Spire Joint Venture Wins Contract for 308-KW Photovoltaic System
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 7, 2008...Gloria Spire Solar, LLC, a joint venture company formed by Spire Corporation and Gloria Solar Co., Ltd., reported that it has won a contract to design and install a 308-kilowatt photovoltaic (PV) solar electric system at The Lee Company's manufacturing facility in Westbrook, Connecticut. The company says that this is the largest solar electric system to be installed for a manufacturing company in Connecticut, and one of the largest in New England.
The system will consist of 1,760 photovoltaic panels on the roof of the newly constructed facility, and it will cover about half the size of a football field, occupying about 29,000 square feet of roof space. It will reportedly be capable of providing electricity for about 17 percent of the manufacturing facility's power consumption. This is equivalent to the power consumed by 34 homes for one full year. The benefits of the installation go beyond helping the company. It will eliminate an estimated emission of 282 tons of carbon dioxide associated with combusting conventional fossil fuels. "We are committed to employing renewable energy sources to lower costs while reducing the environmental impact of our operations in Connecticut," said William Lee, CFO of The Lee Company.
The Lee Company, has been a pioneer in miniature fluid control components for aerospace and other industrial applications. It employs nearly 800 people in Connecticut and more than 100 at its Westbrook facility where the system will be installed. Spire News Release
NT&T and Element Six Develop 120GHz Diamond TransistorJanuary 7, 2008...Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NT&T) of Japan and Element Six of the UK, have developed a diamond transistor that operates at the 120 GHz, according to Nikkei Net. The companies contend that the transistor, made from depositing a thin film of diamond on a poly crystalline diamond substrate, operates at the highest frequency of any diamond-based transistor. Previously the highest frequency for such a transistor was 81 GHz, the article indicated.
At 2GHz the transistor has an amplification ratio of 10,000, more than twice that of a gallium arsenide transistor with that frequency commonly used in mobile phone base stations, according to the article. So far the transistor has a power output of only 2 watts. However, the companies hope to increase that to 30 watts by altering the design. The companies hope to make the device commercially viable in two to three years to be used in vehicle radar units that judge distances between cars.
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January 7, 2008...The Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA) has chosen Goodrich Corporation to develop next-generation night vision sensor technology for helmet-mounted and micro vehicle applications. DARPA awarded the three-year contract under its MicroSensors for Imaging (MISI) program to Goodrich's ISR Systems division. The ISR Systems division provides engineering and initial prototypes of sensitive lightweight imaging cameras utilizing the company's commercially successful technology for shortwave infrared (SWIR) sensors. Goodrich says the work will be performed at its Princeton, New Jersey facility. In the MISI program, Goodrich's Sensors Unlimited, Inc. (SUI) team will develop its night vision utilizing its (InGaAs-NV(TM)) SWIR sensors in a 640 x 512 pixel resolution camera weighing less than 10 grams that is designed for hand-launched unmanned aerial vehicles. The company will also produce a 1280 x 1024 pixel head-mounted monocular.
SWIR technology detects reflected light at wavelengths that the human eye cannot see between visible and thermal frequency bands. Goodrich says that this frequency range is undetectable by current night vision technology. Goodrich also notes that its use of advanced materials and circuitry allow a small device that can run without cooling, unlike other night vision technologies. The proprietary technology is currently used on a wide range of applications, from non-invasive medical examinations to silicon wafer inspection. According to Edward Hart, Vice President and General Manager, SUI, "We expect this advanced InGaAs-NV technology to achieve dramatic reductions in size, weight, power and performance for a new generation of capability for the warfighter." Company News Release II-VI Buys Majority of HighYAG
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 4, 2008...II-VI Incorporated of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA, reported that it has acquired 74.9 percent equity interest in HighYAG Lasertechnologie GmbH (HighYAG) in exchange for cash. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The company said it will update its earnings projections to include HighYAG for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008.
II-VI, a leader in crystal growth technology and a vertically integrated manufacturer of electronics, is separated into several different busineses. Notably, the company's near-infrared optics business, VLOC, manufactures near-infrared and visible light products for industrial, scientific, military, and medical instruments and laser gain materials and products for solid-state YAG and YLF lasers. It is II-VI’s VLOC business that will benefit most technologically from the acquisition. II-VI News Release Cree Appoints New Board Member with CS Industry Experience
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 3, 2008...Cree Inc., based in Durham, North Carolina USA, announced that the company has appointed Frank Plastina, the current president, CEO, and director of Tekelec, to be on Cree’s board of directors. Plastina has served as CEO of Tekelec, a provider of telecommunications network systems and software, since February 2006.
He previously held several executive positions including executive chairman, and later president and CEO at Proxim Corporation, a maker of wireless infrastructure equipment. Chuck Swoboda, Cree chairman and chief executive officer commented, “Frank's experience and insight as CEO of a company accelerating the transition to high-performance, efficient, converged networks will expand the breadth and strength of our Board. This transformational insight should be very helpful to Cree as we pursue our strategy to replace traditional lighting solutions with energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly LED lighting.” Cree News Release
Micromem Produces First Fully Functioning MRAM
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 3, 2008...Micromem Technologies, a startup MRAM developer based in Toronto, Canada, announced that it has successfully manufactured foundry grade fully functioning MRAM cells. According to the company, the foundry of the functioning MRAM comes after a three-year research and development proof of concept phase and a foundry phase to make the device more manufacturable and scalable. Micromem indicated that during the foundry phase, the company began what it called the Reticle Design and Test Plan. From the Test Plan the company has generated a large data set.
Micromem said that the initial review of the data set proved that the MRAM Test Plan was successful, and the performance data will lead the company to a scalable optimized MRAM design. "The positive results of this initial foundry phase are a further validation of the work protected by our patent applications," Joe Fuda, Chief Executive Officer of Micromem Technologies Inc. said.
"One additional positive outcome of this initial foundry phase is the market opportunity afforded Micromem Technologies Inc. resulting from the high sensitivity performance of our thin film Hall Cross Sensor component of our MRAM cell structure," said Steven Van Fleet, Program Director. "This has afforded the Company an opportunity to increase our product portfolio with a high sensitivity, low cost Hall Cross Sensor." Company News Release M.E. Mueller Institute for Structural Biology Selects Veeco Bioscope II AFM
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 3, 2008...Veeco of Woodbury, New York USA, which produces nanoscience instruments in addition to its MOCVD equipment, announced that the M.E. Muller Institute for Structural Biology (MSB) at the Biozentrum in Basel, Switzerland, has selected its BioScope(TM) II Atomic Force Microscope (AFM). MSB said it placed the order for the atomic force microscope during the fourth quarter of 2007 to aid in its cutting edge life sciences research program.
Veeco says that its innovative, BioScope II AFM was engineered specifically to aid advanced bioscience research. According to Veeco, the device can be integrated with inverted optical research microscopes while allowing the use of novel in-situ techniques for measuring biological samples in three dimensions. The BioScope II is ideal for a wide array of advanced bioscience applications, including: spatial identification of protein molecules and cellular structures, investigations of cell response to mechanical stimulation and nano-manipulation, and in-situ pharmacological studies of live cells. The design, which allows multimodal imaging and measurements, enables researchers to specifically target the correlation of nanoscopic measurements with advanced optical/fluorescence microscopy.
The MSB's Professor of Structural Biology, Ueli Aebi, commented, "Veeco's BioScope II is ideal for our research because of the strong features of the tool, such as the superior integration of optical microscope methods, the powerful software and the flexible controller. In addition, we have had good prior experience with Veeco's product portfolio and their on-going customer support." Veeco News Release
Teledyne Scientific & Imaging to Acquire Judson Technologies
CompoundSemi News StaffJanuary 1, 2008...Teledyne Scientific & Imaging LLC, a subsidiary of Teledyne Technologies Incorporated of Thousand Oaks, California USA, has agreed to acquire Judson Technologies LLC. Judson Technologies is a maker of infrared detectors and related products. The terms of the transaction were not released. Teledyne Technologies indicated that the conclusion of the transaction is expected on February 1, 2008.
Judson produces high performance infrared detectors utilizing materials such as mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe), indium antimonide (InSb), and indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs). Judson also makes dewar and cooler assemblies and other specialized standard products for military, space, industrial, and scientific applications. Judson posted sales of $13.8 million for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2006. After the transaction is completed, the acquired business will be named Teledyne Judson Technologies.
“With the acquisition of Judson, Teledyne will be able to provide a substantially wider range of visible and infrared detectors, integrated subsystems and camera products,” said Robert Mehrabian, chairman, president and chief executive officer of Teledyne. “Judson’s capabilities in detector packaging and the production of dewar and cooler assemblies are highly complementary to Teledyne Scientific & Imaging’s strength in advanced detector materials and the design of large format focal plane arrays and imaging electronics.” Teledyne Technologies News Release Kyma Formalizes Research and Development Collaboration with ContractDecember 31, 2007...Kyma Technologies of Raleigh, North Carolina USA, announced that the company signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between the company and Naval Surface Warfare Center – Crane Division (NSWC Crane). Kyma, a supplier of ultra-high purity crystalline gallium nitride (GaN) and aluminum nitride (AlN) materials and related products and services, has reportedly been informally collaborating over a year on advanced materials characterization analyses of Kyma’s native GaN products. According to Kyma, the three-year CRADA formalizes and expands upon an ongoing effort between it and NSWC Crane. Chuck Pagel of NSWC Crane and Drew Hanser of Kyma are the principal investigators on the research and development project.
Dr. Hanser, who is Kyma’s Chief Technology Officer and Vice President of Business Development, stated, “NSWC Crane’s capabilities include a number of advanced materials and device characterization and analysis tools and associated expertise. Formalization of this important collaboration represents an important step for Kyma towards furthering our understanding of how to bring better materials solutions to our customers.”
Kyma’s Chief Scientist, Dr. Tanya Paskova, will present some of the recent characterization results from the collaboration in her presentation in the Opto 2008 Symposium of Photonics West 2008 , held during the week of January 19th – 24th in San Jose, California. Kyma News Release Avanex Files Arbitration Complaint Against 3S Photonics
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 30, 2007...Avanex of Fremont, California, a developer of products for fiber optic networks, reported that it has filed an arbitration complaint against 3S Photonics of Marcoussis, France. The complaint filed in New York alleges that 3S breached its contract with Avanex and prematurely terminated the exclusive distribution agreement that 3S had with Avanex.
Avanex cites the allegedly breached agreement as the cause of its lower revenues for the quarter and through the first quarter of 2008.
Avanex sold its Marcoussis-based subsidiary Avanex France SA to its director, Didier Sauvage, and to Global Research Co., held by Alexandre Krivine, in April 2007. The subsidiary, formerly Alcatel Optronics, was renamed 3S Photonics. 3S photonis produces optical modules and components for telecom networks using GaAs and InP technologies at its optoelectronics chip manufacturing plant in Nozay, France.
Avanex said it paid the purchasers nearly $17.3 million in anticipated operating capital, including current liabilities for previous restructuring activities. It maintains a 10 percent interest in the sold businesses as well as privileged commercial partnerships. It also retained the optical interface activity previously carried out in France. Avanex says that 3S agreed to be the exclusive distributor of some of its products, but it alleges that 3S has prematurely ended the exclusive distribution agreement. Avanex News Release
Researchers Develop Nano-Imprint Method for Making Brighter LEDsDecember 30, 2007...In a collaborative project, researchers from the University of Glasgow, and another group of researchers at the Institute of Photonics at the University of Strathclyde, have devised a method to more quickly and eventually less expensively produce brighter LEDs. The researchers’ method uses nano-imprint lithography to create microscopic holes in the surface of LEDs to increase their luminosity, according to an article by the BBC. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Our news features are reported
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