Semiconductor today

Specialty semiconductor and performance materials producer 5N Plus Inc (5N+) of Montréal, Québec, Canada has announced plans by its subsidiary AZUR SPACE Solar Power GmbH of Heilbronn, Germany, to expand solar cell production capacity by an additional 25% in 2026. The new capacity, expected to gradually come online starting in second-half 2026, will add to capacity increases of 30% in 2025 and 35% in 2024...

For its fiscal third-quarter 2026 (ended 27 December 2025), Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) has reported revenue of $993m, down 6.2% on $1058.5m last quarter but up 8.4% on $916.3m a year ago, and above the mid-point of the guidance range of $985m±$50m...

In the project ALP-4-SiC (Atomic Layer Processing for SiC for Applications in Photonics and Quantum Communication) — which is part of the ‘Scientific Preliminary Projects (WiVoPro, Quantum Technologies in Germany)’ program of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology, and Space (BMFTR) — the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light (MPL) and the Fraunhofer IISB (Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology), both in Erlangen, Germany, are jointly developing basic technologies for the production of highly efficient photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and miniaturized solid-state quantum systems based on silicon carbide (SiC)...

Wolfspeed Inc of Durham, NC, USA — which makes silicon carbide (SiC) materials and power semiconductor devices — says that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has formally cleared its issuance of equity to Renesas Electronics America Inc, completing a key component of Wolfspeed’s restructuring agreement with its lender group in support of its Chapter 11 process...

Specialty semiconductor and performance materials producer 5N Plus Inc (5N+) of Montréal, Québec, Canada has been awarded a US$18.1m grant by the US Government to expand capabilities and increase capacity to recycle and refine germanium at its St. George, Utah facility, to feed optics and solar germanium crystal supply chains...

Wolfspeed Inc of Durham, NC, USA — which makes silicon carbide (SiC) materials and power semiconductor devices — has introduced its new TOLT package portfolio, which enables maximum power density in a power supply for data-center rack applications...

Tokyo-based NEC Corp has developed a high-efficiency, compact power amplifier module (PAM) for the sub-6GHz band, designed for integration into 5G base-station radio units (RUs)...

Discrete semiconductor and passive electronic component maker Vishay Intertechnology Inc of Malvern, PA, USA has introduced five new 1200V MOSFET power modules designed to increase power efficiency for medium- to high-frequency applications in automotive, energy, industrial and telecom systems...

Specialty IC foundry service provider Vanguard International Semiconductor Corp (VIS) of Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan has signed a technology licensing agreement with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Ltd (TSMC) for high-voltage (650V) and low-voltage (80V) gallium nitride (GaN) technologies. This will help VIS to accelerate the development and expansion of next‑generation GaN power technologies for applications such as data centers, automotive electronics, industrial control, and energy management, which are key areas that demand high‑efficiency power conversion...

Epitaxial deposition and process equipment maker Veeco Instruments Inc of Plainview, NY, USA and nanoelectronics research center imec of Leuven, Belgium have collaboratively developed a 300mm high-volume manufacturing compatible process that enables the integration of barium titanate (BaTiO3 or BTO) on a silicon photonics platform...

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA – which designs and makes lightweight, flexible copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels that can be integrated into consumer products, off-grid applications and aerospace applications – has closed its private placement for the purchase and sale of 1,818,182 shares of common stock (or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof), series A warrants to purchase up to 1,818,182 shares and short-term series B warrants to purchase up to 909,091 shares at a purchase price of $5.50 per share (or per pre-funded warrant in lieu thereof) and accompanying warrants priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules...

Semiconductor materials and technology licensing company Atomera Inc of Los Gatos, CA, USA says that its concept paper on gallium nitride on silicon (GaN-on-Si) technologies has been accepted to move to the proposal stage as part of a PowerAmerica Institute Initiated Proposal (IIP) to advance wide-bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor technology...

La Luce Cristallina of Austin, TX, USA – which manufactures silicon-integrated high-performance materials for silicon photonics, focused on barium titanate (BaTiO3) materials – has launched its new CMOS-compatible oxide pseudo-substrate, enabling high-quality, epitaxial strontium titanate (SrTiO3) films to be grown directly on 200mm silicon and silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafers. This platform bridges the gap between academic oxide research and commercial manufacturing, facilitating the development of advanced oxide devices using standard semiconductor tools. The solution supports superconducting RF electronics, ultra-low-loss RF components, single-photon detectors, quantum sensing, advanced computing architectures and other emerging applications aligned with silicon photonics and heterogeneous integration...

A new white paper published by the UK’s Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult sets out how the the country could take a leading role in the next major shift in power electronics, as demand surges for smaller, faster and more energy-efficient high-voltage systems...

Nuvoton Technology Corp Japan of Kyoto, Japan has begun mass production of its KLC330FL01WW high-power ultraviolet semiconductor laser (379nm, 1.0W), which delivers what is claimed to be industry-leading optical output in a 9.0mm-diameter CAN package (TO-9)...

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA – which designs and makes lightweight, flexible copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels that can be integrated into consumer products, off-grid applications and aerospace applications – has entered into definitive agreements for the purchase and sale of 1,818,182 shares of common stock (or pre-funded warrants in lieu thereof), series A warrants to purchase up to 1,818,182 shares of common stock and short-term series B warrants to purchase up to 909,091 shares of common stock at a purchase price of $5.50 per share of common stock (or per pre-funded warrant in lieu thereof) and accompanying warrants in a private placement priced at-the-market under Nasdaq rules...

University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in the USA has reported the experimental demonstration of a record room-temperature 2DEG sheet density exceeding 1x1014cm2 in a single-channel AlN/GaN heterostructure grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy (PAMBE), using a 9nm-thick AlN barrier...

Europe has a leading position in photonic chip technology, it is reckoned. But, without targeted investment and action, the European Union (EU) risks losing its advantage as the global competition intensifies with large investments elsewhere...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA — which was founded in 2015 and developed and previously manufactured high-power industrial blue lasers — has secured operating control of Italy-based Orbit S.r.l., a revenue-generating Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company focused on digitalizing operational resilience, risk intelligence, and mission-critical decision support via its Orbit Open Platform. NUBURU says that the transaction strengthens its security offering capabilities and advances its multi-vertical growth strategy through the addition of a scalable, software-driven operating business...

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA – which designs and makes lightweight, flexible copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels that can be integrated into consumer products, off-grid applications and aerospace applications – has commented on the commercial progress, industry partnerships and solar PV efficiency improvements it achieved in 2025, as the leadership team looks ahead to continued corporate growth in 2026...