|
Editorial: Brilliant Moves
... Jo Ann just completed reading, cover to cover, an advance copy of Bob Johnstone's new book on the compound semi (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industries' not-so-subtle takeover of the general lighting market, featuring GaN/MOCVD breakthrough artist, Shuji Nakamura. The book is titled BRILLIANT ! ...Shuji Nakamura and...
Jump down to the full story
| |
Features:
|
|
Philips to Acquire TIR Systems Ltd.
LIGHTimes StaffMarch 13, 2007...Royal Philips Electronics (Philips) agreed to acquire TIR Systems Ltd., a maker of LED luminaires headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Under the terms of the agreement, Philips will purchase 100 percent of the outstanding
shares of TIR at C$1.60 (USD 1.37) per share. Additionally Philips will pay
TIRs debt (debentures) at a rate of C$1,230.77 per C$1000 (about USD$1052.93
per $855.51)of the outstanding principal amount.
Philips will own TIR’s Lexel technology. Lexel is a series of design
innovations for all of the major components of white LED luminaires. The design
innovations include advances in thermal management, optical design, feedback,
and drive technology. Philips hopes to capitalize on TIR’s IP portfolio
and its product lines. According to TIR the full value of the transaction is
about C$75 million (about USD$64.2 million). Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... March 12, 2007...Cree Inc. of Durham, North Carolina USA, has reported that the company has
signed a definitive agreement to acquire Cotco Luminant Device Ltd, an LED packaging
company whose main business comes from large, outdoor and smaller indoor LED-based
video screens. Under the agreement, Cree will pay Cotco $70 million in cash
and and 7,604,785 shares of Cree stock valued at $130 million. According to
the agreement, an additional $125 million will be paid contingent upon the attainment
of financial goals for the Cotco business over the next two fiscal years. The
transaction is targeted to close in March or April 2007.
The agreement has already been approved by the board of directors of Cree
and Cotco’s parent company, Cotco Holdings. Cotco, which is headquartered
in Hong Kong, supplies high brightness LEDs in mainland China. Cotco's products include: information signs, traffic signals, automotive lighting and specialty lighting. Cree reported that it has had a strong
relationship with Cotco for about 10 years, and it reportedly earned about $25
million in revenue from its LED sales to Cotco during the last fiscal year. Cree stated that it expects the acquisition to add approximately 15 to 20 percent to its First
Call consensus estimates for fiscal 2008. LIGHTimes SecondPage Members can login to access the extended version of the story. CCMP Capital to Acquire BOC EdwardsMarch 13, 2007...CCMP Capital has agreed to acquire BOC Edwards, a manufacturer of vacuum equipment for the semiconductor industry. CCMP Capital will purchase the business from the Linde Group that currently owns BOC Edwards. The deal is valued at €685m ($903 million), with an additional payment of €65m (about $86 million) if CCMP Capital is successful in developing the business and subsequently exiting its investment. The acquisition is about a year after the Linde Group acquired BOC Edwards in a transaction in 2006. CCMP Capital Advisors and CCMP Capital Asia are acquiring the main vacuum and semiconductor equipment business of BOC Edwards. However, the pharmaceutical division will remain a subsidiary of The Linde Group. BOC Edwards News Release
MIT Research Group Gets Funding for GaN Device Fabrication ResearchMarch 13, 2007...The Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT today announced it
is awarding $628,000 in grants to seven MIT research teams currently working
on discoveries. Among these, Tomás
Palacios, assistant professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering
and Computer Science of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and his research
group will receive funding for his research into reducing the cost of fabricating
GaN devices, specifically gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistors
(HEMTs). His research hopes to find a new approach to the fabrication technology
of GaN semiconductor devices. Deshpande
Center for Technological Innovation News Release Dr. Russel Dupuis Wins IEEE Edison Award for 2007
CompoundSemi News StaffMarch 9, 2007...Dr. Russel D. Dupuis, the Steve W. Chaddick Endowed Chair in Electro-Optics
in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, has been
awarded the prestigious 2007 IEEE Edison Medal. The medal will be presented
at the 2007 IEEE Meeting Series II conference, to be held June 12-17 in Philadelphia.
He received the award for his contributions to metalorganic chemical vapor deposition
(MOCVD) and continuous-wave room-temperature quantum-well lasers. His other
work has focused on III-V heterojunction devices, and LEDs.
Dr. Nick Holonyak Jr, an instrumental person in the launching of compound semiconductors,
was Dr. Dupuis’ thesis advisor and mentor. Dr. Dupuis reportedly continued
his work. A Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, Dupuis and two of his
colleagues were awarded the 2002 National Medal of Technology (the USA’s
highest honor for work in science and technology) for their work on developing
and commercializing LEDs. Before joining the Georgia Tech faculty in 2003, Dupuis
held the Judson S. Swearingen Regents Chair in Engineering at the University
of Texas at Austin for 14 years. Dr. Dupuis joins a long line of distinguished
scientists who have won the Edison Award, created by Thomas Edison’s friends
and associates in 1904. Two of the most famous medal winners included Alexander
Graham Bell and Nikola Tesla. Georgia
Tech News Release Jazz Semiconductor and Sipex to Collaborate on Power Management Devices
CompoundSemi News StaffMarch 9, 2007...Jazz Semiconductor, a wafer foundry focused on CMOS process technologies and Sipex
Corporations, a fables semiconductor company which develops analog integrated
circuits, announced an agreement to jointly develop power management devices.
The devices will use Jazz Semiconductor’s 0.5-micron and 0.25-micron Bipolar
CMOS DMOS (BCD) processes to enable higher levels of integration, smaller size,
and better efficiency than general foundry offerings.
Jazz Semiconductor’s BCD processes combine into a single process flow
which the company says is ideally suited to fill power requirements for consumer
and handheld devices. The single process flow includes three different process
types including: bipolar for analog control; CMOS for digital control, and DMOS,
for handling the high currents required for managing on-chip or system power.
Sipex is reportedly using the Jazz BCD05 process to continue developing LED
backlighting solutions for notebooks and monitors. The company says that because
of the small size and the high voltage, designers can integrate a digital interface
and can drive large numbers of LEDs in a series. The BCD05 process will also
be used to manufacture Sipex’s PowerBlox devices, as well as the company’s
first sub-micron interface device. Sipex said it expects to ship its products
using the BCD05 process before the end of the year. Sipex also reported that
it selected Jazz’s BCD25 process for its new high performance power devices
and new high-speed interface products. Jazz
Semiconductor News Release NREL Scientists Win $1 Million Prize
CompoundSemi News StaffMarch 8, 2007...Two scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National
Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) will get to share $1 million in prize money for being named Dan David Prize Laureates for 2007. Jerry Olson and Sarah Kurtz won the award for contributions in the field of photovoltaics. Jerry They will receive the award at a ceremony in Paris on March 8. The prize committee wrote that solar cells based on the scientists’
work "have the potential to alleviate the world's impending energy crisis."
The scientists pioneered the multi-junction solar cell, which uses layers of
semiconductor material to efficiently convert sunlight to electricity. Spectrolab
recently manufactured and tested a cell based on Olson's and Kurtz's design.
The solar concentrator cell achieved a world-record conversion efficiency of
40 percent. Such multi-junction cells (without the optics required to concentrate
the light) are utilized on space rovers and satellites. "I am honored
to receive this prize, especially because it reflects the promise of the technology
as a partial solution to the world's need for renewable energy," Kurtz
said. "In the past few years, the investment in concentrator systems
using high-efficiency, multi-junction solar cells has mushroomed. Although this
investment is not yet reflected by large installations, the Dan David prize
recognizes this technology in the "future" category, predicting that
it will be a huge success. I look forward to the day when this and other renewable
technologies will provide the world with sustainable energy." NREL
News Release Acreo Spins-Off QWIP Maker IRnova
CompoundSemi News StaffMarch 6, 2007...Acreo, a semiconductor and optical networking company, has spun-off a separate
company, IRnova AB based on Acreo’s experience with quantum well infrared
photodetectors (QWIP). Acreo will own the majority of IRnova; employees will
own the remaining stake. IRnova’s main technology uses aluminum gallium
arsenide (AlGaAs) on a gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrate to produce the quantum
wells.
During 2005-2006 calendar years, IRnova substantially increased its production
capacity in the number of infrared detectors the organization produces per year.
During 2006 Acreo says that IRnova received substantial new orders and customers
which required a need for volume production of QWIP detectors. Acreo says that
IRnova is already a leader in supplying QWIP detectors and solutions for QWIP
focal plane arrays. Factory floor monitoring and medical testing devices are
a couple of the applications of QWIP technology can be used for beyond the military
applications which dominated early development efforts. Acreo
News Release Goodrich Corporation to Develop SWIR Camera for Northrop Grumman
CompoundSemi News StaffMarch 6, 2007...Northrop Grumman Laser Systems business unit selected Goodrich Corporation
to design and manufacture a boresight monitoring camera subsystem with its shortwave
infrared technology. The boresight monitoring camera will be used to track and
align lasers at multiple wavelengths on the device referred to as a multi-function
laser. As part of the Army’s modernization program, a family of manned
and unmanned air and ground systems are linked via a network
Goodrich’s SUI team (formerly Sensors Unlimited) based in Princeton,
New Jersey USA, pioneered the design and production of SWIR cameras using indium
gallium arsenide imaging technology, which will go in the boresight monitoring cameras. According to Goodrich Vice President and
General Manager of its SUI team, Dr. Marshall Cohen, "Our team will
modify, combine and enhance the functionality of two of its commercially available
320 x 256 focal plane array Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) cameras, resulting in
a single unit that will meet the Army's requirements. By leveraging our proprietary
technology, the new cameras will be smaller, will require less power and will
offer superior operational capabilities over currently available SWIR cameras."
Goodrich
Corporation News Release Panasonic Develops White LED on GaN Substrate for Volume Production
LIGHTimes StaffMarch 6, 2007...Panasonic, the best known brand under Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd,
reported that it has developed a blue LED element on a gallium nitride (GaN)
substrate. The company plans to begin mass production of the white high-power
LED series in mid March 2007. GaN substrates can boost performance of LEDs because
of GaN’s high thermal and electrical conductivity. GaN substrates have
the same refractive index as the light-emitting layer. Panasonic says using
their high quality, lower priced GaN substrates results in an LED with 1.5
times efficiency in lumens per watt as the conventional sapphire-based LED element.
In conventional sapphire-based LEDs, poor heat dissipation properties tend to
result in saturation of output at high currents. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Panasonic Develops White LED on GaN Substrate for Volume Production
LIGHTimes StaffMarch 6, 2007...Panasonic, the best known brand under Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. Ltd,
reported that it has developed a blue LED element on a gallium nitride (GaN)
substrate. The company plans to begin mass production of the white high-power
LED series in mid March 2007. GaN substrates can boost performance of LEDs because
of GaN’s high thermal and electrical conductivity. GaN substrates have
the same refractive index as the light-emitting layer. Panasonic says using
their high quality, lower priced GaN substrates results in an LED with 1.5
times efficiency in lumens per watt as the conventional sapphire-based LED element.
In conventional sapphire-based LEDs, poor heat dissipation properties tend to
result in saturation of output at high currents. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Goodrich Corporation to Develop SWIR Camera for Northrop Grumman
CompoundSemi News StaffMarch 6, 2007...Northrop Grumman Laser Systems business unit selected Goodrich Corporation
to design and manufacture a boresight monitoring camera subsystem with its shortwave
infrared technology. The boresight monitoring camera will be used to track and
align lasers at multiple wavelengths on the device referred to as a multi-function
laser. As part of the Army’s modernization program, a family of manned
and unmanned air and ground systems are linked via a network
Goodrich’s SUI team (formerly Sensors Unlimited) based in Princeton,
New Jersey USA, pioneered the design and production of SWIR cameras using indium
gallium arsenide imaging technology, which will go in the boresight monitoring cameras. According to Goodrich Vice President and
General Manager of its SUI team, Dr. Marshall Cohen, "Our team will
modify, combine and enhance the functionality of two of its commercially available
320 x 256 focal plane array Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) cameras, resulting in
a single unit that will meet the Army's requirements. By leveraging our proprietary
technology, the new cameras will be smaller, will require less power and will
offer superior operational capabilities over currently available SWIR cameras."
Goodrich
Corporation 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
Info7 -at - compoundsemi.com
or call +1 (512) 257-9888 |
|
The
McDonald Report
Commentary & Perspective...
Brilliant Moves
Jo Ann McDonaldMarch 13, 2007...Jo Ann just completed reading, cover to cover, an advance copy of Bob Johnstone's
new book on the compound semi (CS) and solid state lighting (SSL) industries'
not-so-subtle takeover of the general lighting market, featuring GaN/MOCVD breakthrough
artist, Shuji Nakamura. The book is titled BRILLIANT ! ...Shuji Nakamura and
the Revolution in Lighting Technology. On top of that, here comes news that
Cree is buying Cotco and Philips is buying TIR Systems. It looks like we need
to add an exciting new chapter to the ongoing CS/SSL saga.
BRILLIANT ! moves out to bookstores this spring. It's a must read for
everyone in our CS and SSL industries, not only because it tells the whole
story so accurately and in such a compelling manner, but it's a must read because
almost everyone who had anything to do with the development of gallium nitride
(GaN) is mentioned. That means most of the loyal readers of our CompoundSemi
News and LIGHTimes online publications. Plus, CS epiwafer growth
technology actually gets explained in a way even a financial analyst can understand.
Certain key pioneers, like Nick Holonyak, Shuji Nakamura, Herbert Paul Maruska,
Asif Khan, Umesh Mishra, and Remis Gaska, and key companies, like Cree, Nichia
and TIR Systems, are profiled in depth within the four parts of the book. Part
1: Out of the Blue, Part 2: The Floodgates Open, Part 3: Flight
of the Golden Goose, and Part 4: The End of Edison. A cadre of handpicked
friends and I helped send this gifted Scottish writer (who lives now in Melbourne,
Australia, via Japan where his lovely wife is from) down all the right compound
semi wells of expertise. And because Bob Johnstone is the epitome of technology
journalists, sure enough... he got the story right.
Bob came to see me at the ranch in October of 2005. He'd tracked me down because
I was the one who had the pleasure of breaking the story in the USA of Shuji's
original breakthrough in early December of 1993 in EE Times. I'd met
Shuji at IEDM where he first showed his truly bright blue LED to a sparsely
attended Emerging Technologies session. Having covered the blue laser progress
in ZeSe at Philips and other wide bandgap early R&D houses, and having closely
tracked the early SiC dim blue LED progress at Cree since the company formed
in 1987, I publicly praised Shuji's achievement then asked the question: "Can
the blue laser be far off?" He smiled that knowing smile... and laughed
it off without answering. In retrospect, it was a highlight of my journalism
career. So after I'd brainwashed Bob Johnstone with my tales of glory and lore,
he embarked on his final worldwide trek to get the whole story, which
is basically the history of the wide bandgap (especially GaN) R&D. But so
much has happened so quickly since June 2006. When the manuscript went off publisher, Prometheus Books, Bob had to hastily add
an extra postscript, mainly because Shuji had won the 2006
Millennium Technology Prize. To me, that just poves that progress in solid state lighting is currently
mind-boggling. Bob's four part book weaves together the history of GaN and LEDs
with Shuji's own personal saga. This week's news from Cree, Cotco, Philips, and
TIR would make an obvious part five.
I'll go into more detail on Bob's book in the weeks ahead, including excerpts,
as Brilliant ! moves out to bookstores near you. But trust me... Brilliant
! is a must read. Even though I knew much of the story firsthand,
this 300 page book (plus illustrations) held my attention as if it was a compelling
novel, revealing twist after twist from the outset. My prognostication is that
Shuji will eventually get a Nobel for his
work, but probably not until solid state lighting truly makes its mark in the
end user marketplace. I also predict that, following the Nobel, that Bob Johnstone's
book chronicling the history of GaN and blue spectrum LEDs and lasers, and their
applications, will be nominated for a Pulitzer.
The book is reminiscent of Tracy Kidder's Soul of a New Machine. The
list price for Brilliant ! is $28, and even though it hasn't yet been
released, Amazon has it already
listed at a significant discount price of $18. In this editorial, because
of the big news from Cree and TIR, I simply have to comment on these acquisitions,
which I think are brilliant moves on the part of the companies involved.
Cree buying Cotco probably won't change Cotco much. I suspect it will be business
as usual in both Hong Kong and in Durham, North Carolina even after the merger
goes through. (Ref: our March
12 coverage) What's likely to change will be Cree's presence in the international
marketplace. Cotco's holders get a significant infusion of cash ($70 million)
plus 7,604,785 shares of Cree stock valued at $130 million. And currently, in
my opinion, Cree's stock is way underpriced. (Both Cree and TIR are in my
model CS/SSL stock portfolio, ref:
Feb. update). But the big winner is Cree, which gets an E-ticket on
the mainland China SSL solid state lighting express... just in time for the
2008 Olympics, which China is gearing up for, big time. A lot of lights are going
to twinkle all over mainland China by '08, especially in Beijing. I'm sure China
would just as soon they be supplied by mainland Chinese companies. Cree's Cotco
would obviously be a most excellent entrée for Cree LEDs into the huge
(and properly committed to solid state lighting) mainland China marketplace.
While our publisher, Tom Griffiths will put these news items into even more
(and less biased) perspective in his next LIGHTimes editorial, to me
it's as though BJ Lee's Epistar is in the driver's seat in Taiwan via their
consolidation strategy (which Cree's Chuck Swoboda felt he handed to BJ at
BLUE 2004 ref: March
7, 2007 editorial). Now Cree gets to take at least a forward seat on
the bus into mainland China. We'll see. Meanwhile, back in the USA in San Jose,
Philips Lumileds, ever the head-on competitor to Cree, gets a new little brother
to boss around... TIR, which owns the dynamic Lexel breakthrough technology.
Talk about Brilliant Moves! Lumileds has, overall, the best full range
of high brightness LEDs. TIR has already tapped the end market and the lighting
designers fancy. Lumileds and lil' bro TIR (driving it's cool, powerful little
Lexel) will be eager, energetic siblings under a parent company with
tremendous international end market lighting industry clout, Royal Philips Electronics.
TIR and Lumileds aren't about to let "Dad" drag his feet in the transition
to solid state lighting. Osram, with their offspring Osram Opto, always looks
good (especially in Europe, home of Philips) and was actually the leader in
committing to SSL. General Electric, with their offspring Lumination (formerly GELcore), is starting
to look like it's the lagger rather than the leader. GE's rolling out various
"higher efficiency" bulbs, but I still haven't seen nor heard the
kind of commitment to SSL from GE that Philips and Osram have sounded.
Oh... and don't forget that TIR's Brent York and Epistar's BJ Lee are co-chairs
of BLUE 2007
April 17-19 in Hsinchu, Taiwan along with BridgeLux's Bob Walker. Brent will
be giving the keynote first thing on Wednesday, April 18th, driving home the conference
theme: It's About the System... Designing with the end in mind. I'm sure
Brent will share what TIR's new parent, Philips, has in mind next for SSL.
A final thought on what I feel is the really big news, which on its own would
also make a fitting fifth part to Bob Johnstone's Brilliant story because
Bob profiled Cree's origins to date so well. Cree's acquisition of Cotco is
clearly a key move in the maturation of Cree, and as you'll see in Bob's Chapter
6, there was a lot going on between Shuji and Cree that has never before been
publicly revealed. The whole blue spectrum LED commercial business began with
Cree. This is their story almost as much as it is Shuji's. Now, with Cree taking
this rather significant step into mainland China, they move even more determinedly
up the LED supply chain. Knowing this industry, Cree's critics will start throwing
tomatoes saying, "You're competing with your (die and substrate) customers!"
But that's never stopped a good CS company from a vertically forward path. When
GaN electronics really takes off, Cree will set a record for vertical and
horizontal integration. Cree's flavor of GaN (George Brandes) will be right
up there. And I like what all this bodes. More than an Intel, which is the role
model I've cited for Cree in the past; it's more like a... dare I say,
Philips? Cree's march through the gateways to China is a brilliant move. Congrats,
guys!
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... |
