Semiconductor today

Altum RF of Eindhoven, The Netherlands (which designs RF, microwave and millimeter-wave semiconductors) has announced a two-year contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) under the ARTES (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems) Core Competitiveness (CC) Programme, for the design and development of high-efficiency monolithic microwave integrated circuit (MMIC) power amplifiers, which will be tailored for phased-array Ka-band satellite communication systems in space applications. The Netherlands Space Office (NSO) was instrumental in facilitating the contract...

Silicon carbide (SiC) once thrived amid substrate shortages. However, according to DIGITIMES Asia, 2024 saw a significant shift where Chinese manufacturers dramatically ramped up production, resulting in a collapse of prices for mainstream 6-inch substrates and a steep decline in 8-inch prices...

Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA is previewing several breakthroughs in booth 129 (Hall C3) at electronica 2024 at Trade Fair Center Messe München, Munich, Germany (12-15 November)...

Pfeiffer Vacuum of Aßlar, Germany, a member of the Busch Group headquartered in Maulburg, Baden-Württemberg (in the tri-country region of Germany, France and Switzerland), has introduced its new name and refreshed logo, marking its evolution into Pfeiffer Vacuum+Fab Solutions. The rebranding reflects the portfolio of Pfeiffer as a one-stop supplier for both vacuum solutions and semiconductor fab solutions...

Epiwafer and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK has appointed Mark Cubitt to its board as an independent non-executive director and (in first-half 2025, following a period of transition with current chair Phil Smith) as chair-elect...

III–V Epi Ltd of Glasgow, Scotland, UK — which provides a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) service for custom compound semiconductor wafer design, manufacturing, test and characterization — notes that its director of epitaxy Dr Neil Gerrard is among the expert contributors to the white paper ‘Epitaxially regrown quantum dot photonic crystal surface emitting lasers’...

Led by Dr Andreas Fiedler at Germany’s Leibniz-Institut für Kristallzüchtung im Forschungsverbund Berlin e.V. (IKZ), the ‘All-GO-HEMT’ project aims to develop modulation-doped β-(AlxGa1-x)2O3/Ga2O3 heterostructures that exhibit high electron mobility. With total project funding of almost €2m, financed by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), this project is expected to lead to a considerable increase in efficiency in power electronics and thus make a significant contribution to sustainable energy generation...

ams OSRAM GmbH of Premstätten, Austria and Munich, Germany has unveiled its new OSLON UV 3535. Serving the growing demand for mercury-free and efficient UV-C disinfection and treatment solutions, the UV-C LED offers 115mW output power from a single chip at 265nm, which is the emission wavelength providing the highest germicidal effectiveness. Combined with what is claimed to be outstanding wall-plug efficiency (WPE) of 5.3%, the optimized system solution has been specifically designed for the UV-C disinfection market...

Germany-based ZF Friedrichshafen AG (one of the world’s largest suppliers to the automotive industry) intends to withdraw from the projected $3bn silicon carbide (SiC) device fabrication plant and R&D center in Ensdorf, Saarland, Germany that Wolfspeed Inc of Durham, NC, USA plans to build (as announced in February 2023), reports Reuters. ZF had been set to contribute $185m for a stake in the plant, which was to make SiC devices for electric vehicles (EVs)...

Dallas-based Texas Instruments Inc (TI) has begun production of gallium nitride (GaN)-based power semiconductors at its factory in Aizu, Japan. Coupled with its existing GaN manufacturing in Dallas, Texas, TI will internally manufacture four times more GaN-based power semiconductors as Aizu ramps to production...

Market research firm TrendForce notes that, according to a report by China’s CCTV Finance, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics has begun restructuring its business, as the semiconductor division has decided to withdraw from the mainstream LED market, due mainly to the firm’s overall performance falling short of expectations...

Toray Industries Inc of Tokyo, Japan has developed materials and technologies for mounting indium phosphide (InP) and other optical semiconductors used in silicon photonics on silicon substrates...

Many industrial applications are transitioning to higher power levels with minimized power losses, which can be achieved through increased DC link voltage. Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany has hence addressed this challenge by introducing the CoolSiC Schottky diode 2000V G5, which is claimed to be the first discrete silicon carbide diode on the market with a breakdown voltage of 2000V. The product family is suitable for applications with DC link voltages up to 1500VDC and offers current ratings from 10A to 80A, making it suitable for higher DC link voltage applications such as in solar and electric vehicle (EV) charging applications...

Celestial AI of Santa Clara, CA, USA, the creator of the Photonic Fabric, has acquired silicon photonics intellectual property from Rockley Photonics Ltd (including worldwide issued and pending patents)...

BluGlass Ltd of Silverwater, Australia — which develops and manufactures gallium nitride (GaN) blue laser diodes based on its proprietary low-temperature, low-hydrogen remote-plasma chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) technology — has secured an AUS$1.2m order for the first phase (lasting about 12-months) of a three-phase joint development agreement (JDA) with Uviquity of Raleigh, NC, USA, a venture-backed start-up pioneering wide-bandgap integrated photonics...

ams OSRAM GmbH of Premstätten, Austria and Munich, Germany has introduced its new IR:6 infrared (IR) LED chip technology, which increases brightness by up to 35% and efficiency by up to 42% compared with the existing chip technology used in ams OSRAM IR LED emitters...

Comptek Solutions Oy of Turku, Finland (which specializes in III-V compound semiconductor quantum surface engineering) has completed the installation of its pilot line, after a two-year project funded by the European Innovation Council (EIC)...

Themed ‘Innovation and Collaboration: Powering Sustainable Exponential Growth’, SEMICON Europa 2024 is gathering industry experts at Messe München in Munich, Germany (12–15 November) for insights into the latest innovations and trends in sustainability, mobility, healthcare, materials, packaging, fab management and workforce. Co-located with electronica, it features keynotes from the electronics design and manufacturing ecosystem, academia and governments...

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system maker Riber S.A. of Bezons, France says that it has sold an MBE 49 GaN production system (for delivery in 2025) to a European customer that aims to enhance its capacity for producing gallium nitride (GaN) components for next-generation high-brightness and low-energy displays. The MBE 49 GaN system is specifically configured for plasma-assisted GaN epitaxy on 200mm silicon wafers, offering a cutting-edge solution for manufacturing aluminium gallium nitride (AlGaN) and indium gallium nitride (InGaN) devices...

At the IEEE Energy Conversion Congress & Expo (ECCE 2024) in Phoenix, Arizona (20–24 October), gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA is introducing IntelliWeave, a patented new digital control technique for improving next-generation AI data-center power supply unit (PSU) efficiency...