Semiconductor today

Netherlands-based independent deep-tech venture capital fund PhotonVentures has received investment from national financing and development institution Invest-NL and a group of new private investors, with Invest-NL contributing €5m. This not only strengthens the fund’s capital base but also underscores the importance of the photonics industry for the Netherlands, as well as its competitive position in Europe and globally, says PhotonVentures. Integrated photonics is one of the key technologies in which Europe, and particularly the Netherlands, plays a significant role. To maintain this position, substantial investments from both the private and public sectors are essential, it adds...

TriEye Ltd of Tel Aviv, Israel — which claims to have pioneered the first CMOS-based shortwave infrared (SWIR) image-sensing solutions — and HLJ Technology of Hsinchu, Taiwan — which was founded in 2001 and provides vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and photodiode solutions for consumer electronics, optical connectivity, and automotive markets — have announced the joint demonstration of a VCSEL-powered SWIR sensing and imaging solution...

Industrial gas company Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corp (TNSC) of Tokyo, Japan (part of Nippon Sanso Holdings Group) says that The Ohio State University is to purchase and use a TNSC SR4000HT-RR-LV metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor for its nitride R&D and a halide vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE) reactor for gallium oxide applications...

Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany has partnered with Canada-based AWL-Electricity Inc to provides it with CoolGaN GS61008P, allowing the development of advanced wireless power solutions for various industries...

As part of its ‘Building a Green Future’ strategic theme (which aims to accelerate the green economy by supporting research and innovation that unlocks solutions essential to achieving net zero in the UK by 2050), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is granting £25m under its ‘Accelerating the Green Economy’ program to five new green industry centers across the UK...

Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA says that its high-power GaNSafe family is now available in a TOLT (Transistor Outline Leaded Top-side cooling) package...

Photonic chips industry accelerator PhotonDelta of Eindhoven, the Netherlands (which connects and collaborates with an ecosystem of photonic chip technology organizations worldwide) is launching a global engineering contest in collaboration with engineering community and knowledge platform Wevolver to stimulate the creation of new applications for photonic chips that tackle global challenges...

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Independent power electronics company Quantum Power Transformation (QPT) Ltd of Cambridge, UK — which was founded in 2019 and develops gallium nitride (GaN)-based electric motor controls — has won a grant for the project VERDE to develop a high-frequency 400V/60kW GaN inverter demonstrator for automotive use that will help to demonstrate that GaN is now superior to silicon carbide (SiC) or silicon...

Keysight Technologies Inc of Santa Rosa, CA, USA has expanded its semiconductor test portfolio by introducing the 4881HV high-voltage wafer test system, which is said to improve the productivity of power semiconductor manufacturers by enabling parametric tests up to 3kV supporting high- and low-voltage in one-pass test...

In a strategic move to consolidate its position in infrared sensors, Lynred of Grenoble, France, which designs and manufactures infrared (IR) sensors for aerospace, defense and commercial applications, has acquired Paris-based New Imaging Technologies, which designs and manufactures shortwave-infrared (SWIR) imaging sensors and modules based on indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) focal plane arrays. Lynred’s product portfolio will expand to include high-definition large-array SWIR sensors in small pixel pitch, bolstering its product range across all wavelength bands (short to very longwave). The transaction is expected to close in fourth-quarter 2024 and is subject to customary conditions...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA — which was founded in 2015 and develops and manufactures high-power industrial blue lasers — has announced a funding program of about $65m, comprising $15m of direct private investment in public equity (PIPE) and $50m equity line of credit, enabling it to accelerate commercialization with predictable access to capital...

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded a three-year, $2m Future of Semiconductors (FuSe2) grant to researchers at Penn State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) to develop wireless communications and sensing platforms through advanced chips and packaging...

Backed by funding from Innovate UK (which provides funding and support for business innovation as part of UK Research and Innovation) under the ‘Scalable Quantum Network Technologies: Collaborative R&D’ program, the £1.5m MARCONI project on quantum key distribution (QKD) is developing and demonstrating high-fidelity modular and scalable receiver modules...

HyperLight Corp of Cambridge, MA, USA — which designs and manufactures photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on its proprietary production-grade thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) platform — has raised $37m in a Series B funding round led by Summit Partners and including existing investors Xora Innovation (a deep tech venture fund backed by Temasek) and Foothill Ventures. Summit Partners’ managing director & CEO Peter Chung joins HyperLight’s board of directors...

For display applications, Polar Light Technologies (PLT) — which stems from research by founder professor Per-Olof Holtz and his team at Sweden’s Linköping University — has created novel gallium nitride (GaN) pyramidal micro-LEDs that are directly bonded to indium pads on a silicon chip. This new method, where LEDs are built from the bottom up, avoids the surface damage seen in traditional top-down methods, resulting in much better optical performance...

HexaTech Inc of Morrisville, NC, USA (a subsidiary of Stanley Electric Co Ltd of Tokyo, Japan) has signed a multi-year contract with the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) as part of its recently announced Ultra-Wide Bandgap Semiconductors (UWBGS) program, which aims to develop foundational, high-quality materials necessary for realizing practical UWBG electronics and enabling UWBG applications...

US-based Raytheon (a business of aerospace & defense company RTX) has been awarded a three-year, two-phase contract from the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop foundational ultra-wide-bandgap semiconductors (UWBGS), based on diamond and aluminium nitride (AlN) technology, which allow increased power delivery and thermal management in sensors and other electronic applications...

To transform US military ground combat vehicles, the US National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) has been selected to redesign a critical component: the traction inverter, which controls the flow of electricity between a vehicle’s battery, motor and drivetrain. The new silicon carbide (SiC)-based propulsion system will double the range of Army vehicles with a footprint four times smaller than its predecessors...

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 signed an agreement with Macquarie University (project lead) and defence company Aurizn to develop and test a new laser-based method to measure subsurface water temperature and depth. BluGlass will provide visible GaN lasers, partially funded by an Australia's Economic Accelerator (AEA) seed grant to support the commercialization of visible lasers in maritime applications...