Semiconductor today

For fourth-quarter 2023, epitaxial deposition and process equipment maker Veeco Instruments Inc of Plainview, NY, USA has reported revenue of $182.1m, down 1% on $184.8m last quarter but up 5% on $173.9m a year ago, and well above the midpoint of both early November’s original guidance of $165–185m and mid-January’s revised guidance of $175–185m...

A new joint venture between Welsh Government, South Wales-based Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, and electronic design automation (EDA) software provider Cadence Design Systems Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (whose more than 13,000 staff generated $4.6bn in revenue in fiscal-year 2024) is to address long-term skills needs within the semiconductor design sector and support the industry’s growth by providing critical design services to SMEs and scale-up companies across the UK...

POET Technologies Inc of Toronto, Ontario, Canada — designer and developer of the POET Optical Interposer, photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and light sources for the hyperscale data-center, telecom and artificial intelligence (AI) markets — has fulfilled orders from three global customers for samples of its advanced optical transmit engines...

Silicon Austria Labs (SAL) and Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) have opened their new joint Power Electronics Research Laboratory (PERL), led by Roberto Petrella, staff scientist in Power Electronics at SAL and professor at the University of Udine in Italy, and Michael Hartmann, professor and head of the Electric Drives and Power Electronic Systems Institute (EALS) at TU Graz. Researchers from both SAL and TU Graz will work together, including four dedicated PhD students...

Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA — which makes enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits for power management applications — says that the United States Patent Office (USPTO) has strengthened its US Patent No.8,350,294 by adding two new patent claims that are fundamental to commercial enhancement-mode GaN devices. However, the USPTO has also cancelled two claims that were the basis for the decision by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) that China-based Innoscience (Suzhou) Technology Holding Co Ltd infringed the patent. EPC will appeal the cancellation of these two claims...

Canadian mineral exploration company Quantum Critical Metals Corp has announced the staking of its Prophecy Germanium-Gallium-Zinc Project, a new, highly prospective critical metals property in northern British Columbia. Additionally, the firm has staked a second zinc-focused property in southern British Columbia, further expanding its strategic critical metals portfolio...

To simplify data-center design, at the Applied Power Electronics Conference (APEC 2025) in Atlanta, GA, USA (16–20 March) Dallas-based Texas Instruments Inc (TI) has introduced a new family of integrated GaN power stages in industry-standard transistor outline leadless (TOLL) packaging, , allowing designers to take advantage of the efficiency of TI’s GaN without costly and time-consuming redesigns...

In its report ‘Automotive MicroLED Comparison 2025’ focusing on the new micro-LED-based technology emerging in the automotive sector, market research and strategy consulting company Yole Group notes that two leading LED companies ams OSRAM and Nichia have developed dedicated micro-LED solutions, enabling more than a 100-fold increase in resolution compared to existing matrix LED systems based on discrete LEDs...

Tiger Group and GESemi are now accepting offers for equipment used to produce high-efficiency gallium arsenide (GaAs)-based thin-film photovoltaic (PV) cells. The fully decommissioned, ready-to-ship manufacturing assets from Ubiquity Solar of Endicott, NY, USA — including nearly 600 crates stored in South Central New York —features brands such as Aixtron Group, Attolight, GigaMat, SCHMID, Hercules and KLA Corp (KLA-Tencor)...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA — which was founded in 2015 and develops and manufactures high-power industrial blue lasers — has announced a significant strategic investment in Supply@ME Capital Plc (SYME), a fintech platform focused on Inventory Monetisation solutions for manufacturing and trading companies. The strategic relationship aligns with NUBURU’s transformation plan as it seeks to build on its existing technology, while diversifying its assets in alignment with its announced growth strategy...

ROHM Co Ltd of Kyoto, Japan has announced its commitment to addressing social challenges through electronics by focusing on the development of power semiconductors, which play a critical role in improving efficiency in high-power applications. Under the ‘Power Eco Family’ brand, ROHM offers comprehensive power semiconductor technologies and solutions that contribute to building a sustainable ecosystem...

Discrete device designer and manufacturer Nexperia of Nijmegen, the Netherlands (which operates wafer fabs in Hamburg, Germany, and Hazel Grove Manchester, UK) has introduced a range of highly efficient and robust industrial-grade 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs with what is claimed to be industry-leading temperature stability in innovative X.PAK surface-mount (SMD) top-side-cooled packaging technology. With its compact form factor of 14mm x 18.5mm, the package combines the assembly benefits of SMD with the cooling efficiency of through-hole technology, ensuring optimal heat dissipation...

Mining exploration company Nimy Resources Ltd of Perth, Western Australia has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Perth-based Curtin University to collaborate on advancing gallium-related research, development and production. The strategic partnership aligns with Nimy’s aim to become a key supplier in the rapidly expanding global gallium market...

Lumentum Holdings Inc of San Jose, CA, USA (which designs and makes optical and photonic products for optical networks and lasers for industrial and consumer markets) has been selected as a key contributor in NVIDIA’s silicon photonics ecosystem. Lumentum’s high-power, high-efficiency lasers have a crucial role in the development and deployment of new NVIDIA Spectrum-X Photonics networking switches...

Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA says that its portfolio of 3.2kW, 4.5kW and 8.5kW AI data-center power supply unit (PSU) designs exceed the new 80 PLUS ‘Ruby’ certification, focused on the highest level of efficiency for redundant server data-center PSUs...

Discrete device designer and manufacturer Nexperia of Nijmegen, the Netherlands (which operates wafer fabs in Hamburg, Germany, and Hazel Grove Manchester, UK) has added to its expanding e-mode GaN FET portfolio with 12 new devices intended to address the growing demand for higher efficiency and more compact systems...

On 25 March, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp will begin shipping samples of a new 16W-average-power gallium nitride (GaN) power amplifier module (PAM) for 5G massive MIMO (mMIMO) base stations. Operating in the 3.6–4.0GHz band, it can be widely deployed in North America and East and Southeast Asia. As 5G networks expand from urban centers to regional areas, mMIMO base stations, especially 32T32R mMIMO base stations (consisting of 32 transmitters and receivers), are expected to be increasingly deployed. Mitsubishi Electric says that its 16W GaN PAM is particularly suited to 32T32R mMIMO base stations because it reduces both production costs and power consumption...

Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA — which makes enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits for power management applications — has introduced the EPC2367, a next-generation 100V eGaN FET that delivers high performance and efficiency as well as lower system costs for power conversion applications...

Intelligent power and sensing technology firm onsemi of Scottsdale, AZ, USA has introduced the first generation of its 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET)-based SPM 31 intelligent power modules (IPMs). EliteSiC SPM 31 IPMs deliver the highest energy efficiency and power density in the smallest form factor compared with using Field Stop 7 IGBT technology, it is claimed, resulting in lower total system cost than any other leading solution on the market...

BluGlass Ltd of Silverwater, Australia has established an Industry Advisory Board led by professor Steven DenBaars and Dr Richard Craig to accelerate its technical roadmap and commercial advancement of its gallium nitride (GaN) laser portfolio for the global quantum, defence and biotech markets...