Compound Semiconductors

A University of Florida professor is hoping to position GaN devices as robust and inexpensive electrical monitors for diabetes, renal failure and prostate cancer. Electronic detection of so-called biomarker molecules could accelerate disease diagnosis, and GaN transistors are one of the cheapest options available to achieve this. That's what Fan Ren of the University of Florida reckons, and he’s recently made his case by detecting a biomarker that signals acute renal failure down to 1 ng/ml. At this level, the researchers say that their device could be useful for preclinical and clinical applications. In a November 26 Applied Physics Letters paper, Ren and his collaborators modified a GaN high-electron mobility transistor (HEMT) from Nitronex by attaching kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) antibodies to it. When KIM-1 is exposed to the transistor it then remains attached to the antibodies, affecting electron mobility and hence the current passing through the HEMT. KIM-1 is a molecule...

Weather radar is one of the few areas in which electron tubes still dominate solid-state electronics, but this is set to change thanks to a system from Toshiba. The world's first weather radar that uses a high-power semiconductor module, based on GaN, has been installed at Japan’s Nagoya University. Toshiba Corporation says that its GaN field effect transistors (FETs) allow it to manufacture systems without the electron tubes that have previously been used in weather radar transmitter modules. 21st century weather radar The initial 9 GHz radar has been made for Nagoya's Hydrospheric Atmospheric Research Center using Toshiba’s existing X-band GaN FET technology, and came into operation on November 28. The conglomerate will produce further individual X-band GaN radars to order and will also use its C-band FETs to make radars that operate in the 5 GHz range. A Toshiba spokesperson said that the development of semiconductor weather radar was made possible by its GaN products, becau...

High-efficiency triple-junction cells based on GaAs are again the key as Delft's Nuon Solar Team wins the Panasonic World Solar Challenge for the fourth year running. A team of students from Delft University in The Netherlands won last month's Panasonic World Solar Challenge using a car covered with GaAs-based solar cells. Nuon Solar's car, the Nuna4, completed the 3000 km race across Australia in 33 hours, beating its closest rival by 1 hour 36 minutes. The vehicle's top speed was 137 km/h and its average speed over the whole race was more than 90 km/h. Along with other solar cars, Nuna4 had to compete under extreme weather conditions as well as navigate between other traffic on the road from Darwin to Adelaide, including kangaroos and Australia's notorious road trains. "This race shows the public that not only can a car run on solar power, but also that it is fast," Tine Lavrysen, team spokesperson, told environmentalresearchweb . "Most people belie...

SAN JOSE, Calif. -New LED-backlit LCD displays of Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world's largest provider of thin-film transistor, liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD) panels, are now available in large premium-model, full-HD TVs at major U.S retailers for the holiday season. The new panels enable a huge jump in the dynamic contrast ratio from between 5,000:1 and 25,000:1, to 100,000:1 and even 500,000:1, for the clearest images on the market today. Available in 40-inch, 46-inch, 52-inch and 57-inch diagonal screen sizes, Samsung's new "local dimming," LED (light-emitting diode) technology provides a brightness level of 450nits, and reduces power consumption by as much as 30 percent. "Increasingly, consumers are craving the theatre movie experience at home and local dimming LED backlighting is a highly innovative and energy-efficient way to achieve theatre-like TV picture clarity," said Scott Birnbaum, vice president, Samsung LCD Business. Depending upon the...

HILLSBORO, OR (USA) - December 3, 2007 -TriQuint Semiconductor, Inc (Nasdaq: TQNT), the world's largest GaAs foundry supplier, today introduced TQBiHEMT, its latest foundry process for wireless/RF design engineers. This new manufacturing capability combines two of TriQuint's previous processes, offering designers one technology to integrate previously incompatible functional blocks onto a single die, reducing part count, saving board space and improving overall system costs. TQBiHEMT is well suited for highly integrated front end radio modules typically found in wireless applications with high data rates and frequencies. These types of applications require a semiconductor process which allows front end functional blocks to be optimized individually. TQBiHEMT enables the optimal integration of high power amplifiers in HBT on the same die as pHEMT low noise amplifiers and pHEMT switches, while remaining a cost effective design solution. "GaAs is a key technology for infrastr...

TECHNOLOGY Sony releases world's 1st organic EL TV Thursday, November 22, 2007 at 16:07 EST Sony's XEL-1 TOKYO — Sony Corp on Thursday released a 3mm-thick display television set, featuring organic electroluminescent (OEL) technology. The 11-inch XEL-1 is the world's first consumer OEL product. Sony accelerated the release schedule which was initially Dec 1 to take advantage of the year-end sales season. The price is 200,000 yen. OEL is a new technology for display systems, enabling thinner display, clearer resolution and less energy consumption. OEL technology is expected to replace the conventional display system in the future.

New LUXEON K2 with TFFC is the first of a new class of products that will deliver more light and higher efficacy, and lower the cost of light. San Jose, CA - Philips Lumileds today announced its new cool-white LUXEON K2 with TFFC LED. Chip and packaging advancements by the company enable extended capabilities that deliver maximum performance in any environment. LUXEON K2 with TFFC is the only LED designed, binned and tested for standard operation at 1000 mA and capable of being driven at 1500 mA. Thin Film Flip Chip (TFFC) technology contributes to overall light output improvement, excellent optical performance and improved thermal capability. New packaging advancements improve what is already the industry's most rugged and capable package and deliver the lowest thermal resistance, 5.5 degrees C/W, of any power LED; lower thermal resistance allows the LED to be driven at higher currents and lowers thermal management engineering efforts and costs. Light output perform...

ST Microelectronics is heading a French national project to develop GaN and SiC Schottky diodes based on 6-inch silicon substrates, and says these compound semiconductors are important for its future power devices. An 8-way French collaboration has won €15 million ($22 million) in government funding to capitalize on the energy-efficiency promise of wide-bandgap semiconductor devices. The project, called G 2 REC, is being run by STMicroelectronics and including contributions from its partners is valued at €30 million in total. “The program is starting now and it will last four years,” said Christian Nopper, R&D director of the ST division which will manage the project. “We think that in three years we will be able to sample and in four years we will be ready for ramp-up.” Both GaN and SiC will be embraced by the program, which seeks to make 600 V Schottky diodes on silicon wafers in order to reduce costs and drive acceptance. Consequently Picogiga is contributing it...

The "city of sin" saw leading chip makers go on the offensive with claims of class-leading devices, and GaN-substrate developers championing breakthroughs in large-diameter free-standing material. Richard Stevenson reports from the 7th International Conference on Nitride Semiconductors. Las Vegas oozes a party atmosphere and the beat wasn't lost on the delegates at ICNS. Great talks inspired a feel-good factor amongst the attendees and this positive outlook was only reinforced by registration figures that exceeded all expectations. MGM Grand Hotel Klaus Ploog, the legendary MBE crystal grower and former academic of the Paul Drude Institute, Germany, kicked off the meeting by extolling the versatility of nitrides, although he did temper this by pointing out that many applications demand more development. While GaN LEDs are obviously a great commercial success, Ploog reminded everybody that work is needed to improve the efficiency of green emitters, as is the case for ...

Talking 'bout a revolution Visiting London to pick up an award for innovation in energy and the environment from the Economist magazine, Philips Lumileds CTO George Craford told Michael Hatcher why he thinks that a Lumileds research team has identified the root cause of a key problem that has until now limited the development of high-current InGaN LEDs. Michael Hatcher (MH): Where are we right now in terms of the solid-state lighting revolution? George Craford (GC): Clearly, that is happening. In shelf, stairway and task lighting, LEDs are competing with smaller-wattage incandescent bulbs. But one of the issues is that if you're manufacturing incandescent bulbs, then it doesn't cost you any more to make a 100 W bulb than a 10 W bulb. It's still a filament and glass, and a screw-in base. But in the case of LEDs, speaking simplistically, it costs 10 times as much to make a bulb 10 times brighter – because you need 10 times the size of semiconductor chip. ...

Big Blue is teaming with leading RF companies on silicon CMOS for cellphone and WLAN front ends, and says that ambitious PA makers will determine when the technology will pose serious competition to GaAs. CMOS 7RF SOI, IBM’s silicon RF process technology, could allow production of a fully-integrated silicon power amplifier within 3-5 years. That's according to Ken Torino, the computing giant's director of foundry products, prophesizing the where the process will head after its scheduled qualification in April 2008. The PA will not be part of the initial ramp, but could be added in the future. Initially, Torino believes IBM will be applying the new process on behalf of top-tier RF companies seeking to integrate switching and power management in their front ends. “We're pretty much working with the ‘who's-who’ of the industry and it's in co-operation, not in opposition,” Torino explained. According to IBM's current schedule, volume production using th...

We will use SiC in hybrid vehicles, says Toyota The Japanese automobile giant is seeking the help of the wider compound semiconductor community to cut the cost of SiC and make low-emission vehicles more commercially viable. Toyota rates SiC as an important tool in its bid to provide sustainable motoring, and will use it in power electronics for hybrid vehicles by 2020. So says Kimimori Hamada, manager of the research department of the Japanese car maker's semiconductor engineering division, who is responsible for developing SiC technologies. Speaking at the International Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials in Otsu, Japan, on October 14, Hamada said Toyota could use the material commercially as early as 2010. The 10-year margin of error gives Hamada and the SiC industry in general time to meet Toyota's strict financial criteria. “Silicon carbide has little chance of being used unless it can be had at a cost that is the same as, or lower, than tha...

Kingbright told to destroy LED stocks Osram claims victory in a dispute with Taiwanese LED maker Kingbright, and signs a new patent deal with Toyoda Gosei. Following a court ruling, Germany-based LED maker Osram Opto Semiconductors says that Taiwanese rival Kingbright will have to destroy stocks of its white LEDs held in Germany. "The District Court of Düsseldorf has upheld almost all of the claims of Osram Opto Semiconductors," said the Regensburg firm. Unsurprisingly, Kingbright has appealed against the decision, in which the court ruled that Kingbright may no longer sell many of its LED products in Germany. Osram explained that, above all, the patents judged to have been infringed by Kingbright related to the production of white LEDs based on blue chips using a phosphor converter. The German firm is pursuing a similar lawsuit against Kingbright relating to LEDs made in China. In late 2005, the Taiwanese firm had agreed a deal with the US LED maker Cree, under which it lice...

Philips and Kavli Institute of Nanoscience succeed in integrating III-V semiconductors with silicon Eindhoven, the Netherlands - A team of scientists from Philips and the Kavli Institute of Nanoscience Delft has announced to be the world's first to successfully demonstrate the growth of III-V semiconductor nanowires on germanium and silicon substrates. In their article published in today's issue of Nature Materials, they present a detailed study of this important step towards the integration of the superior high frequency and optoelectronic properties of III-V semiconductors with the huge silicon technology base of the semiconductor industry. Up till now, III-V semiconductors could not be fabricated on silicon or other group IV...

Philips unveils future lifestyle concepts at IFA Berlin, Germany - At this year’s IFA trade show in Berlin, Philips is offering a sneak peek at what’s to come in electronic technologies. At the Future Zone (in the Philips stand), the company demonstrates its active approach to bringing simplicity to people’s lives. The Future Zone features two innovative, ongoing research projects: a technology for creating a personal TV channel in just a few clicks, and a platform for developing easy and fun-to-use tangible, user-interface solutions. Visitors can also check out the latest developments in professional 3D displays, including an impressive multi-screen 3D WOWzone – no special glasses needed! Personal TV Channels Finding your way through the ever-growing amount of TV c...

Freescale selling GaAs business to Skyworks The semiconductor giant has entered into an agreement to sell its RF power amplifier business to Skyworks, leaving a question mark hanging over the future of its "CS1" GaAs fab. Freescale Semiconductor has agreed to sell its GaAs power amplifier (PA) business to fellow RFIC manufacturer Skyworks Solutions. A spokesman for Freescale, which was acquired by a private equity consortium led by The Blackstone Group and The Carlyle Group in December 2006, confirmed that the deal had been struck, saying that it "represented good value for both companies". The agreement includes GaAs PA designs, intellectual property, inventory and product lines, although it does not include Freescale's "CS1" wafer fab, located in Tempe, Arizona, and the site for the company’s GaAs device production. As a result, a question mark now hangs over the future of that fab. Freescale says that it is looking at a number of potent...

Indian institute gets $12 million to push III-Vs IIT Kharagpur's RF industry veteran CTO is hoping to use new epitaxial capabilities to encourage India's flourishing design houses into compounds. by Andy Extance The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) in Kharagpur has received $12 million in government funds to set up a semiconductor nano-growth facility. Dhrubes Biswas The money was awarded specifically to Dhrubes Biswas, an RF compound semiconductor expert whose lengthy CV includes establishing the first 6-inch GaAs HBT process at Anadigics. Now CTO and professor of electronics and electrical communication engineering at Kharagpur, Biswas told compoundsemiconductor.net that this money was primarily for RF front ends. “In India, we have about 100 design companies in Bangalore, but none of them work in III-V,” Biswas observed. “My role as IIT's CTO is to motivate them into getting into front end, where compound semiconductors can have an impact, using our l...

Toshiba claims GaN microwave power record The Japanese conglomerate turns up the power for high-definition satellite broadcasting with its Ku-band GaN-on-SiC HEMT. Toshiba has produced a GaN HEMT with an output power of 65.4 W at 14.5 GHz, that it hopes will replace competing electron-tube technologies in satellite applications. According to the Japanese company, this is the highest power-output FET to operate in the Ku-band, the region of the microwave spectrum between 12 and 18 GHz. Toshiba pushes Ku-Band amps Presented at European Microwave Week on October 8, the device will be sampled at the end of 2007 and should enter mass production in March 2008. The GaN HEMTs are marketed for high-capacity, high-definition satellite broadcasting base stations and high-power radar systems, which both require high-power amplifiers. “Demand is particularly strong for GaN devices, which offer advantages over GaAs devices in heat dissipation and high power performance characteristi...

Giant Chinese wafer facility opened In Shenzhen, the first stage of what may eventually turn out to be the largest compound semiconductor manufacturing base in the world is completed. Government officials in China have officially inaugurated the first stage of a massive compound semiconductor epiwafer and chip production base in Shenzhen. Called Century Epitech Company, Ltd, development of the sprawling site has the backing of both the central Chinese government and the Hong Kong financial group Sunbase. "Century Epitech will produce epitaxial wafers and raw material for the whole compound semiconductor industrial chain," announced the firm. Gao Jingde, the Century Epitech chairman, describes the site at the Guangming Hi-tech Industrial Park as China's "only all-around compound semiconductor industrial base". Spreading over an enormous 3 km 2 , this site will eventually incorporate five individual "zones". The epiwafer fab, which rep...