Category Archives: LEDs

GC Asahi Glass (AGC) today announced it has developed a uniform amorphous thin film using a unique sputtering target material, and has started industrialization and commercial production of the material. Called C12A7 Electride, the material is essential to mass production of both the new thin film and large organic electroluminescent (EL) panels – also known as organic LEDs (OLEDs) – utilizing the film.

Asahi Glass Co. Electride Target

Asahi Glass Co. Electride Target

Currently, lithium fluoride (LiF) and alkali-doped organic materials are used as the electron injection material for an OLED display. However, these materials are unstable and are used in an unstable state, which contributes to manufacturing challenges associated with OLED. To address this problem, the AGC Group developed the more stable amorphous C12A7 Electride thin film.

C12A7 is a component of alumina cement. Its structure comprises interconnected “cages,” measuring about 0.4 nanometers (nm) in inner diameter, that contain oxygen ions. C12A7 Electride was developed at the Tokyo Institute of Technology by a research group under Professor Hideo Hosono, a material scientist known for the discovery of iron-based superconductors. All of the oxygen ions in the cages are replaced with electrons, enabling the material to conduct electric current like a metal, maintain chemical and thermal stability, and be easy to handle, while retaining the characteristic of readily emitting electrons.

The amorphous C12A7 Electride thin film, which can be formed through a sputtering process [1] at room temperature using the AGC Group-developed target material, has the following unique characteristics: it is transparent in the visible range; it can emit electrons as easily as metal lithium can; and it is chemically stable even in the atmosphere. By combining this with the TFT element, which uses a transparent amorphous oxide semiconductor (TAOS), the low-driving-voltage electron transport layer can be manufactured stably and with high production yields, even when used in an OLED display with an inverted structure.

Market research firm IDTechEx forecasts the market for OLED displays will reach nearly US$16 billion this year and will grow to US$57 billion in 2026. AGC Group’s Naomichi Miyakawa, Principal Manager, New Product R&D Center, Technology General Division, noted, “TAOS-TFT is suitable for driving a large OLED panel, but there was no available material that functions properly as both an electron injection layer and an electron transport layer – both of which are necessary to realize the inverted structure that makes the best of the panel’s performance. With the commercialization of our C12A7 Electride material, we expect to see substantially improved production of oxide TFT-driven OLED panels.”

AGC anticipates OLED panels integrating the new C12A7 Electride-based thin film to begin manufacture in the year of Tokyo Olympic Games, 2020 or earlier.

The car is not a simple mode of transportation anymore. In addition to security and autonomous driving features, car manufacturers are considering more and more functionalities to propose vehicles as custom and fashion item.

During the last few years, electronic, optoelectronic, software and various digital technologies along with societal changes are increasingly pressuring the automotive players in transforming offerings and business models faster than ever before. Under this context, automotive OEM firms remain focused on core competencies and also develop new ones. Lighting technologies are part of them.
The lighting market for automotive applications should reach a 23.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) 2015-2121 reaching a US$27.7 billion market in 2021, announces Yole Développement (Yole) in its latest LED report entitled “Automotive Lighting: Technology, Industry and Market trends”. The increasing role of design and the introduction of new functionalities including ambient light, rear light, turn signal, parking & day ruing lights, fog light, low/high beam light and more are the reasons of this success. But what are the companies behind this impressive growth? What will be the impact on the supply chain? LED, OLED – which technologies are today able to answer to the market needs? The market research and strategy consulting offers today its vision of this industry.

With this new technology & market analysis, the “More than Moore” company, Yole investigates the attractive world of lighting solutions for automotive applications. The automotive lighting report from Yole analyzes the status of the market and its applications. It reviews the structure of the automotive lighting industry and details the market and technology trends. Under this new analysis, Yole’s experts present the main lighting technologies developed for automotive applications and propose valuable roadmaps until 2021. They cover the whole supply chain from devices to systems and give market insights between 2013 and 2021.

With the recent integration of LED technology, lighting has evolved from a basic, functional feature to a distinctive feature with high-value potential in automotive. Indeed, LED technology has given manufacturers the opportunity for strong differentiation via lighting design and additional functionalities. This is particularly true for exterior lighting, but it is also spreading to interior lighting. These changes are heavily impacting the supply chain, with new suppliers and a new value chain emerging.

In 2015, the automotive lighting market totaled nearly US$22.4 billion, up 5.4% from 2014. “This growth was driven by increased lighting system content per vehicle and a more favorable product mix driven by strong adoption of LED-based front lighting systems,” says Pars Mukish, Business Manager, LED, OLED and sapphire activities at Yole. Indeed, headlamp and DRL systems represented 43% and 28% of total 2015 revenue, respectively. Other lighting systems including rear combination light/center high-mounted signal light, interior light, and side turn-signal light comprised the remaining 29% of 2015 revenue. According to Yole’s analysts, the automotive lighting market will continue growing, reaching a market size of almost US$27.7 billion by 2021 – +23.7% compared to 2015, and driven by different growth areas:
• Short-term: increased LED technology penetration rate into different automotive lighting applications/systems, and increased lighting content per vehicle.
• Middle/long-term: potential integration of new lighting technologies like OLED and laser, development of AFLS and other security functions, and incredible developments employing lighting as a new design feature.

automotive lighting industry

“From a geographic point of view, Asia is the largest market for automotive lighting systems, reflecting the trends in term of vehicle production location but with higher share of revenue from Europe due to more favorable product mix in this area,” explains Pierric Boulay, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole. However European and Japanese companies dominate and supply together 81% of the market:
• Koito, Stanley and Ichikoh capture 40% of the revenue
• From an European side, Yole’s analysts announce 13-14% market share for each key European players: Magneti Marelli, Hella and Valeo.

Yole’s report presents all automotive lighting applications and the associated market revenue for the period 2013 – 2021, with details concerning drivers and challenges, integration status of different lighting technologies and systems, recent trends, and market size per application

Fujitsu Limited today announced that it has with Intel Corporation carried out a field trial to visualize manufacturing processes at Shimane Fujitsu Limited, which primarily manufactures notebook PCs. The field trial linked the FUJITSU Cloud Service IoT Platform with the Intel IoT Gateway. As a result of this trial, the companies were able to rationalize functionality testing and repair processes on Shimane Fujitsu’s manufacturing line, and in line with this, cut additional shipping costs that resulted from delays by 30%. The trial was a part of the IoT collaboration with Intel, launched in May 2015.

Going forward, Fujitsu will further strengthen its collaboration with Intel in the IoT field, creating new solutions and making them available to customers.

In May 2015, Fujitsu and Intel reached an agreement to collaborate in building a more optimal systems environment by combining Fujitsu’s cutting-edge technology with the Intel IoT Gateway, a blueprint for interoperable IoT solutions, with the aim of providing high-value IoT solutions. As a field trial of this collaboration, since May 2015 the companies have been working to improve manufacturing process efficiency through factory visualization at Shimane Fujitsu.

At Shimane Fujitsu, when products are detected to have faults in the functionality testing performed on the manufacturing line, they are sent to the repair area to receive a thorough diagnosis, analysis, and repair of the fault before being shipped, but there are sometimes cases in which the fault cannot be reproduced in the repair process. In these situations, it is necessary to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the work done by the worker involved in the functionality testing process who detected the fault, the tools used, and the status of the product being tested, in order to make clear the reason for the fault detection. Because real-time visualization of the task status of the functionality testing process was previously insufficient, however, it was impossible to identify the cause or implement policies to prevent reoccurrence, resulting in an excess of products being repaired.

In addition, in the repair process, information, such as the location of the product to be repaired in the repair line, whether or not it was held up, and each product’s shipping deadline information, was not made visible in real time. This meant that it was not possible to separate out products that should be prioritized, causing them to miss planned shipping deadlines, often resulting in costs for arranging additional shipping trucks.

To visualize the functionality testing process, using Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd.’s image-processing technology that raises the recognition ratio for text in images, along with a framework that shortens the development of applications that use the technology, worker task status is recorded on video, along with the error code (a code that displays the content of the fault) displayed on the screen of the product to be repaired. This video is aggregated through the Intel IoT Gateway, for process visualization, by performing analytical image processing. As a result, in addition to improving the efficiency of error code aggregation, it is now possible to find trends in detected faults, and to efficiently analyze the circumstances when a fault was detected. By using the results of this analysis to limit misdetection of faults, Fujitsu will be able to reduce excess product repairs.

Next, for real-time visualization of the repair process, a beacon sensor is attached to each product needing repair that is sent to the repair line, which enables all line workers to grasp each product’s location in the process, how long it has been there, and its shipping deadline. As a result, all employees can quickly understand the state of the entire process, leading them to independently prioritize the repair of products that have close shipping deadlines, or to help out in processes that are causing delays. This has reduced the number of additional shipping trucks required due to delays, leading to a 30% cut in shipping costs.

Fujitsu and Intel will use the experience gained at Shimane Fujitsu to establish IoT solutions for deployment to manufacturing customers. In addition, they will further accelerate the collaboration involving Fujitsu’s IoT Platform and the Intel IoT Gateway by expanding IoT solutions to other fields, beginning with retail and the public sector.

Kateeva today announced that it has closed its Series E funding round with $88 million in new financing.

The Silicon Valley technology leader disrupted the flat panel display industry when it launched a breakthrough equipment solution to mass-produce flexible Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs). Flexible OLED technology gives limitless stretch to new product design innovation by liberating panel manufacturers from the constraints of glass substrates. It enables ultra-thin, feather-light displays that are bendable, roll-able, and even fold-able. Kateeva’s solution, known as the YIELDjet™ platform, leverages inkjet printing with novel innovations to perform critical steps in the OLED manufacturing process. Today, YIELDjet tools are helping to accelerate the adoption of OLED technology — a trend that’s taking the global display industry to exciting new heights.

The new Kateeva investors are: BOE, Cybernaut Venture, GP Capital Shanghai, Redview Capital, and TCL Capital, all located in China. They join existing investors that include: Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC), Sigma Partners, Spark Capital, Madrone Capital Partners, DBL Partners, New Science Ventures, and VEECO Instruments, Inc.

The company has raised $200 million since it was founded in 2008.

New Board seats will be filled by an executive from BOE, Redview Capital, and TCL Capital respectively.

The funds will accelerate new product development. The money will also help Kateeva expand manufacturing capacity at its Silicon Valley headquarters, where production systems are being built. In addition, the funds will strengthen Kateeva’s customer satisfaction infrastructure in Asia, and support continued R&D.

The round closes as demand for flexible OLED displays soars. This year, the market for plastic and flexible OLED displays will reach $2.1 billion, says Guillaume Chansin, Ph.D., Senior Technology Analyst at research firm IDTechEx. By 2020, it will surpass $18 billion. While mobile phones and wearables are currently the two main applications, Chansin expects that the technology will be found in tablets and automotive in the coming years.

The market trajectory is due to the confluence of two trends: first, voracious demand for flexible devices made possible by the enabling advantages of OLED technology; and second, the introduction of manufacturing tools like Kateeva’s YIELDjet platform that provided a pathway to cost-effective mass-production of flexible OLEDs for the first time.

Kateeva Chairman and CEO Alain Harrus, Ph.D. noted how OLED technology first transformed the viewing experience by giving spectacular color quality and brightness to rigid displays on mobile phones. “Now, it’s giving extraordinary new shape, lightness and thinness to those products and others that have yet to be invented,” he said. “Kateeva started enabling this “freedom from glass” display innovation in 2008 when our founders began pioneering a superior mass-production equipment solution for OLEDs. Today, Kateeva tools are positioned in top OLED manufacturing fabs. Our investors were stalwart partners along the way. We’re grateful for their support, and we welcome our new investors.”

Flexible OLED is the first major application for Kateeva’s YIELDjet platform, according to President and Co-Founder Conor Madigan, Ph.D. “Next up is OLED TV,” he said. “Having mastered the technical challenges of mass-producing Thin Film Encapsulation (TFE) — the layer that gives thinness and flexibility to the OLED device, we’re now applying YIELDjet technology to help display manufacturers mass-produce the OLED RGB layer, which enables OLED TVs. The new funds will accelerate new product development, and support ongoing R&D.”

Kateeva executives will be present at Display Week 2016. The premier international symposium for the display industry will be held May 22-27 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, Calif. President and Co-Founder Conor Madigan, Ph.D. will present on Kateeva’s technology on Monday, May 23. Chairman and CEO Alain Harrus, Ph.D. will speak at the Investors Conference on Tuesday, May 24.

TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry, today announced volume production of a new RF technology capable of integrating a wireless front-end module (FEM) on a single chip, tailored to meet the challenges of Internet of Things (IoT) applications. Analysts estimate that the number of IoT connected devices will grow at a 15-20% growth rate annually, reaching up to 30 billion units by 2020. McKinsey Global Institute recently estimated that IoT could generate up to $11 trillion in global value by 2025.

The TowerJazz process enables integration of power amplifiers, switches, and low noise amplifiers as well as CMOS digital and power control on a single die. TowerJazz is delivering this product today for smartphones, tablets and wearables, and this technology also meets the more universal requirements of IoT applications by providing cost, power, performance, and form factor benefits vs. competing solutions.

As an example, TowerJazz has partnered with Skyworks Solutions, Inc., an innovator of high performance analog semiconductors connecting people, places and things, to deliver a first of its kind integrated wireless FEM using this technology.

“We are pleased that our long partnership with TowerJazz on SiGe BiCMOS for PA based products is now in volume production for key customers of Skyworks Solutions,” said Bill Vaillancourt, GM/VP Skyworks Connectivity Solutions.

TowerJazz’s new RF technology includes a 0.18um SiGe PA device with best in class silicon-based performance, a low Ron-Coff switch device, a SiGe low noise amplifier device, 5V CMOS for power control, 0.18um CMOS for integrating MIPI or other digital content as well as thick Cu metal layers for low-loss inductors and matching components. By offering all active components typically required for a wireless FEM, this technology enables a new family of products that can integrate multiple communication standards (WiFi, Bluetooth, 802.15.4 or NFC) that form the backbone of the IoT fabric today onto the same chip.

“This new technology complements our existing suite of SiGe PA and RF SOI switch technology offerings and provides customers new architectural options by enabling the combination of these elements on a single die while offering best in class silicon-based PA performance,” said Marco Racanelli, Sr. VP and GM of RF/High Performance Analog and US Aerospace & Defense Business Groups, and Newport Beach Site Manager, TowerJazz.

TowerJazz will exhibit and demonstrate its advanced process technologies for specialty IC manufacturing in booth #1532 at IMS2016, the premier conference in the RF and microwave industry. Please visit the company website for more information on TowerJazz’s RF and high performance analog technology offerings.

Ultratech, Inc., a supplier of lithography, laser­ processing and inspection systems used to manufacture semiconductor devices and high­brightness LEDs (HB­ LEDs), as well as atomic layer deposition (ALD) systems, announced the formation of a research collaboration with Professor Thomas J. Webster, Ph.D. at Northeastern University, to study the use of nano-materials produced via ALD for medical applications. The initial research has focused on inhibiting bacterial growth and inflammation and promoting cell and tissue growth.

Dr. Thomas Webster, Chair and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Northeastern, said, “We are very excited to embark on this collaboration with Ultratech-CNT. While we are in the early stages of this study, the initial results of our work suggest that the materials and processes we are developing could have long-range impact in this field.”

Ultratech-CNT Senior Research Scientist Ritwik Bhatia, Ph.D., who has been working closely with Professor Webster, explained, “This type of work is a marked departure from the traditional applications and uses for ALD and dramatically opens up a new field where material science and life sciences intersect. I am extremely pleased to be part of this research program and excited by the potential benefits for healthy surgical outcomes that this research represents.”

Arthur W. Zafiropoulo, Ultratech’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, said, “At Ultratech, we have long maintained and understood that material science would play a key role in moving many emerging technological fields forward. We also feel that it can serve a much larger role, namely in improving the quality of life. In linking the expertise of Prof. Webster and his research group with Ultratech-CNT’s ALD group, we believe we are taking steps to solidly and efficiently pursue our scientific and commercial goals.”

Standard solutions and devices are compared to a 60 V MOSFET with monolithic Schottky diode as evaluated in SMPS and motor control environments.

BY FILIPPO SCRIMIZZI and FILADELFO FUSILLO, STMicroelectronics, Stradale Primosole 50, Catania, Italy

On synchronous rectification and in bridge configuration, RDSon and Qg are not the only requirements for power MOSFETs. In fact, the dynamic behavior of intrinsic body-drain diode also plays an important role in the overall MOSFET performances. The forward voltage drop (VF,diode) of a body-drain diode impacts the device losses during freewheeling periods (when the device is in off-state and the current flows from source to drain through the intrinsic diode); the reverse recovery charge (Qrr) affects not only the device losses during the reverse recovery process but also the switching behavior, as the voltage spike across the MOSFET increases with Qrr. So, low VFD and Qrr diodes, like Schottky, can improve overall device performance, especially when mounted in bridge topologies or used as synchronous rectifiers—especially at high switching frequency and for long diode conduction times. In this article, we compare standard solutions and devices to a 60 V MOSFET with monolithic Schottky diode as evaluated in SMPS and motor control environments.

Intrinsic MOSFET body-drain diode and Schottky features

In FIGURE 1, the typical symbol for an N-channel Power MOSFET is depicted. The intrinsic body-drain diode is formed by the p-body and n–drift regions and is shown in parallel to the MOSFET channel.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.08.52 PM

 

Once a Power MOSFET is selected, the integral body diode is fixed by silicon characteristic and device design. As the intrinsic body diode is paralleled to the device channel, it is important to analyze its static and dynamic behavior, especially in applications where the body diode conducts. So, maximum blocking voltage and forward current have to be considered in reverse and forward bias, while, when the diode turns-off after conducting, it is important to investigate the reverse recovery process (FIGURE 2). When the diode goes from forward to reverse bias, the current doesn’t reduce to zero immediately, as the charge stored during on-state has to be removed. So, at t = t0, the diode commutation process starts, and the current reduces with a constant and slope (-a), fixed only by the external inductances and the supply voltage. The diode is forward biased until t1, while from t1 to t2, the voltage drop across the diode increases, reaching the supply voltage with the maximum reverse current at t=t2. The time interval (t3-t0) is defined as reverse recovery time (trr) while the area between negative current and zero line is the reverse recovery charge (Qrr).The current slope during tB is linked mainly to device design and silicon characteristics.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.08.59 PM

The classification of soft and snap recovery is based on the softness factor: Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.58 PMthis parameter can be important in many applications. The higher the softness factor, the softer the recovery. In fact, if tB region is very short, the effect of quick current change with the circuit intrinsic inductances can produce undesired voltage overshoot and ringing. This voltage spike could exceed the device breakdown voltage: moreover, EMI performances worsen. As shown in Fig. 2, during diode recovery, high currents and reverse voltage can produce instantaneous power dissipation, reducing the system efficiency. Moreover, in bridge topologies, the maximum reverse recovery current of a Low Side device adds to the High Side current, increasing its power dissipation up to maximum ratings. In switching applications, like bridge topologies, buck converters, or synchronous rectification, body diodes are used as freewheeling elements. In these cases, reverse recovery charge (Qrr) reduction can help maximize system efficiency and limit possible voltage spike and switching noise at turn-off. One strategy to reach this target to integrate a Schottky diode in the MOSFET structure. A Schottky diode is realized by an electrical contact between a thin film of metal and a semiconductor region. As the current is mainly due to majority carriers, Schottky diode has lower stored charge, and consequently, it can be switched from forward to reverse bias faster than a silicon device. An additional advantage is its lower forward voltage drop (≈0.3 V) than Si diodes, meaning that a Schottky diode has lower losses during the on state.

Embedding the Schottky diode in a 60V power MOSFET is the right device choice when Qrr and VF,diode have to be optimized to enhance the overall system performance. In FIGURE 3, the main electrical parameters of standard and integrated Schottky devices (same BVDSS and die size) are reported.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.06 PM

Benefits of Mono Schottky in a power management environment

In a synchronous buck converter (FIGURE 4), a power MOSFET with integrated Schottky diode can be mounted as a Low Side device (S2) to enhance the overall converter performance.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.13 PM

In fact, Low Side body diode conduction losses (Pdiode,cond) and reverse recovery losses (PQrr) are strictly related to the diode forward voltage drop (VF,diode) and its reverse recovery charge (Qrr):

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.20 PM

As shown in (1) and (2), these losses increase with the switching frequency, the converter input voltage, and the output current. Moreover, the dead time, when both FETs are off and the current flows in the Low Side body diode, seriously affects the diode conduction losses: with long dead times, a low diode forward voltage drop helps to minimize its conduction losses, therefore increasing the efficiency. In FIGURE 5, the efficiency in a 60W, 48V – 12V, 250 kHz synchronous buck converter is depicted.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.26 PM

Now, considering isolated power converters’ environment, when the output power increases and the dead time values are high, the right secondary side synchronous rectifier should have not only RDSon as low as possible to reduce conduction losses, but also optimized body diode behavior (in terms of Qrr and VF,diode) in order to reduce diode losses (as reported in (1) and (2)) and to minimize possible voltage spikes during turn-off transient. The 60V standard MOSFET and one with Schottky integrated devices are compared in a 500W digital power supply, formed by two power stages: power factor corrector and an LLC with synchronous rectification. The maximum output current is 42 A, while the switching frequency at full load is 80 kHz, and the dead time is 1μs. The efficiency curves are compared in FIGURE 6.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.32 PM

In both topologies, the 60 V plus Schottky device shows higher efficiency in the entire current range, an improvement in overall system performance.

Switching behavior improvement in bridge topologies

In bridge topologies, reverse recovery process occurs at the end of the freewheeling period of the Low Side device (Q2 in FIGURE 7), before the High Side (Q1 in Fig. 7) starts conducting. The resulting recovery current adds to the High Side current (as previously explained). Together with the extra-current on the High Side device, the Low Side reverse recovery and its commutation from Vds ≈ 0 V to Vdc can produce spurious bouncing on the Low Side gate- source voltage, due to induced charging of Low Side Ciss (input capacitance) via Crss (Miller capacitance).

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.38 PM

As a consequence, the induced voltage on Q2 gate could turn-on the device, worsening system robustness and efficiency. A Low Side device, in bridge configuration, should have soft commutation, without dangerous voltage spikes and high frequency ringing across drain and source. This switching behavior can be achieved using power MOSFETs with integrated Schottky diode as Low Side devices. In fact, the lower reverse recovery charge (Qrr) has a direct impact on the overshoot value. In fact, the higher the Qrr, the higher the overshoot. Lower values for Vds overshoot and ringing reduce the spurious voltage bouncing on the Low Side gate, limiting the potential risk for a shoot-through event. Furthermore, soft recovery enhances overall EMI performances, as the switching noise is reduced. In FIGURE 8 are shown the High Side turn-on waveforms for standard and embedded Schottky devices; purple trace (left graph) and green trace (right graph) are Low Side gate-source voltages. The device with Schottky diode shows a strong reduction of Low Side spurious bouncing.

Screen Shot 2016-05-11 at 12.09.47 PM

Summary

In many applications (synchronous rectification for indus- trial and telecom SMPS, DC-AC inverter, motor drives), choosing the right MOSFET means not only considering RDSon and Qg but also evaluating the static and dynamic behavior of the intrinsic body-drain diode. A 60V “F7” power MOSFET with integrated Schottky diode ensures optimized performances in efficiency and commutation when a soft reverse recovery with low Qrr is required. Furthermore, the low VF,diode value achieves higher efficiency when long freewheeling periods or dead-times are present in the application.

References

1. “Fundamental of Power Semiconductor Devices”, B.J.Baliga – 2008, Springer Science

A team led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a method to enhance the photoluminescence efficiency of tungsten diselenide, a two-dimensional semiconductor, paving the way for the application of such semiconductors in advanced optoelectronic and photonic devices.

Tungsten diselenide is a single-molecule-thick semiconductor that is part of an emerging class of materials called transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), which have the ability to convert light to electricity and vice versa, making them strong potential candidates for optoelectronic devices such as thin film solar cells, photodetectors flexible logic circuits and sensors. However, its atomically thin structure reduces its absorption and photoluminescence properties, thereby limiting its practical applications.

By incorporating monolayers of tungsten diselenide onto gold substrates with nanosized trenches, the research team, led by Professor Andrew Wee of the Department of Physics at the NUS Faculty of Science, successfully enhanced the nanomaterial’s photoluminescence by up to 20,000-fold. This technological breakthrough creates new opportunities of applying tungsten diselenide as a novel semiconductor material for advanced applications.

Ms Wang Zhuo, a PhD candidate from the NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering (NGS) and first author of the paper, explained, “This is the first work to demonstrate the use of gold plasmonic nanostructures to improve the photoluminescence of tungsten diselenide, and we have managed to achieve an unprecedented enhancement of the light absorption and emission efficiency of this nanomaterial.”

Elaborating on the significance of the novel method, Prof Wee said, “The key to this work is the design of the gold plasmonic nanoarray templates. In our system, the resonances can be tuned to be matched with the pump laser wavelength by varying the pitch of the structures. This is critical for plasmon coupling with light to achieve optimal field confinement.”

The novel research was first published online in the journal Nature Communications on 6 May 2016.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) this week announced worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $26.1 billion for the month of March 2016, a slight increase of 0.3 percent compared to the previous month’s total of $26.0 billion. Sales from the first quarter of 2016 were $78.3 billion, down 5.5 percent compared to the previous quarter and 5.8 lower than the first quarter of 2015. All monthly sales numbers are compiled by the World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS) organization and represent a three-month moving average.

“Global semiconductor sales increased in March for the first time in five months, but soft demand, market cyclicality, and macroeconomic conditions continue to impede more robust growth,” said John Neuffer, president and CEO, Semiconductor Industry Association. “Q1 sales lagged behind last quarter across nearly all regional markets, with the Americas showing the sharpest decline.”

Regionally, month-to-month sales increased in Japan (4.8 percent), Asia Pacific/All Other (2.3 percent), and Europe (0.1 percent), but fell in China (-1.1 percent) and the Americas (-2.8 percent). Compared to the same month last year, sales in March increased in Japan (1.8 percent) and China (1.3 percent), but decreased in Asia Pacific/All Other (-6.4 percent), Europe (-9.8 percent), and the Americas (-15.8 percent).

“Eighty-three percent of U.S. semiconductor industry sales are into markets outside the U.S., so access to overseas markets is imperative to the long-term strength of our industry,” Neuffer said. “The Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) is a landmark trade agreement that would tear down myriad barriers to trade with countries in the Asia-Pacific. The TPP is good for the semiconductor industry, the tech sector, the American economy, and the global economy. Congress should approve it.”

March 2016

Billions

Month-to-Month Sales                               

Market

Last Month

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.03

4.89

-2.8%

Europe

2.66

2.67

0.1%

Japan

2.47

2.59

4.8%

China

8.02

7.93

-1.1%

Asia Pacific/All Other

7.83

8.01

2.3%

Total

26.02

26.09

0.3%

Year-to-Year Sales                          

Market

Last Year

Current Month

% Change

Americas

5.81

4.89

-15.8%

Europe

2.96

2.67

-9.8%

Japan

2.55

2.59

1.8%

China

7.83

7.93

1.3%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.57

8.01

-6.4%

Total

27.70

26.09

-5.8%

Three-Month-Moving Average Sales

Market

Oct/Nov/Dec

Jan/Feb/Mar

% Change

Americas

5.75

4.89

-15.0%

Europe

2.77

2.67

-3.6%

Japan

2.57

2.59

0.8%

China

8.45

7.93

-6.1%

Asia Pacific/All Other

8.08

8.01

-0.8%

Total

27.62

26.09

-5.5%
Year-to-year percent change in world semiconductor revenues over the past 20 years.

Year-to-year percent change in world semiconductor revenues over the past 20 years.

By Lara Chamness, Industry Research and Statistics, SEMI

North America has a long and rich history of semiconductor manufacturing and innovation. As home to device manufacturers such as Intel, Texas Instruments, Micron, GLOBALFOUNDRIES, NXP (Freescale), Fairchild, Avago, Qorvo, Microchip, ON Semiconductor, significant operations of Samsung, and leading fabless companies such as Qualcomm, Broadcom, NVIDIA, AMD, Apple, Marvell, and Xilinx, North America continues to play an important role in advanced semiconductor manufacturing and in device and system design. SEMI’s Fab Forecast shows that North America accounts for 14 percent of Worldwide Installed Fab capacity (excluding discretes).

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org)

In terms of revenues, IC Insights recently announced, that companies headquartered in the United States continue to capture the bulk of IDM and Fabless IC Sales.

  • U.S. companies account for 51 percent of IDM Companies IC Sales in 2015
  • U.S. companies account for 62 percent of Fabless Companies IC Sales in 2015

Due to the presence of leading device manufacturers, North America represents a significant portion of the new equipment market, annual spending on average over the past five years has been in excess of $7 billion. Spending for new equipment is expected to be approach $6 billion this year.

Source: SEMI/SEAJ; Forecast, SEMI (www.semi.org)

With such a large installed fab base, North America also claims a significant portion of the wafer fab materials market.  Comparing global fab capacity to global wafer fab market share, North America represents 18 percent of the Wafer Fab Materials market compared to 14 percent of global fab capacity. This is due to the advanced device manufacturing that occurs in the region, which requires more process steps and advanced materials which fetch higher average selling prices.

Regional Wafer Fab Materials Markets

Source: SEMI (www.semi.org)

The equipment market is expected to increase about 10 percent in North America this year due to sizable investments by GLOBALFOUNDRIES, Intel and Samsung, while the Wafer Fab Materials Market is expected to remain flat this year relative to last year. As companies like Apple, Intel, Qualcomm continue to innovate, North America will remain an essential force in both device and systems design and in semiconductor manufacturing.

Plan to attend the SEMI/Gartner Market Symposium at SEMICON West 2016 on Monday, July 11, for an update on the semiconductor market outlook.