Category Archives: LED Manufacturing

April 19, 2012 — EPIC, the European Photonics Industry Consortium, announced at its annual general meeting that Carlos Lee has been appointed as director general, succeeding Thomas Pearsall, who has led the association since its founding in 2003. Pearsall will work with Lee throughout 2012 to enable the transistion.

EPIC members active in displays, lasers, lighting, optical fibers, optics, semiconductors, photovoltaics sensors, telecommunications, and other photonics fields deserve solid value from the association, said Lee. He announced a new EPIC office in Brussels, Belgium, and closer collaboration with the EU.

Carlos Lee is currently Director General at SEMI Europe, where he leads the advocacy program. He has 15 years experience in industry association management, with a focus on building membership value through standardization, collaboration, networking platforms and events, and other activities of collective interest that benefit the industry at large. He will be tasked with growing EPIC and especially supporting small- and medium-size enterprises (SME) in Europe, said Drew Nelson, CEO and president of IQE, and current president of EPIC.

With 80 voting members and over 400 associate members, EPIC is a leading European photonics industry association. Learn more at www.epic-assoc.com.

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Veeco Instruments Inc. recently participated in an investment signing ceremony at the 2012 Korea Investment Forum in New York City to commemorate the Company’s substantial investment in a new R&D facility in Seoul, Korea to advance high brightness light emitting diode (LED) technology.

The Investment Forum event, jointly sponsored by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) and the Korea Ministry of Knowledge Economy (MKE), brought together government officials, investors, industry experts and business leaders from South Korea and the United States to celebrate and promote investment in South Korea by U.S.-based companies. 

KOTRA (Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency) is Korea’s national economic development agency and is committed to promoting collaborative business relationships between the United States and Korea. InvestKOREA is a division of KOTRA and is responsible for attraction of foreign direct investment.

From left to right, Ki-won Han, Commissioner, InvestKOREA; Jin-Hyun Han, Deputy Minister, Korea Ministry of Knowledge Economy; and John P. Kiernan, Senior Vice President, Finance, Corporate Controller and Treasurer, Veeco Instruments Inc., after a signing ceremony recognizing Veeco’s investment in a new Development Center devoted to accelerating the MOCVD technology used to make LED lights.

April 16, 2012 — Positives in the light-emitting diode (LED) space — improving utilization levels at the Taiwanese LED makers, moderating LED average selling prices (ASP) declines, and gradual growth in LED lighting demand in the US — should materialize for global LED manufacturers, says Barclays Capital’s Olga Levinzon.

However, this won’t translate immediately into increased capital expenditures on LED manufacturing equipment. There is no significant consolidation yet among Chinese players, and utilization levels in Taiwan, though improved, are still not sufficient to require new capacity adds. Revenue at the top nine LED chip and packaging houses fell 3% Q/Q, notes Maxim Group, but growth improved each successive quarter with a 10% decline in January turning into 14% growth in February and 16% growth in March. While the Taiwanese producers are more exposed to backlighting than general lighting, Maxim asserts that they still serve as a general barometer of industry-wide utilization. Epistar, Everlight, and sapphire producer Sino American anticipate utilization rates >90% in Q2.

Figure. Revenues at Taiwan’s LED chip makers and packaging houses by quarter. SOURCE: Maxim Group equity research.

This unsteady environment could extend through at least mid-summer 2012, with limited forecasts for the timing/magnitude of a recovery. Barclays assumes a normalized metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) tool market of ~525 tools annually; IMS Research puts the number closer to 342 in 2012.

Barclays predicts continued order weakness for AIXTRON. Also, AIXTRON’s full EUR 137M backlog exiting Q2 2011 will likely not be converted in H1 2012 due to continued push-outs from Chinese customers. AIXTRON will likely sell ~10 MOCVD tools in Q1, with additional revenue from tools for display, power electronics, and other fab markets; and from services. There will be modest growth ahead in MOCVD and power electronics manufacturing equipment sales. Barclays predicts AIXTRON will ship ~23 tools for LED fab in H1 2012 and ~80 in H2.

The other major MOCVD supplier for LED makers, Veeco (VECO), will see H1 MOCVD sales lag, though the company should be buoyed by orders from the data storage product fab sector until LED makers start ordering more aggressively in H2. Expect Veeco to ship ~29 MOCVD chambers in Q1 2012, vs. ~71 in Q4 2011.

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April 16, 2012 — Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq:VECO) debuted the SPECTOR-HT ion beam deposition (IBD) tool for thin-film deposition in optical products, such as lasers, telecommunications chips, and more. It reportedly creates high-quality films in a cost-effective manufacturing process compared to physical vapor deposition (PVD), evaporative coatings, and ion-assisted deposition.

Veeco claims up to 400% higher throughput, 300% better target utilization and 50% higher material uniformity with SPECTOR-HT, over previous SPECTOR generations. The SPECTOR-HT is fully automated, achieving accelerated deposition rates at speeds comparable to PVD. It delivers an increased deposition rate on lot sizes up to twice as large as those in previous SPECTOR generations.

The SPECTOR-HT is debuting at the SPIE Photonics Europe Trade Show in Brussels, Belgium, booth #G323.

Veeco makes equipment to develop and manufacture optoelectronics, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), solar cells, hard disk drives (HDDs) and other devices. Visit www.veeco.com.

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April 13, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — LED-IT Fusion Technology Research Center (LIFTRC) of Korea tapped Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq:VECO) for a TurboDisc K465i gallium nitride (GaN) metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) system for research and development of light-emitting diodes (LEDs), including green LEDs and ultraviolet (UV) versions.

The Veeco K465i MOCVD system fit LIFTRC’s needs with full automation and low cost of ownership, said Dr. Ja-Soon Jang, chief director, LIFTRC, and Professor, Department of Electronic Engineering, at Yeungnam University. The tool achieves up to 90% yield (5nm bin). Uniform FlowFlange technology enables high within-wafer uniformity and process repeatability.

This research lab sale illustrates Korea’s leadership in advancing LED technology, noted William J. Miller, Ph.D., Veeco EVP, Process Equipment. LIFTRC was appointed by the Korea Ministry of Knowledge Economy as the southeastern region’s LED-IT Fusion Technology Research Center (technology support center). Among its aims is to develop LED-IT fusion technology into core and leading commercialized technologies with local and global LED companies. Learn more at http://english.liftrc.re.kr/.

Veeco makes equipment to develop and manufacture LEDs, solar cells, hard disk drives and other devices. We support our customers through product development, manufacturing, sales and service sites in the U.S., Korea, Taiwan, China, Singapore, Japan, Europe and other locations. Please visit us at www.veeco.com.

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April 13, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Light-emitting diode (LED) maker Cree Inc. (Nasdaq:CREE) achieved 254 lumen/watt on a white-light, power LED in research. The correlated color temperature is 4408 K.

Testing occurred at standard room temperature and 350mA. Cree’s previous R&D industry record was 231 lumens/watt.

The R&D LED uses elements of Cree’s SC3 Technology Platform, which is used in Cree’s XLamp LEDs. SC³ combines Cree’s advanced silicon carbide (SiC) technology, with an advanced LED chip architecture and phosphor, and a new LED package design.

Cree makes LEDs and LED lighting products, as well as semiconductor products for power and radio frequency (RF) applications. Internet: www.cree.com.

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April 10, 2012 — Vacuum and abatement equipment provider Edwards Limited uncrated the STP-iXR1606 series magnetically-levitated turbo-molecular pumps (TMP) with fully integrated onboard controllers. Its new rotary design improves throughput by about 40% at high gas flow rates; nearly 90% percent in maximum gas flow, compared to existing vacuum pump products, the company reports.

The pumps’ fully integrated controller eliminates the connection cable and rack conventionally required for vacuum pumps. This reduces the vacuum system footprint in the fab, and can cut installation time and costs. A small power supply for the on-board controller reduces energy consumption at high gas flows by about 32%.

The STP-iXR1606 matches the peak pumping speed of Edwards’ highest performing pump in the 8” TMP class, with higher throughput and maximum allowable gas flow. The STP-iXR1606 series delivers high reliability in dirty environments with equivalent IP54 protection against dust and humidity. It has I/O remote, RS232C, RS485 and STP-link standard communication ports, with Profibus and DeviceNet available as options. The magnetically-levitated TMPs require no maintenance.

Edwards creates vacuum products for electronics and other manufacturing environments. Learn more at http://www.edwardsvacuum.com/.

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April 5, 2012 — Power electronics will grow to $15 billion in sales of discrete components in 2020, says Lux Research Inc. New materials — silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) — are taking a 22% market share for $3.3 billion in sales. Expect this year to set a record for funding to power electronics companies.

These emerging technologies must be commercialized to meet specific customer needs at favorable price points, by both current market players and would-be entrants, said Pallavi Madakasira, Lux research analyst and lead report author on “Beyond Silicon: Plotting GaN and SiC’s Path within the $15 Billion Power Electronics Market.”

Consumer electronics is an immediate growth opportunity for power electronics. Fast-growing applications in renewable energy and industrial power are “likely to challenge” power device makers to come up with better form factors, at lower cost and higher efficiency, she added.

With silicon-based power electronic devices reaching theoretical limits, other semiconductors, notably SiC and GaN, promise better performance and energy savings. SiC, a more mature technology with proven reliability, will gain a 14% market share. SiC will see the highest adoption in renewables, capitalizing on adoption in solar (32% market share) and grid-storage applications. GaN will grab an 8% share, led by companies like Efficient Power Conversion and Transphorm and International Rectifier. GaN will take a 14% share in IT and electronics sectors in 2010. In transportation, both new materials will see 15-16% adoption.

Also read: LED makers could diversify with GaN power electronics production

Over the past five years, investors have funneled over $200 million into advanced materials and device makers for power electronics. On the venture side, Transphorm, EpiGaN, GaN Systems and Azzurro have closed notable rounds, while corporate investments and acquisitions such as TranSiC (Fairchild), SiCed (Infineon), SiCrystal (Rohm) and Crysband (SKC) have continued apace. This year promises to be a record-setting one for transactions with particular attention on substrate and GaN technology developers.

The report, titled “Beyond Silicon: Plotting GaN and SiC’s Path within the $15 Billion Power Electronics Market,” is part of the new Lux Research Energy Electronics Intelligence service, which covers light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and power electronics. To forecast adoption of emerging power electronics technologies, Lux Research analysts calculated the payback period for SiC and GaN devices and calculated market shares based on the required payback period for each application, as well as delaying or accelerating factors that reflect industry conservatism, design cycles, timing for capacity build-outs, and other industry drivers. Access it here: https://portal.luxresearchinc.com/reporting/research/report_excerpt/10212.

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April 2, 2012 — Intel, SEMATECH, and other top chip makers, suppliers, and research organizations will send speakers to SEMICON West, July 10-12 in San Francisco. The event will single out new transistor architectures, advanced lithography, 450mm wafers, and other major developments for the microelectronics sector.

Shekhar Borkar, director of Extreme-scale Technologies at Intel Labs, will provide the technology keynote on Intel’s mid- and long-term development efforts in IC scaling, power reduction, and performance improvements. Attend at 9:00am, July 10.

SEMI plans 3 TechXPOT sessions at SEMICON West: Fully depleted transistor architectures on Tuesday, next-generation lithography on Wednesday, and the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) on Thusday.

Learn about advances — and challenges — in fully depleted devices and III-V channel materials for new transistors at 10:30am, July 10, in the South Hall TechXPOT session. Speakers:

  • Raj Jammy, VP, Materials and Emerging Technologies, SEMATECH
  • Carlos Mazuré, EVP  and CTO, Soitec
  • Kaizad Mistry, VP, director of Logic Technology Integration, Intel
  • Aaron Thean, director, Logic Program, imec

Lithography achievements, technology roadmaps and development efforts will be discussed in the July 11,10:30am, South Hall TechXPOT session. Learn about extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL) readiness from transmission and conversion efficiency to mask and resist work. The session will also cover double-patterning and the role of complementary technologies, such as e-beam lithography. Speakers:

  • Yan Borodovsky, senior Intel fellow, director, Advanced Lithography, Intel
  • Stefan Wurm, director, Lithography, SEMATECH
  • Hans Meiling, director, Product Management EUV, ASML
  • Franklin Kalk, CTO, Toppan Photomasks
  • Serge Tedesco, IMAGINE (MAPPER), program manager, CEA-Leti
  • Donis Flagello, NRCA fellow, Nikon Research Corporation of America

The International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) sessions will be part of the TechXPOT and Extreme Electronics platforms, July 12.

The Test Vision 2020 Conference will be held in conjunction with SEMICON West, on July 11-12.

A special session on supply chain opportunities in 450mm wafers will be held on July 12.  

Other TechXPOT sessions, yet to be announced, will address new materials, advances in 3D-IC, MEMS, test, advanced packaging, LEDs, OLEDs, and productivity solutions for 200mm and 300mm fabs.  

Register through April 12 for a free Expo Only badge. For more information, including keynotes, programs, registration, and exhibiting, please visit www.semiconwest.org.

SEMI is a global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains. For more information, visit www.semi.org.

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April 2, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — A light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing joint venture is the “final due diligence” Viper Networks Inc. (Pink Sheets:VPER) will execute with its targeted acquisition: a profitable LED manufacturing company in the US.

The joint venture LED manufacturing project will commence within days.

This project also expands Viper Networks’ potential from their multiple agreements and major alliance with LEDs America, Inc., which includes broad manufacturing rights among other key agreements, including sales and marketing, global exporting, and multiple foreign country territorial exclusivity rights.

Viper Networks has been proactively pursuing well positioned, profitable LED industry acquisition candidates and engaged in merger talks with two US-based firms since early 2012. Sincce VPER is also involved in other due diligence matters with multiple acquisition candidates, it may release any expected closing date on another company prior to releasing news on this company.

For additional information, please visit www.vipernetworks.com.

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