Semiconductor today

Wide-bandgap power semiconductor materials, component and foundry services provider Sanan Semiconductor Co Ltd of Hunan, China has announced Luminus Devices Inc of Sunnyvale, CA, USA — which designs and makes LEDs and solid-state technology (SST) light sources for illumination markets — as its exclusive sales channel in the Americas. Both companies are subsidiaries of China’s Sanan Optoelectronics, the world’s largest LED chip maker...

Deposition equipment maker Aixtron SE of Herzogenrath, Germany has received a supplier award from onsemi of Scottsdale, AZ, USA. With its new G10-SiC chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and customer service on-site, Aixtron is supporting the production ramp-up of onsemi’s facility in Bucheon, South Korea, which was achieved in record time. With a production capacity of more than 1 million 200mm SiC wafers per year, the facility is one of the world’s largest silicon carbide (SiC) fabs. At the inaugural event of the new S5 production line, Aixtron was among the suppliers receiving this award...

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 three evaluation boards (EPC9179, EPC9181 and EPC9180) featuring pulse current laser drivers of 75A, 125A and 231A, showcasing the firm’s AEC-Q101-qualified GaN FETs. These FETs (EPC2252, EPC2204A and EPC2218A) are 30% smaller and more cost-effective than their predecessors. Designed for both long- and short-range automotive light detection & ranging (LiDAR) systems, these boards expedite solution evaluation with varied input and output options...

Intelligent power and sensing technology firm onsemi of Scottsdale, AZ, USA has announced the availability of nine new EliteSiC power integrated modules (PIMs) enabling bidirectional charging capabilities for DC ultra-fast electric vehicle (EV) chargers and energy storage systems (ESS)...

Epiwafer and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK says that its North Carolina site has been qualified by US-based Raytheon, a business of aerospace & defense company RTX, for the manufacture of epitaxial wafers for use in advanced infrared sensing and imaging...

Riber S.A. of Bezons, France – which makes molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) systems as well as evaporation sources – says that, at the end of December, Innolume GmbH of Dortmund, Germany ordered a new MBE 49 production system (for delivery in 2024) to boost its production capacity for gallium arsenide (GaAs)-based quantum dot (QD) lasers and to support the expansion of its markets, in particular the cloud networking market...

A research team led by associate professor Jianbo Liang and professor Naoteru Shigekawa of the Graduate School of Engineering at Japan’s Osaka Metropolitan University has fabricated gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) using diamond as a substrate (‘High Thermal Stability and Low Thermal Resistance of Large Area GaN/3C-SiC/Diamond Junctions for Practical Device Processes’, published in ‘Small’ DOI: 10.1002/smll.202305574). ..

Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA is participating in the Consumer Electronics Show (CES 2024) in Las Vegas (9-12 January), with meetings at Tech West/Venetian, #29-335...

Kopin Corp of Westborough, MA, USA (a provider of application-specific optical systems and micro-displays for defense, enterprise, consumer and medical products) and MICLEDI Microdisplays B.V. of Leuven, Belgium — a fabless developer of micro-LED display modules for augmented reality (AR) glasses that was spun off from nanoelectronics research center IMEC in 2019 — have announced a strategic agreement to work together to design, develop and manufacture micro-LED displays to provide a more immersive and information-rich AR experience for use in high-brightness light conditions...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA — which was founded in 2015 and develops and manufactures high-power industrial blue lasers — says that on 28 December it received a deficiency letter from the NYSE American LLC small-cap equity market indicating that it is not in compliance with the continued listing standards as set forth in Section 1003(f)(v) of the NYSE American Company Guide. Specifically, the notice informed NUBURU that NYSE American has determined that the shares of its common stock have been selling for a low price per share for a substantial period of time and, pursuant to Section 1003(f)(v) of the Company Guide, the firm’s continued listing is predicated on it demonstrating sustained price improvement by no later than 28 June...

Analog/digital (mixed-signal) integrated circuit, sensor, micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) and specialty semiconductor foundry X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE of Tessenderlo, Belgium plans to acquire M-MOS Semiconductor Hong Kong Ltd from Xtrion NV for €22.5m...

Ferdinand-Braun-Institut, Leibniz-Institut für Höchstfrequenztechnik (FBH) of Berlin, Germany has appointed professor Patrick Scheele as scientific managing director, a management role that is linked to the W3 professorship of Microwave and Optoelectronics at Technische Universität Berlin. Together with administrative managing director Dr Karin-Irene Eiermann, Scheele will form the joint executive management of FBH gGmbH (a not-for-profit limited-liability company)...

Cadmium telluride (CdTe) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) module maker First Solar Inc of Tempe, AZ, USA has entered into a 15-year, captive power purchase agreement (PPA) with Singapore-headquartered Cleantech Solar, a provider of renewable energy solutions to corporations in India and Southeast Asia. Cleantech Solar will construct 150MW of solar and 16.8MW of wind-generating assets in Tamil Nadu, India, supplying about 7.3 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of electricity to First Solar’s new 3.3GW vertically integrated solar manufacturing facility, also located in Tamil Nadu...

In the week before Christmas, k-Space Associates Inc of Dexter, MI, USA — which was founded in 1992 and produces thin-film metrology instrumentation and software for research and manufacturing of microelectronic, optoelectronic and photovoltaic devices — hosted Congresswoman Debbie Dingell, who represents Michigan’s 6th Congressional District in the US House of Representatives (as well as being a member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and the Natural Resources Committee)...

Following shareholder approval, Key Foundry of Cheongju, South Korea — which provides specialty analog and mixed-signal foundry services on 8-inch wafers for consumer, communications, computing, automotive and industrial applications — has changed its corporate name to SK keyfoundry...