Category Archives: LED Manufacturing

Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) announced the availability of high quality, low micropipe 150mm 4H n-type silicon carbide (SiC) epitaxial wafers. 150mm epitaxial wafers with highly uniform epitaxial layers as thick as 100µm are available for immediate purchase.

SiC is a high-performance semiconductor material used in the production of a broad range of lighting, power and communication components, including light-emitting diodes (LEDs), power switching devices and RF power transistors for wireless communications. 150mm diameter single crystal SiC substrates enable cost reductions and increased throughput, while bolstering the continued growth of the SiC industry.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are typically manufactured on sapphire (Al2O3) substrates, about 90% of the blue LEDs currently in production. Silicon carbide (SiC) substrates are used for virtually all the remaining 10% of blue LEDs.

In the SiC substrate business, Cree holds about 50% market share on a worldwide basis.

 

August 23, 2012 — Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers are building various electronic components out of a 2D form of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2).

Compared to limited results with 2D graphite — graphene — the MoS2 research is a starting point for walls that glow, clothing with embedded electronics, glasses with built-in display screens, and other applications.

This is the start of a “new realm” of research into 2D materials for electronic materials and devices, according to Tomás Palacios, the Emmanuel E. Landsman Associate Professor of EECS.

Large sheets of MoS2 were fabricated by Yi-Hsien Lee, a postdoc in associate professor Jing Kong’s group in EECS, via a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Lee came up with this method while working with Lain-Jong Li at Academia Sinica in Taiwan and improved it after coming to MIT.

Palacios, Han Wang and Yu then produced building blocks of electronic circuits on the sheets, as well as on MoS2 flakes produced by a mechanical method. Wang and Palacios were able to fabricate a variety of basic electronic devices on the material: an inverter, which switches an input voltage to its opposite; a NAND gate, a basic logic element that can be combined to carry out almost any kind of logic operation; a memory device, one of the key components of all computational devices; and a more complex circuit called a ring oscillator, made up of 12 interconnected transistors, which can produce a precisely tuned wave output.

Wang found the material easier to use than graphene, since graphene lacks a bandgap. Graphene must be precisely modified to create a bandgap for transistors. This is not a problem with MoS2.

MoS2 is widely produced as a lubricant, and thanks to ongoing work at MIT and other labs on making it into large sheets, scaling up production of the material for practical uses should be much easier than with other new materials, Wang and Palacios say.

The material is so thin that it’s completely transparent, and it can be deposited on virtually any other material. Palacios says one potential application of the new material is large-screen displays such as television sets and computer monitors, where a separate transistor controls each pixel of the display. Because the material is just one molecule thick — unlike the highly purified silicon that is used for conventional transistors and must be millions of atoms thick — even a very large display would use only an infinitesimal quantity of the raw materials. This could potentially reduce cost and weight and improve energy efficiency.

In the future, it could also enable entirely new kinds of devices. The material could be used, in combination with other 2D materials, to make light-emitting devices. Instead of producing a point source of light from one bulb, an entire wall could be made to glow, producing softer, less glaring light. Similarly, the antenna and other circuitry of a cellphone might be woven into fabric, providing a much more sensitive antenna that needs less power and could be incorporated into clothing, Palacios says.

A report on the production of complex electronic circuits from the new material was published online this month in the journal Nano Letters; the paper is authored by Han Wang and Lili Yu, graduate students in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS); Tomás Palacios, the Emmanuel E. Landsman Associate Professor of EECS; and others at MIT and elsewhere.

In addition to Palacios, Kong, Wang, Yu and Lee, the work was carried out by graduate student Allen Hsu and MIT affiliate Yumeng Shi, with U.S. Army Research Laboratory researchers Matthew Chin and Madan Dubey, and Lain-Jong Li of Academia Sinica in Taiwan. The work was funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research, the Microelectronics Advanced Research Corporation Focus Center for Materials, the National Science Foundation and the Army Research Laboratory.

Courtesy of David Chandler, MIT News Office. Learn more at www.mit.edu.

August 23, 2012 — Optoelectronics researchers at the Ferdinand-Braun-Institut (FBH) ordered an Optofab3000 for Laser Bar Facet Coating from Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology. The advanced ion beam deposition (IBD) tool will deposit high-quality optical thin films for high-power and high-brightness laser diodes (LDs) at 0.63-1.12µm wavelengths, based on III-V semiconductor layer structures.

Photo 1. An Optofab3000 ion beam tool.

The tool offered both high-quality deposition and an advanced in-situ optical monitor, said Dr. Götz Erbert, head of the Optoelectronics Department at FBH. The tool can also achieve R&D tasks as well as pilot production, which the institute performs in some cases.

Photo 2. Inside an Optofab3000.

The Optofab3000 ion beam tool is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2012.

Learn more at http://www.oxford-instruments.com/Pages/home.aspx.

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August 23, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Rambus Inc. (NASDAQ:RMBS), a technology licensing company, will undergo a restructuring and related cost saving measures to cut its expenses by$30-35 million annually. The majority of the reduction in expenses are being made in general and administrative, while the company continues to invest in strategic businesses.

 “After reviewing our expenses in detail, we have concluded that the support infrastructure can be reduced to improve profitability,” said Dr. Ronald Black, Rambus CEO. This includes a 15% cut to its workforce and a new, 3-business organization structure around memory and interfaces, lighting and display technologies, and Cryptography Research Inc.

Rambus recently partnered with the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) in Taiwan on the development of interconnect and 3D packaging technologies.

“While we have refined some of our R&D investments, we are preserving all of our strategic initiatives as we believe they will drive significant growth in the future,” Black added. The engineering design teams, Rambus Labs, and other strategic initiatives will be consolidated under Dr. Martin Scott, who will take the new role of CTO.

The reductions in expense and associated workforce will be completed in 2012. Satish Rishi, Rambus CFO, stated: “We expect to take a charge for severance, on a cash basis, of approximately $6 million over the next two quarters. We are also reviewing our assets, businesses, and other contractual obligations and may take additional charges by the end of the year. Excluding these charges, and including additional investment in strategic initiatives, we expect significant net cash savings of approximately $30-$35 million annually.” Jerome Nadel will be joining Rambus as chief marketing officer, responsible for repositioning the company and creating closer relationships with customers.

Business units:

 -Memory and Interfaces, led by Kevin Donnelly

 -Cryptography Research Inc., led by Paul Kocher

 -Lighting and Display Technologies, led by Jeffery Parker.

Rambus is a technology licensing company. Additional information is available at www.rambus.com.

August 23, 2012 – JP Sercel Associates (JPSA), Manchester, NH, has released a new system for scribing and dicing metal layers and alloys used in LED manufacturing.

The IX-6100-MD can scribe and dice a variety of metal layers (Mo, Cu, Ni, Au, Ag, Zn) and their alloys used in LED manufacturing. A proprietary beam delivery system enables independent 2D adjustment of the laser beam shape, to optimize the laser energy used for cutting and achieve a minimal kerf width (20μm) while minimizing the heat-affected zone. JPSA’s proprietary vision and scribe placement technology reduces die street size and enables more LED die per wafer. The system can be equipped with the company’s Integrated Automation Platform (IAP) for automated wafer handling in production environments.

JPSA says it will ship several of the new IX-6100-MD systems in 3Q12 to an unidentified leading LED manufacturer in Asia, to be utilized for singulating high-power LED devices in which the metal substrate assists in LED heat dissipation.



Cross-section of 60μm copper. (Source: JPSA)

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August 22, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — The second half of 2011 saw slow growth for gallium arsenide (GaAs) substrates in semiconductor and related devices, as well as a shift away from GaAs as a handset switch technology, according to Eric Higham, director of the Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service (GaAs). Consequently, demand for semi-insulating GaAs bulk substrates fell by 4%.

However, the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan disrupted the supply chain, driving up substrate pricing and overall revenue to nearly $230 million, according to Asif Anwar, director in the Strategy Analytics Strategic Technologies Practice (STP). Disruptions from the earthquake increased substrate prices in the short-term, but as they diminish, modest market growth and substrate price declines will return, Anwar said.

Strategy Analytics reports in “Semi-insulating GaAs Substrate Markets: 2011-2016” that total demand for semi-insulating (SI) GaAs bulk substrates from manufacturers such as Freiberger Compound Materials (FCM), Hitachi Cable, AXT, Sumitomo and Dowa reached slightly more than 32100 kilo square inches (ksi) in 2011.

Strategy Analytics indicates demand and revenues will return to slow growth, hitting nearly 39000 ksi and $240+ million in revenues by 2016.

Also read: As LEDs ramp, GaAs wafers shift from SI to SC type

The Strategy Analytics forecast segments the SI GaAs bulk substrate market by diameter, geography, growth method, application and supplier. The report also addresses trends and recent developments in these segments. Strategy Analytics, Inc. provides timely and actionable market intelligence focused on opportunities and disruptive forces in the areas of Automotive Electronics and Entertainment, Broadband Connected Home, Mobile & Wireless Intelligent Systems and Virtual Worlds. For more information, please visit http://www.strategyanalytics.com/

Technologies, Business Models, Applications and Materials Management Strategies in Transition — SEMI reports.

August 22, 2012 — The $100B+ electronics materials industry is undergoing rapid metamorphosis as technologies, markets, business models, and materials management practices are all being restructured to meet the needs of a profit-hungry, environmentally-conscious and innovation-dependent world. The $50 billion semiconductor materials industry alone, for example, needs investment in new lithography resists, novel device architectures, and advanced interconnect and packaging while trying to maintain margins in a consolidating industry where manufacturers know how to leverage buying power. At the same time, advanced electronics materials markets in displays, LED, PV and power semiconductors — collectively larger than traditional semiconductors — are providing new, potentially higher-profit opportunities for suppliers. Both manufacturers and suppliers are responding to these dynamics through joint development agreements and other collaboration models, increasingly important resource recovery strategies, and capitalizing on the synergies between advanced materials requirements among different industries.

These and other issues will be the focus of 2012 Strategic Materials Conference (SMC) to be held on October 23-24 at SEMI headquarters in San Jose, CA. For more information on the conference, visit www.semi.org/en/node/41386. SMC is the only conference dedicated to exploring the synergies, trends and business opportunities in advanced electronic materials. Many of the developments, trends and collaboration in one industry are applicable to other industries, creating potential valuable synergies across the materials spectrum. With presentations by leading market analysts, academic researchers, industry consortiums, leading manufacturers, and top suppliers, SMC will serve as a valuable forecasting tool and accelerator for advanced materials usage in the electronics industry.

To provide a broad reach, the 2-day SMC will feature four 2-hour tracks in semiconductors, carbon-based materials for energy storage and ICs, LED/Power devices, and OLED/printed electronics. Each of these areas are characterized by significant opportunities and challenges. In LEDs and power semiconductors, for example, dramatic increases in solid state lighting and emerging markets for electric vehicles, Smart Grid, solar inverters and other areas have a driven a race in Si, GaN on Si, GaN on GaN, SiC, and sapphire-based technologies. In organic and printed electronics, OLED displays are quickly emerging as a replacement for LCDs even in large format displays, potentially creating opportunities for leveraged technologies in OLED lighting, thin film batteries, printed logic and memory.

Other portions of the conference will be devoted to critical trends and issues in materials usage and materials development, including rare earth supply dynamics, materials recovery, collaboration models and joint development strategies, investment opportunities, and more. Leading industry analysts will also provide market forecast and insights into application trends. Significant networking opportunities including a dinner reception will be included in the conference.

Figure source: SEMI Materials Market Data Subscription May 2012

One of the collaboration strategies explored in the conference will discuss how equipment OEMs, materials suppliers and major manufacturers can work more effectively together. Today, frequent R&D efforts can be distributed at research consortia, manufacturer process development labs, and at materials suppliers, each in conjunction with key equipment suppliers who have their own development programs. Speakers from Intel, Micron, Air Liquid and Applied Materials will discuss common development strategies and ways they can be improved.

Materials refining, recycling and recovery is also becoming a critical issue for many industries due to regulatory compliance and as a cost reduction imperative, with implications for fab design, intellectual property protection, onsite materials infrastructure and other areas. Experts from Envirodigm, Sachem, Intel and Air Products and Chemicals will discuss this “paradigm shift” in manufacturing and how it provides both opportunities and challenges.

SMC has provided valuable information and networking opportunities to materials and electronics industry professionals since 1995. SMC 2012 builds on that legacy, expanding the reach and focus of the conference to examine advanced electronics materials for the semiconductor and adjacent industries. SMC is organized by the Chemical and Gas Manufacturers Group (CGMG) is a SEMI Special Interest Group comprised of leading manufacturers, producers, packagers and distributors of chemicals and gases used in the microelectronics industry. For more information on the conference, visit www.semi.org/en/node/41386.

August 20, 2012 — OSRAM AG and Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. have reached an agreement to settle all patent suits between them worldwide. The patent suits have been filed in various countries, including Germany, South Korea and in the United States of America. The parties will dismiss all suits as expeditiously as possible, with a settlement consequently expected to be finalized by the end of August. As part of the settlement, the parties have reached license agreements for their respective light-emitting diode (LED) patent portfolios. The parties have also signed a separate memorandum of understanding to explore the possibilities of jointly developing future LED-based products.

“We are glad to enter with Samsung in a new area of partnership-based competition. We respect the intellectual property rights of other companies and it is our ongoing policy to reach license agreements with other manufacturers of LED products. Along these lines, we appreciate this out-of-court settlement with Samsung,” said Wolfgang Dehen, CEO of OSRAM AG.

 “With the patent suits now behind us, we look forward to building a strategic relationship with OSRAM on a number of different fronts. There is a great deal of respect and also competition between the two companies. We believe the two companies now have an opportunity to significantly contribute to the LED industry and offer better products to our customers,” said Namseong Cho, Executive VP and General Manager of Samsung Electronics’ LED Business.

OSRAM AG (Munich, Germany) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Siemens AG and one of the two leading light manufacturers in the world. In fiscal year 2011 (ended September 30, 2011), it generated revenue of about 5 billion Euros. Osram is a high-tech company in the lighting sector and more than 70 percent of its revenue comes from energy efficient products. The company, which is very much internationally oriented, has around 41,000 employees worldwide, supplying customers in 150 countries from its 44 production sites in 16 countries (as of September 30, 2011). Additional information can be found in the internet at www.osram.com.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2011 consolidated sales of US$143.1 billion. Employing approximately 206,000 people in 197 offices across 72 countries, the company operates two separate organizations to coordinate its nine independent business units: Digital Media & Communications, comprising Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, and Digital Imaging; and Device Solutions, consisting of Memory, System LSI and LED. Recognized for its industry-leading performance across a range of economic, environmental and social criteria, Samsung Electronics was named the world’s most sustainable technology company in the 2011 Dow Jones Sustainability Index. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

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August 17, 2012 — Jilin University China has installed an AIXTRON CCS MOCVD 3 x 2” wafer configuration system for gallium nitride (GaN) ultraviolet (UV) and white light-emitting diode (LED) research.

Researchers in Taiwan recently installed an AIXTRON MOCVD system for work on GaN power semiconductors.

Jilin University China is an existing customer for AIXTRON. Dr. Zhang of the Jilin University, State Key Laboratory on Integrated Optoelectronics, commented that the researchers were “particularly impressed with the reactor’s ergonomics and security.” One of AIXTRON’s local support teams has installed and commissioned the new reactor in a state-of-the-art clean-room facility at Jilin University in Changchun, China.

“Our intention is to develop exciting new material structures that will lead to greater understanding and to production of gallium nitride materials for UV and white LEDs. This is a challenging task, but we are confident that the combination of the process technology capabilities of the CCS reactor and strong backing from the local AIXTRON support team will enable us to achieve our aims quickly and efficiently,” added Zhang.

Using the Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) technology, reagents are introduced into the reactor through a water-cooled showerhead surface over the entire area of deposition. The showerhead is close to the substrates and is constructed to enable precursors to be separated right up to the point where they are injected onto the substrates through a multiplicity of small tubes. The reagents are injected into the reactor chamber through separate orifices in a water-cooled showerhead injector, to create a very uniform distribution of reagent gases.

Substrates are placed on top of a rotating susceptor, which is resistively heated. The three-zone heater enables modification of the temperature profile to provide temperature uniformity over the susceptor diameter.

Jilin University is a leading national university under the direct jurisdiction of China’s Ministry of Education, located in Changchun, the capital city of Jilin Province in Northeast China. The University boasts sixteen disciplinary areas, six state key laboratories, and eight national bases for the development of basic science. Other resources include seven key laboratories sponsored by the Ministry of Education and eleven by other ministries of the Chinese government.

AIXTRON provides MOCVD production technologies for semiconductor devices, such as LEDs, lasers, transistors and solar cells. For further information on AIXTRON (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6, DE000A1MMEF7; NASDAQ: AIXG, ISIN US0096061041), see www.aixtron.com.

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August 15, 2012 — Epistar, light-emitting diode (LED) chipmaker, will completely take over its subsidiary Huga Optotech through a share swap.

Huga Optotech makes LEDs on gallium nitride (GaN) processes. It currently can produce 10 billion LED chips monthly. At the end of 2011, the company had 1,200 employees. It operates 2 fabs in Taichung Industrial Park and 1 in Central Taiwan Science Park, Taiwan.

Epistar is Taiwan’s largest LED maker. The share swap will involve 1 Epistar share for 4.85 Huga shares. Target merger date is December 28, 2012.

Read the full story from sister publication LEDs Magazine here.