Emcore Sells TurboDisc Division to VeecoNovember 3, 2003...Signaling the end of an industry era and potentially heralding the entry into
the next (see editorial, this issue), Emcore
Corporation of Somerset, New Jersey USA and Veeco
Instruments of Woodbury, New York USA officially made it known that Emcore's
TurboDisc MOCVD tool division and related R&D functions will now
become part of Veeco's growing compound semi offerings. Veeco paid $60 million
in cash for the net assets of the MOCVD business unit of Emcore and the transaction
also includes a two-year earn-out feature that would require payment of up to
an additional $20 million if future revenue targets are achieved. Emcore's MOCVD
revenue was $51.1 million for the trailing twelve months ended June 30, 2003.
The purchased MOCVD business includes those of Emcore's assets necessary for
engineering, design and manufacturing of the full range of TurboDisc
systems ranging from R&D to high-volume production systems, plus Emcore's manufacturing
facility and applications lab in Somerset, New Jersey as well as related intellectual
property. Approximately 120 Emcore employees are involved in the TurboDisc
business and will become employees of Veeco.
Emcore introduced the first MOCVD tools to the commercial marketplace
in 1984 when the company was first founded as a spinout by former Bell Labs
researchers. It stayed with that focus until the company changed management
in 1995 after which it went public on the Nasdaq (EMKR) under the direction
of Reuben F. Richards Jr., Emcore's President and CEO, and Tom Russell, Emcore's
Chairman. From that turning point on, Emcore has grown slowly and concertedly,
moving upward in a vertical direction, offering not only its traditional and
innovative line of MOCVD epitaxial growth tools, but a progressively broadened
product offering that includes epitaxy materials and various components and
subsystems for the communication industry. Emcore is noted now for their advanced
solar cells for satellite communication, and because of their acquisition last
January of Agere's Ortel group, Emcore is firmly entrenched now in optical transceivers.
In addition, Emcore also continues to be the co-parent of GELcore, its advanced
LED-related joint venture with GE Lighting.
The selling of Emcore's TurboDisc division is being viewed by
compound semi industry insiders as huge news because of the change it represents,
and overall, a positive step for Emcore as the sell-off will likely allow Emcore
to focus its resources more concertedly on its material and device work. And
the purchase of Emcore's TurboDisc division by Veeco is being viewed
as an equally positive step for the overall equipment buyer/user community as
Veeco's ownership equates to the potential fortification of TurboDisc
tool technology and helps assure its future development, especially as it relates
to GaN tool innovation for the production of blue spectrum LEDs and laser diodes,
as well as TurboDisc tools for the growing variety of other types of
laser diodes. We look forward to hearing more details as the two companies sort
through their new structures. Emcore's Reuben Richards, and Veeco's David Reamer
will both be feature senior managers at Gorham's 9th Annual Compound
Semi Outlook Conference in Dallas, December 15-17. Dave Reamer is co-chairing
the event with TriQuint's Ralph Quinsey. The December meet will provide an opportunity
for attendees, which traditionally includes the key industry senior management
and analysts, to hear more details of what the transfer of TurboDisc
means to both companies and to the industry as a whole. Emcore
release and Veeco
release.
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Bookham Gets Antitrust OK on Acquisition of New FocusNovember 3, 2003...According to a Dow Jones News report
today, Bookham Technologies plc of England has received antitrust clearance
from the USA's Federal Trade Commission for its proposed acquisition of New
Focus Inc. of California, which it announced September 22, for $190 Million.
The FTC evidently terminated the waiting period required for the companies under
the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act. Uniroyal Tech Bankruptcy UpdateNovember 3, 2003...Uniroyal Technology Corporation in Florida has gone the next steps in USA bankruptcy
and receivership process. It has only now come to more widespread public light,
via a Nov 3 8K filed to the SEC, that on August 14 UTC reported that it had
filed with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware a
motion for approval of bidding procedures and sale of substantially all the
assets of the Company's subsidiary, Uniroyal Engineered Products, LLC ("UEP")
to UEP Acquisition LLC for a purchase price of $17.39 million, subject to adjustments.
Howard R. Curd, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Company, is a principal
of UEP Acquisition LLP. No other potential purchasers having appeared at the
auction scheduled for September 24, 2003, the sale to UEP Acquisition LLC was
approved by the Bankruptcy Court on October 3, 2003. The sale was consummated
on October 17, 2003. The Company's subsidiary, Uniroyal Optoelectronics, Inc.
("UOE") has been selling its assets in piecemeal fashion since August 1, 2003.
On October 30, 2003, the Bankruptcy Court issued an order converting the cases
to liquidation under Chapter 7 of the Bankruptcy Code. It is not anticipated
that the Company's stockholders and holders of unsecured and administrative
claims will receive any recovery in the bankruptcy proceedings. The liquidation
of the assets of the Company and its subsidiaries will be completed under the
direction of a Chapter 7 trustee appointed by the Office of United States Trustee.
News release
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nLight Gets $5 Million DARPA Contract for High Power LasersNovember 2, 2003...nLight Photonics of Vancouver, Washington USA has been awarded from the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) a $5 million research and development
contract under DARPA's SHEDS program to help enable nLight to take what nLight
describes as "a dramatic step forward in high power laser diode efficiency."
The vision of the SHEDS program (Super High Efficiency Diode Source) is to continue
the improvement of laser diodes with a goal of converting over 80% of their
input electrical power into output optical power, whereas the field can only
produce 50% efficiency right now. 80% efficiency is expected to then enable
lasers with up to 100-kW of output power to be deployed on mobile military platforms.
“This program will enable nLight to take a quantum leap forward in high power
diode laser performance” said Jason Farmer, Vice President of Advanced Technology
at nLight. “Both output power and reliability of high power diode lasers
are critically dependent on operating temperature. With current packaging technologies
every watt of heat generated corresponds to a particular rise in operating temperature.
The key issue for reliable high power laser diodes is therefore optimizing the
ratio of optical power generated to heat deposited in the package. Today, roughly
this ratio is roughly 1 to 1. The technology to be developed on this program
will increase this ratio to 4 to 1.” Company
news release FLX Micro Scores Additional BackingNovember 2, 2003...FLX Micro, of Solon, Ohio USA,
noted for its focus on advanced SiC-based MEMs products, has closed an additional
round of venture financing. Backers included Reservoir Venture Partners, Waypoint
Venture Partners, The Entrepreneurs Fund and Ohio Innovation Fund, a prior investor.
"In a very difficult funding environment, this financing reflects the customer
traction and technical progress that has been made at FLX," said Bob Lynch,
President and CEO. "The funds will be used to further commercialize silicon
carbide micromachining by porting the process developed at Case Western Reserve
University to an additional MEMS fabrication facility. We also plan to add product
engineers to allow us to leverage our proprietary processes at the product level
in close collaboration with our established customer base." For more information,
Bob Lynch can be reached at +1 919-608-2930 or via email
K2 Outsources EC Laser Production to FabrinetNovember 2, 2003...K2 Optronics of California USA has entered into a strategic manufacturing agreement
with Fabrinet. K2 provides lasers for the telecommunications, cable television,
sensing, and test and measurement industries, and Fabrinet is an electronics
manufacturing services company specializing in the engineering and manufacture
of complex optical, mechanical, and electronic components, modules, and subassemblies,
According to the agreement, Fabrinet will manufacture K2 Optronics' EC-48 external
cavity lasers (ECL), which are 2.5 Gbps, directly modulated DWDM lasers with
up to 650 km reach. For those unfamiliar with K2, it is funded privately by
investors including: Advent Venture Partners (UK), Alloy Ventures, Bessemer
Venture Partners, Global Technology Group, Intel Capital, JAFCO Ventures, Sutter
Hill Ventures, and The Photonics Fund. Fabrinet is based in a 225,000 square
foot facility with 2,500 employees in Bangkok, Thailand, and maintains sales
offices in the United States and Germany. Company
news releases LRC Starts "Bridges In Light" InitiativeNovember 2, 2003...Doing what it does best, which is helping facilitate society's transition to
solid state lighting, RPI's famed Lighting Lighting Research Center (LRC) in
Troy, New York USA, has put together an especially proactive coalition of researchers,
utility managers, government officials, manufacturers, designers, engineers,
and medical experts who are teaming to help chart a new, "socially responsible"
course for the field of lighting. Gathering in Saratoga Springs, New York recently,
in a gathering the group likened to "the First Continental Congress of
Lighting," the meet was called Bridges in Light. The 130 participants
worked under the direction of LRC organizer Mark Rea who commented that
"No other gathering of the industry's most influential players has ever been
called for this type of collective effort." Symposium participants focused
on identifying challenges facing the lighting industry as well as long-term,
sustainable solutions involving environmentally conscious design, high-quality
lighting systems that meet society’s needs, and campaigns promoting the value
of lighting. These campaigns, said Dr. Rea, will include education, communications,
advocacy, marketing, and leadership. "Most people view lighting as a commodity,"
said Rea. "They purchase lighting products, but don't understand the true
value of lighting, including its ability to affect our health, comfort, productivity,
and even energy savings." Those working closely in the advanced LED field,
especially in the blue spectrum, will want to read details of the meet and charter,
as described in the LRC
news release.
GELcore's Flex Accent LED System Available at WalMartNovember 3, 2003...The sign of success for advanced LED developers is when your end product actually
makes it to the shelves of WalMart. It looks like GELcore of Valley View, Ohio
USA, the JV created by GE Lighting and Emcore, has scored another one of those
wins by getting their latest product, a "Flexible LED Accent Lighting System"
into WalMart stores. The new systems is a patented, bendable 18-inch product
that five advanced LEDs and contains adhesive backing for easy installation.
It is based on GELcore's Tetra Lighting System and has been designed
specifically for mainstream commercial applications such as accenting books,
china, collectibles, and electronic equipment. The cool white light provided
does not produce any heat or UV output, which shouldn't be surprising since
that's not only what advanced LEDs do as solid state lighting rapidly replaces
conventional lighting systems, but it's also what GELcore is designed to do.
They buy their die from a variety of suppliers and package it right up the supply
chain, and because their products have the GE clout, they tend to get purchased
by the likes of WalMart more quickly than other suppliers. “The range of
applications for this new product is impressive,” says GELcore Product Manager
Michael DeMarco. “The system provides a simple alternative for accent lighting
which has never been seen before in our industry. In our test markets, we've
heard nothing but positive feedback from store managers to consumers.” Company
news release Another Cool Advanced LED App Can Be Found in CK's iColor CoveNovember 2, 2003...Advanced LEDs will be even more rapidly accepted by the mainstream lighting
industry if they're affordable and clever applications, and that's what Color
Kinetics is pioneering with their new iColor Cove EC –- a highly affordable
advanced LED-based solution for the generation of saturated color and dynamic
effects in under cabinet, edge, and alcove lighting. So for those asking when
such devices will become readily available, and how are they being packaged
and integrated to get to that state, you've only to look at Color Kinetics latest
to realize that they're here and now. And here's the metric all advanced LED
developers, especially those working in the blue spectrum want to see, feel
and believe... Cove EC will be available in December 2003 at the North American
suggested Trade Price of $59 for the 12" unit and $36 for the 7" unit. Company
news release VPEC Shipping Wafer Bonding Advanced LED Chips to Domestic PackagersNovember 2, 2003...VPEC (Visual Photonics Epitaxy Company Ltd) is an MOCVD technology based epi
materials manufacturer in Taiwan, involved in a wide variety of compound semi
materials, and they're doing some of it on silicon (Si) substrates. Their most
recent ramp is the shipping of wafer bonding (WB)-LED chips to Taiwan LED packaging
manufacturers. Dr. Michael H.T. Yang, the CEO of VPEC, said “VPEC’s WB-LEDs
are responding to customers’ strong demand to continuously increase the brightness
and life for higher performance applications. The product qualification process
feedback from several customers was extremely exciting, and VPEC is in the process
of expanding the production capacity.” The WB-LED is based on a patented
technology owned by VPEC and includes the use of a silicon mirror-substrate
that's used for bonding with the AlGaInP LED. VPEC points out that the metal
mirror has a higher effective reflectivity and broader reflectivity angular
bandwidth than the multi-layer DBR and reflects the light towards the front
surface to significantly improve the total light emission efficiency of LED.
VPEC also notes that, since the thermal conductivity of Si substrate is higher
than that of the GaAs, heat dissipation of WB-LED has been greatly improved
and therefore, their WB-LED has potential for use in high power applications.
VPEC’s first WB-LED product is 625nm red LED with >4 lm total flux illumination
and <2.4 V forward voltage at 70 mA and note that more new products in the same
series are currently in the process of development, and will be subsequently
moved to mass production in 2004. The potential applications of WB-LED include
automotive lighting, traffic signal, outdoor display, camera (RGB) flashlight,
LCD (RGB) panel backlighting and optical-mouse. “The launch of WB-LED will
lead VPEC to gain market share in high brightness(HB) LED market. This new product
will be expected to become our 2nd major product, besides HBT, and to produce
significant revenue in 2004 for VPEC.” commented Dr. Yang. Accent Bolsters Application TeamNovember 2, 2003...Accent Optical Technologies
of Bend, Oregon USA and York, England has added Andrzej Buczkowski, Ph.D., as
their new Senior Scientist in Bend, and Mark Taylor, Ph.D., as Product Manager
in York. Dr. Buczkowski's expertise brings silicon wafer and device physics
to Accent's lattice engineering and strained silicon-focused applications, and
Dr. Taylor's expertise is in lasers, optics and X-ray technologies to the oversight
and development of Accent's products for lattice engineering. "Andrzej and
Mark bring depth of knowledge as well as experience and capability to our applications
team. Their addition emphasizes Accent's commitment to R&D efforts in the rapidly
emerging field of metrology for lattice engineered materials," stated Tom
Ryan, Senior Director of Business Development. Andrzej Buczkowski received his
M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electronics from the Technical University of Wroclaw,
Poland. In 1989, he joined North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC as a
visiting research professor and worked with MEMC, SEH, and Semitex on silicon
characterization. Mark Taylor received his M.S. and Ph.D. in physics and chemistry
from University of Manchester. In 1992, he joined the Institut Charles Sadron,
Strasbourg, France, doing X-ray studies on liquid crystals. In 1997, Taylor
joined Bede Scientific Instruments as an applications and development scientist
with a specialization in X-ray optics and advanced semiconductor applications.
Prior to joining Accent, he was the senior development scientist at Bede. Accent,
noted for its work in laser diodes, VCSELs, HBTs, HEMTs and as a supplier of
optical CD measurement, thin film characterization and optical lithography feedback
control systems, is now up to 250 employees of which over 70 are technologists. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
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