Veeco Expects Substantial Growth in LED and Solar Process Equipment
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 12, 2008...Veeco projects that sales of its Turbo Disc MOCVD systems will be bolstered by increasing demand for LEDs.
John Peeler, Veeco’s president and CEO stated, “We expect continued strong order patterns in the LED market given the broadening adoption of LED. The overall LED market is forecasted to growth from $4.2 billion in 2006 to $9.4 billion in 2011, which as an 18% compounded annual growth rate.”
Peeler added, “Some applications are forecasted to grow at much higher rates, for example, LED’s for architectural and retail lighting are forecasted to grow nearly 40% over the next several years. Our customers are seeing increased penetration in exterior as well as interior automotive lighting and a recent strategy analytics survey estimated that this market alone could be worth a billion dollars by 2014.” In addition, Peeler noted, “LED’s are also experiencing increased adoption in laptop backlighting, with the industry players expecting growth at the expense of traditional CCFL solutions.”
Overall the company expects sales revenues from both LED and Solar Process related equipment to be up 20 to 25 percent for the year. (Ref: Transcript of Quarterly Financial Results). Emcore to Spin-off CPV Unit
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 10, 2008...Backlog orders for concentrator photovoltaic systems have stacked up at Emcore in the previous quarter ending December 31, 2007. Emcore cited a delay from November to January as the reason that the revenues from the CPV segment declined 18% on $15.8 Million last quarter. The delay was in the delivery and installation of die-attach equipment for the new concentrator photovoltaics (CPV) solar cell and receiver manufacturing line. Ultimately the delay caused a shortfall of about $3 Million on scheduled CPV receiver shipments. Emcore says backlog order shipments should start soon because new manufacturing equipment is expected to go online quickly. Richards said that the first fiscal quarter of 2008 opened up CPV opportunities in Canada, South Korea, and Spain. Then, at the end of January, SunPeak solar ordered 200MW to 700MW of CPV for the American Southwest.
“Progress in each of our business segments continues to point towards the path of separating Emcore into two separate companies,” concluded Richards. “Given the fact that the size of renewable energy projects contemplated will require dramatic and unprecedented expansion, it is likely that the board of directors at this March’s meeting will determine that, in order to finance this rapid growth, Emcore will split into two separate businesses: a standalone fiber-optics company and a renewable energy company that would be spun off to Emcore shareholders after an initial public offering (IPO) to raise the capital in support of the significant growth in the terrestrial power business,” Richards said. Emcore Quarterly Financial Results for Q1 Fiscal 2008 Ending December 2007
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Enablence Technologies Acquires ANDevices
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 11, 2008...Enablence Technologies Inc. of Ontario, Canada, a developer of fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) transceivers for optical modems, has completed the acquisition of U.S.A. - based ANDevices, Inc., (“ANDevices”), a supplier of photonic devices for the access, metro, and long-haul communication markets. As part of the acquisition agreement, all of the issued and outstanding shares of ANDevices were acquired for an aggregate price of US$13.5 million and 9,085,113 common shares of Enablence.
According to Enablence, Dr. Jacob Sun has been re-appointed president of ANDevices and will continue to run Enablence’s new U.S. subsidiary. Additionally, Dr. Sun has been appointed to the position of Chief Operating Officer of Enablence, replacing the former Vice President of Operations whose position was eliminated on January 30, 2008.
‘“Enablence now has its own internal large volume optical wafer fabrication facility for the production of PLCs for its FTTH transceivers as well as a suite of complementary optical products, ” explained Mr. Chhatbar, Chief Executive Officer of Enablence. “The acquisition gives us a strong U.S. presence and the ability to expand our product offerings into emerging markets by combining our dispersion bridge technology with the capabilities of the ANDevices team.” Enablence Technologies News Release RFMD Makes 3G Transmit System Available
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 11, 2008...RF Micro Devices, Inc., a maker of high-performance radio systems and solutions, announced general market availability of the RF6280 3G transmit system. The RF6280 is a flexible 3G multi-mode solution designed to simplify implementation of multi-band and multi-mode 3G handsets and mobile device platforms.
RFMD says that the new system supports all major WCDMA frequency bands and is comprised of a front end power management IC optimized for use with either one or both of two available power amplifier (PA) options: the RF6281 and/or the RF6285.
The RF6280 has dynamically controlled PA operating conditions which utilize analog bias control and patent-pending DC to DC conversion technologies. It enables mode-optimized PA efficiency and linearity performance across all power levels, data rates (voice-only to HSPA) and non-ideal load conditions (also known as "antenna mismatch").
The company notes that the system leverages a balanced (quadrature) PA architecture, offering improved total radiated power (TRP) and specific absorption rate (SAR) performance. It thereby eliminates the need for costly RF isolators and simplifies multi- band platform implementation. Company News Release Cree Agrees to Acquire LED Lighting Fixtures Inc.
LIGHTimes StaffFebruary 8, 2008...Cree, a long-time innovator in producing LEDs, has signed an agreement to acquire LED luminaire and retrofit maker, LED Lighting Fixtures Inc. (LLF). The agreement with LLF is a cash and stock transaction worth $77 million, plus an addition 26.4 million over a three-year period. The $77 million is comprised of a combination of cash and stock to be determined at closing. The stock portion of the transaction will be based on the average share price of Cree stock over the last 20 trading days, $28.32 per share. The $26.4 million dollars of additional consideration is tied over the next three calendar years to new product milestones and key-employee retention.
LLF will be renamed Cree Lighting Solutions. Neal Hunter, chairman and CEO of LLF and a Cree co-founder, will rejoin Cree as president of Cree LED Lighting Solutions. The remaining members of LLF’s management team will continue in their roles within the organization. The agreement will allow the company to make luminaires and retrofit fixtures and will put the company in direct competition with solid state lighting giant Philips.
Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Northrop Grumman Wins Contract for Phase 2 of MDA’s ATILL Laser
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 6, 2008...Northrop Grumman Corporation, based in Redondo Beach, California USA, has received a Missile Defense Agency (MDA) contract for Phase 2 of a five-and-a-half year program to develop the Advanced Track Illuminator Laser, or ATILL. The ATILL is a six-kilowatt-class, solid-state, pulsed laser with a high quality beam for advanced MDA missions.
The contract is part of a four-phase program to support MDA and Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) in building the next generation Cryo Yb:YAG (ytterbium: yttrium aluminum garnet) solid-state laser track illuminator. The goal of the four phase project is to make the ATILL smaller and more efficient.
During Phase 1 of the contract, Northrop Grumman performed laser system modeling, analysis, and trade studies. The company presented options at a conceptual design review in December to complete Phase 1. Q-Peak Inc. of Bedford, Massachusetts USA, Northrup Grumman’s teammate for the first two phases of the project, has built the second most powerful Cryo Yb:YAG laser to date.
Following the 12 months of Phase 2, MDA will select a single industry partner for the remaining two phases. The fourth phase of fabrication, integration, and testing will culminate in 2012 with delivery to the government of a flight-qualifiable brassboard laser system. Northrop Grumman News Release TriQuint Introduces 50 Percent Smaller Hadron II PA Module Family
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 6, 2008...The Hillsboro, Oregon USA-based RF front-end maker, TriQuint Semiconductor, introduced the first two members of its HADRON II PA Module family; the TQM7M5012 and TQM7M5005.
According to TriQuint, the second-generation EDGE PAs were designed using the company’s CuFlip copper bump technology. TriQuint says that the two new PAs have improved RF performance, reduced power consumption, and increased battery life. The 5mm x 5mm footprint of the PAs is 50 percent smaller than previous models.
The new products build on the success of TriQuint's first-generation HADRON PA Module family, found in some of the industry's most popular mobile devices, including Samsung's BlackJack, LG's Shine and Chocolate 3G, Palm's Treo, and HTC's Advantage. The HADRON II PA Module family will be displayed at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain (11th-14th Feb. 2008).
The company cited the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) in its January 15, 2008 update, which stated, "Most WCDMA-HSPA networks combine with EDGE for service continuity and the best user experience." Given this need, TriQuint's EDGE PA module shipments to 3G phones experienced 178 percent growth in 2007.
Tim Dunn, Vice President for Handsets at TriQuint, said, "Our CuFlip copper bump technology enables us to shrink the module footprint to 5x5mm while extracting heat from the PA more efficiently and reducing current. The result is improvement in size, performance, cost, and reliability." TriQuint News Release NEC Develops High Output Power Wireless Transceiver
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 6, 2008...NEC Corporation of Tokyo, Japan, announced the successful development of a 60-GHz-band wireless transceiver with what the company says is the world's highest output power. According to NEC the newly developed transceiver is based on low-cost standard CMOS technology, and it enables consumer wireless systems with multi-gigabit data transmission.
According to NEC, its new design techniques have enabled what the company contends is the world's highest output power of 7 milliwatt (mW) at a supply voltage as low as 0.7 volts. The company noted that the transmitter and receiver chips were fabricated based on standard 90-nm CMOS technology and demonstrated a data rate of 2.6 gigabits per second (Gbps). NEC says that the transceiver has the reliability of CMOS with the performance of Compound Semiconductors.
The 60-GHz band is suited to high-speed wireless transmissions with bit rates exceeding 2 gigabits per second (Gbps) that would allow applications such as true HDTV signal transmission and mobile terminals. Company News Release
Emcore Signs Letter of Understanding to Supply CPV Systems for the Southwest
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 4, 2008...Emcore Corporation a pioneer in multi-junction solar cells and concentrating photovoltaics (CPV) systems, reported that it has signed a memorandum of understanding to supply between 200 MW and 700 MW of turnkey CPV systems for the southwestern region of the United States. The systems, which were developed at Emcore’s facility in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA, will go towards utility scale projects in the region. SunPeak Solar, the project developer, is reportedly securing land and grid access throughout 2008. SunPeak plans to begin project construction in early 2009. The principals of SunPeak Solar have been successfully developed wind power projects in North America and Europe over the past decade. The principals of SunPeak are well funded through the sale of certain wind power assets, and they are now focusing on large-scale terrestrial solar energy projects in the US.
The agreement is dependant on the renewal of the federal investment tax credit (ITC) extending into 2009 and beyond. It is not expected to contribute to Emcore’s revenues until 2009.
Earl Fuller, Vice President and General Manager of Emcore's Solar Power Systems division stated, "Emcore's CPV systems are optimized for the lowest cost-per-watt of any utility-scale photovoltaic power system. The use of our gallium arsenide based multi-junction solar cells has the added advantage of retaining high efficiency even in the hot summers in the desert southwest. Emcore is committed to continuous improvement on the performance of terrestrial solar cells and the cost structure of the CPV system." Emcore News Release Infineon Ships CMOS RF Switches with GaAs Performance
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 4, 2008...Infineon of Neubiberg, Germany has begun volume shipping of RF switches made with a CMOS-based process on silicon wafers that have performance equivalent to gallium arsenide switches. Previously to achieve the performance of GaAs switches the company says that CMOS-based RF switches had to be manufactured on dedicated and more expensive sapphire wafers. The new Infineon RF switches combine the benefits of CMOS with outstanding RF performance. The switches have the RF performance traits such as low insertion loss, low harmonic distortion, good isolation and high power levels. The RF switches also have the inherent CMOS advantages including high integration capabilities, cost effectiveness, and excellent electrostatic discharge (ESD) robustness.
Infineon notes that its CMOS-based RF switches allow longer battery life than PIN diodes, because current consumption is significantly reduced. The BGS12A, the first of the new family, comes in a wafer-level package (WLP) and measures a mere 0.79mm x 0.54mm, about 60 percent smaller than the smallest GaAs RF switch on the market.
Michael Mauer, senior director, Silicon Discretes at Infineon Technologies commented, “With the increasing complexity of modern mobile devices, RF switches are expected to substitute today’s PIN diodes in the next five years.” Company News Release Fujitsu Develops CMOS-based PA that Operates at 77 GHz
CompoundSemi News StaffFebruary 4, 2008...Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. of Tokyo, Japan reported the development of a millimeter-waveband power amplifier (PA) using standard 90nm CMOS process technology. Fujitsu Labs developed a standard CMOS modeling technology and design techniques targeted at millimeter-wave applications. According to the company its design techniques minimize high-frequency signal loss thereby enabling what the company claims is the world's first CMOS-based PA that operates at 77GHz. The technology integrates CMOS radio frequency (CMOS RF) front-end circuitry and a PA on a single chip for use in millimeter-wave automotive radar systems. This technology will be presented at the International Solid-State Circuits Conference (ISSCC) 2008 to be held in San Francisco from February 3-7. (Session 31.3). Company News Release Our news features are reported
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