to know, and appreciate, the blue spectrum developers
for themselves. The result will be more widespread, more accurate coverage of
this very hot, exciting, and critically important technology sector.
See for yourself what we have planned. In addition to the business and
technology press corps, Blue 2003 will be well attended by financial and market
analysts, financial catalysts, and senior managers of the companies actually
driving blue spectrum development... across the entire supply chain. These are the shakers and movers
the press will be coming to get to know, and you need to be there too. From the reception we've received
from those of you we've had a chance to contact prior to the announcement, we're
right on the money with Blue
2003.
Shouldn't you plan to be there too? For more information,
visit the Blue 2003 site
and contact Tom Griffiths, President and co-founder of CompoundSemi Online, direct at +1-512-261-9653
to personally discuss how best to participate in this truly unprecedented media
event. If you have questions about the
solid state lighting and compound semiconductor industries or have news
or views to share, I'm Jo Ann McDonald, Editor of LIGHTimes and CompoundSemi News.
Feel free to contact me directly, anytime. 
My direct tel at the ranch is
+1-325-463-5345
From time to time Jo Ann may comment on companies in which she holds a
modest investment - be sure to read
her disclosure at some point in time... |
