Semiconductor today

Governor Greg Abbott says that the first Texas Semiconductor Innovation Fund (TSIF) grant of $4,120,000 has been extended to Intelligent Epitaxy Technology Inc (IntelliEPI) of Richardson, TX, USA — which manufactures molecular beam epitaxy (MBE)-grown epitaxial wafers for telecoms, photonics, radio frequency and microwave technologies — for its new 30,000ft2 wafer production facility in Allen, Texas, which is expected to create more than $41m in capital investment and to nearly triple the company’s annual wafer production. Abbott signed into law the Texas CHIPS Act in June 2023, establishing the TSIF as well as the Texas Semiconductor Innovation Consortium...

Fabless company Wise-integration of Hyeres, France — which was spun off from CEA-Leti in 2020 and designs and develops digital-control of gallium nitride (GaN) and GaN integrated circuits for power conversion — has opened its North American Design & Development Center in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Led by Christian Cojocaru and staffed by experts in analog and digital technology design, the center will drive development of the firm’s design portfolio for the next generations of WiseGan...

A strategic collaboration has been announced to use micro-transfer printing (MTP) for the heterogeneous integration of the silicon photonics platform of analog/mixed-signal and specialty foundry X-FAB Silicon Foundries SE of Tessenderlo, Belgium with the indium phosphide (InP) chiplets of independent pure-play InP photonic integrated circuit (PIC) foundry SMART Photonics of Eindhoven, The Netherlands, enabling new capabilities for datacom and telecom applications...

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corp has developed new 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs with an innovative structure that delivers both low on-resistance (RDS(ON)) and high reliability. The devices are particularly suited to automotive applications such as traction inverters. They are now available and shipping as early test samples in bare die format, allowing users to customize the bare die to meet their specific design needs and realize solutions for their applications...

Akash Systems of Oakland, CA, USA has signed a non-binding preliminary memorandum of terms with the US Department of Commerce under the CHIPS and Science Act to receive over $68m in direct funding. This includes $18.2m in proposed direct funding and $50m in combined federal and California state tax credits. This proposed funding would provide Akash, a pioneer of diamond cooling semiconductor technologies, significant support for its operational ramp-up in AI, data centers, space and defense markets...

Fabless firm Cambridge GaN Devices Ltd (CGD) — which was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 to design, develop and commercialize power transistors and ICs that use GaN-on-silicon substrates — and IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN) — a French public research and training organization in the fields of energy, transport and the environment — have developed a demo that confirms the suitability of CGD’s ICeGaN650V GaN ICs in a multi-level, 800VDC inverter...

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 entered into a US$1.925m (AUS$2.9m) contract with North Carolina State University (NCSU) for visible laser development activity as part of the Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (CLAWS) Hub...

Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA and Richardson Electronics Ltd of LaFox, IL, USA have announced an expanded distribution partnership for silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors for Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA)...

Following the announcement in February of a conditional commitment, as part of the Biden–Harris Administration’s Investing in America agenda the US Department of Energy (DOE) has now confirmed a $544m loan ($481.5m of principal and $62.5m of capitalized interest) to compound semiconductor wafer maker SK Siltron CSS LLC of Auburn, MI, USA (a subsidiary of South Korea-based wafer manufacturer SK Siltron, a part of South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK Group) to expand American manufacturing of high-quality silicon carbide (SiC) wafers for electric vehicle (EV) power electronics...

Singapore-based wet etch and clean solutions provider NexGen Wafer Systems has launched SERENO its latest multi-chamber platform (available now for orders, with first deliveries starting in first-quarter 2025)...

Solid State Physics Laboratory, a research arm of the Indian Ministry of Defence’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed indigenous processes for growing and manufacturing 4-inch-diameter silicon carbide (SiC) wafers, as well as fabricating gallium nitride (GaN) high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) up to 150W and monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs) up to 40W for applications operating at up to X-band frequencies...

Sivers Semiconductors AB of Kista, Sweden (which supplies RF beam-former ICs for SATCOMs and photonic lasers for AI data centers) says that its board of directors has decided to put on hold its discussions with byNordic Acquisition Corp (BYNO) — a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) — regarding the proposed business combination with its subsidiary Sivers Photonics Ltd of Glasgow, Scotland, UK and release BYNO to seek other merger candidates...

NS Nanotech Inc of Ann Arbor, MI, USA — a University of Michigan Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) spin-off co-founded by professor Zetian Mi in 2017 that develops gallium nitride nanowire LEDs for visible displays and UVC disinfection applications — has appointed John Bayne to its board of directors...

Cree LED Inc of Durham, NC, USA (a Penguin Solutions brand) has launched its new CV28D LEDs with FusionBeam Technology, providing an advance for the LED signage market. The CV28D LED combines the latest through-hole and surface-mount (SMD) RGB LED technology, delivering what is claimed to be superior directionality, image quality and resolution in a durable, easy-to-assemble package...

On 14 November, Tokyo-based Mitsubishi Electric Corp is commencing shipment of samples of a silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor (MOSFET) bare die for use in drive-motor inverters of electric vehicles (EVs), plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) and other electric vehicles (xEVs)...

ROHM Semiconductor has launched surface-mount SiC Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) that improve insulation resistance by increasing the creepage distance between terminals. The initial lineup includes eight models (SCS2xxxNHR) for automotive applications such as on-board chargers (OBCs) and DC-DC converters (available now), with plans to deploy eight additional models (SCS2xxxN) for industrial equipment such as factory automation (FA) devices (e.g. AC servo motors for industrial robots) and photovoltaic (PV) inverters, power conditioners, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) etc (scheduled to be available) in December...

Silicon carbide wafer manufacturing technology firm TekSiC AB of Linköping, Sweden has appointed Joachim Tollstoy as chief executive officer, effective 7 October. With over 15 years of leadership experience, Tollstoy has an understanding of market dynamics that TekSiC reckons will be essential as it navigates the evolving landscape of silicon carbide manufacturing...

Fabless firm Cambridge GaN Devices Ltd (CGD) — which was spun out of the University of Cambridge in 2016 to design, develop and commercialize power transistors and ICs that use GaN-on-silicon substrates — and Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) have partnered to bring together motor control and power efficiency technologies in the PAC5556A + ICeGaN evaluation kit (EVK). The collaboration combines Qorvo’s BLDC/PMSM motor controller/driver and CGD’s ICeGaN ICs in a board that is said to significantly improve motor control applications...

For its fiscal second-quarter 2025 (ended 28 September 2024), Qorvo Inc of Greensboro, NC, USA (which provides core technologies and RF solutions for mobile, infrastructure and defense applications) has reported revenue of $1046.5m. This is down 5.2% on $1103.5m a year ago due mainly to a hiatus in Android smartphone revenues, following ramps in first-half calendar 2024 for key models including both Samsung’s S24 (involving over $5 of content) and Google’s Pixel ($15 of content). However, revenue has rebounded by 18% from $886.7m last quarter. It also exceeds the $1025m guidance, driven by double-digit sequential growth in all three operating segments...

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 US International Trade Commission (ITC) has affirmed its initial determination that gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) power solutions firm Innoscience of Suzhou, China infringed EPC’s foundational patent for GaN technology, which is core to applications involving artificial intelligence, satellites, rapid chargers, humanoid robots and autonomous driving, among others...