Nitronex Raises the GaN Transistor BarNovember 10, 2003...Nitronex Corporation of Raleigh, North Carolina USA has announced new levels
of performance for its gallium nitride (GaN) based radio frequency (RF) power
transistors. Until now, the superior characteristics of gallium nitride over
silicon have remained largely untapped. Such GaN properties including high linearity
and high operating voltage are two characteristics of power transistors that
are demanded by designers of power amplifiers for the 3G market. Based on Nitronex’s
patented SIGANTIC technology, devices for 3G applications with an operating
voltage of 34 Volts are available for sampling. These devices will be available
in 10 Watt and 20 Watt versions (WCDMA Power). Devices operating at 38 Volts
will be released in the near future. Jack Hillson, Nitronex CEO, said, “No
other supplier of gallium nitride devices has come close to the overall performance
we have achieved at Nitronex. The real performance of gallium nitride is starting
to be realized and with the use of our SIGANITC™ technology will enable GaN
power transistors to be available on a production basis.” Company
news release
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Motorola Plans to Go XtremeNovember 10, 2003...Motorola Inc. has signed an agreement to acquire the assets of XtremeSpectrum,
Inc., a pioneer of ultra-wideband (UWB) solutions for multimedia connectivity.
Financial terms of the deal will not be disclosed. XtremeSpectrum's UWB solutions
have already been sampled to several leading consumer equipment manufacturers
in 2003. XtremeSpectrum announced it would develop UWB solutions in June 2002,
after the Federal Communications Commission approved rules for the commercial
use of this wireless technology. The radio is designed to achieve 100 megabits
per second data rates while consuming less than 200 milliwatts of power and
is designed to provide wireless connectivity technology for products such as
set-top boxes, digital displays, camcorders, DVD players, digital video recorders,
and digital cameras. XtremeSpectrum's solution is an ultra wideband impulse
radio that is designed to simultaneously provide high data rates, low power,
low cost and low complexity. This announcement comes on the heels of XtremeSpectrum's
filing a "Letter of Assurance for Essential Patents" with the Institute of Electrical
and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE) stating that if XtremeSpectrum's proposed
contributions to the IEEE 802.15.3a standard are adopted as proposed, XtremeSpectrum
also noted it would be willing to grant royalty-free licenses to parties who
would grant a similar royalty-free license under their patents. The move is
aimed at facilitating industry-wide adoption of UWB technology if it is selected
as part of the standard by IEEE. Company
news release Stratos' Acquisition of Sterling Holding CompleteNovember 10, 2003...Acquisitions aren't final until the boards of directors say they're final,
and that step was taken by Stratos Lightwave Inc. on Thursday, November 6th,
when it completed its acquisition of Sterling Holding Company. Stratos, a public
company, is in the business of supplying optical subsystems,and Sterling Holding
Company, a privately-held company based in Mesa, Arizona USA, designs and manufactures
RF and Microwave interconnect products. The acquisition was completed after
the Stratos' shareholders approved a proposal to adopt the merger agreement
between Stratos and Sterling Holding Company at the Company's annual meeting
of shareholders held today in Chicago, Illinois. With the final steps taken,
Stratos expands its Board of Directors to nine members and Jim McGinley remains
as CEO of Stratos at its Chicago headquarters. Under the terms of the agreement,
Sterling shareholders received approximately 6.1 million shares of Stratos common
stock and 50,000 shares of a Series B participating preferred stock. The preferred
has a face value of $5.0 million and an additional contingent value of up to
$6.25 million based on certain events and the future performance of Stratos'
share price. Jim McGinley, CEO of Stratos remarked, "The acquisition of Sterling
and its superior brands in the RF and Microwave markets, Trompeter and Semflex,
complement our active and passive optical subsystems business and bolster our
presence in attractive growth markets. We expect the combination of Stratos'
advanced electro-optical technology and Sterling's excellent RF/microwave product
solution to allow the combined Company to better serve both Companies' existing
customers." Joe Norwood, CEO of Sterling, added, "We will continue to
expand the operational excellence of the combined Company going forward."
More details are in the company
news release Aixtron Sees Upturn AheadNovember 10, 2003...Reporting right on predicted targets, MOCVD equipment provider, Aixtron GmbH
of Aachen, Germany generated consolidated revenues of €62.5 million for the
first three quarters of 2003. Always of interest to the international community,
revenues by region were: 21% USA, 72% Asia and 7% were from Europe. On a positive
note, Aixtron pointed out that there indeed is a reduction in geopolitical crisis
levels and that the respite from the SARS epidemic in Asia led to an upturn
in capital expenditure in the third quarter. New orders for Aixtron MOCVD equipment
increased by €6.7 million quarter-on-quarter to total €22.6 million in Q3, down
only slightly from a year prior. Axtron's CEO, Paul Hyland, commented... "Our
focused cost reductions are having the required effect and we have received
some encouraging signals from the market during Q3. However, it's still too
early to talk of a sustained recovery as many customers remain cautious regardless
of the positive general economic data. Despite the fragile nature of the recovery,
we continue to be optimistic in the mid to long term." Aixtron is a lead
sponsor of the upcoming Compound Semi Outlook conference to be held Dec. 15-17
in Dallas, Texas, at which time attendees will be able to meet informally with
Aixtron managers and gain further insight on trends this leading MOCVD commercial
supplier is seeing in the field. Company
news release APA Optics Gets Personal with GaN "SunUV" MonitorsNovember 10, 2003...APA Optics of Minneapolis, Minnesota USA has announced that they've begun shipping
the kind of product we knew would eventually take GaN even more into the mainstream.
APA's GaN UV detector technology has produced the first of several models of
what APA is calling the SunUV Personal UV Monitor. The first shipment
of product went to a California- based specialty retailer of apparel and accessories
for hikers. The compact SunUV measures exposure of the user to the sun's
UV radiation, displays the "UV Index", a measure of UV intensity, and sounds
an alarm when the total exposure in a 24-hour period may exceed recommended
limits. "This initial shipment of our SunUV Monitor is a key milestone for
APA Optics as we commercialize Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology-based products,"
said Anil Jain, President & CEO of APA Optics. "We are a world leader in
GaN UV detectors, and this technology is built into the SunUV Monitor. The technology
gives the performance and compact size necessary to provide a miniature, portable
instrument that can help consumers avoid the short and long term consequences
of overexposure to UV." As we all know, overexposure to solar UV radiation
can cause skin, eye and immune system damage. Skin cancer affects over one million
Americans a year. Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world,
and there is an increasing incidence of the disease worldwide. There is a strong
correlation of the disease to lifestyles that involve extended exposure to the
sun, and sunburns, especially early in life. APA Optics's product can be used
to make continuous or intermittent readings of the UV intensity, depending on
the user's activities. Its monitor function is personalized by entering a numerical
rating of the user's skin type and sunblock SPF, both of which affect the maximum
recommended UV exposure in a 24-hour period. The monitors will be available
in a variety of models that can be clipped onto bags, belts or other items or
worn on the wrist like a watch. The company plans to have full product availability
of the SunUV Monitor by January 2004, selling it through outdoor retailers,
specialty retailers, department stores, golf shops, catalogs and the Internet.
Company news release Blue Sky Sees First RedNovember 10, 2003...Coming off a successful launch of their blue laser product in September, Blue
Sky Research of Milpitas, California USA has now launched its line of red
laser diodes, which include three new 635nm red laser diodes manufactured at
Blue Sky's in-house semiconductor foundry. Target applications include construction
and alignment equipment, biomedical and metrology instrumentation, and bar code
readers. “The release of the BRLD-635 laser diode, which is produced at Blue
Sky Research’s Silicon Valley foundry, marks a significant expansion of capabilities,"
said none other than Al
Shugart, himself, who helped found Blue Sky in 1989, and continues to serve
as the company's Chairman of the Board. "The Company is one of a select
few U.S.-based laser manufacturers with integrated facilities for everything
from semiconductor fabrication and optical systems development, to control system
design and electronic packaging. Leveraging laser design and engineering expertise
with in-house production facilities gives Blue Sky Research a definite advantage
in a very competitive market,” said Al. Underscoring what the newly restructured
Blue Sky is reaching for, Chris Gladding, President and CEO explained that,
“This expansion of our in-house foundry allows us to better service our custom
laser manufacturing operations, which demand a lean manufacturing infrastructure
and consistent, on-time delivery. We can now quickly develop customer-specific
lasers, fab the chips internally, and integrate them into any platform the client
requires. Combined with our partnerships with high volume manufacturers, we’re
able to cost-effectively span the range between limited quantity, R&D volumes,
or large OEM quantities.” The BRLD-635 laser family compliments Blue Sky
Research’s existing product lines that include fiber-coupled lasers, free space
lasers, and circularized or VPSLs (Virtual Point Source) lasers, and OEM laser
diode subassemblies. In addition to the BRLD-635, Blue Sky Research manufactures
its 980nm laser at the Silicon Valley foundry, and will continue to expand in-house
capabilities to include wavelengths from visible to near-infrared. Riber's MBE 32 Headed for New YorkNovember 10, 2003...France's Riber is noted for their MBE platforms,
and the latest Riber tool, a Riber 32 P system, is headed for the Department
of Physics of the State University of New York in Buffalo, NY USA. This is the
second Riber tool order for State. The new machine will be installed in Professor
Hong Luo’s laboratory at the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics
(ILPB) to grow photonic materials/structures and ferromagnetic heterostructures.
These materials are deemed essential to the development of new photonic and
spintronic components, which would enable the storage and processing of digital
data on the same chip (e.g. for application in magnetic disk drives).
Professor Luo's work is part of an Information Technology project funded by
the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR)
and a DARPA/ONR grant. Our news features are reported
by the CompoundSemi News staff writers.
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