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OMRON Corporation today announced that they have finished development work on the world’s first infrared sensor manufactured with wafer-level vacuum packaging technology to create a 16×16 element MEMS non-contact infrared thermal sensor capable of highly precise 90-degree area detection. OMRON says it will ship test samples beginning in October 2013.

In recent years, the demand for human presence sensors has been growing in tandem with the demand for energy-efficient "smart home" and "smart office" environments, in which lighting, heating, etc. is automatically controlled according to where people are positioned. Since conventional pyroelectric human presence sensors (motion sensors) are only able to detect people when they are in motion, they are not as suitable for detecting the number of people in a certain space or their relative positions as Omron’s new thermal sensor.

MEMS non-contact thermal sensors measure temperature by converting infrared energy radiated from target objects into heat with MEMS thermopiles and then measuring the thermoelectromotive force resulting from temperature differences that occur across the contact points of two different types of metal. However, up till now it has not been possible to create large temperature differences across the metal contact points because much of the heat generated by the thermopiles dissipates into the surrounding air, meaning that the resulting thermoelectromotive force is reduced thereby limiting sensitivity. Omron believes they solved this heat dissipation problem by vacuum sealing the thermopiles inside the chip – the first time this has been achieved. The reduction in heat dissipation leads to a greater temperature difference across the metal contacts thereby increasing sensitivity.

How non-contact thermal sensors work

MEMS thermal sensor wafer level packaging

Thermal sensors utilize the Seebeck effect in which thermoelectric force is generated due to the temperature difference at the contact points between two different kinds of metal. Thermopiles are created by serially connecting thermocouples consisting of N+ poly Si, P+ poly Si, and Al. By creating hot junctions on highly heat-resistant dielectric membranes, and cold junctions on highly heat-conductive silicon, it is possible to achieve high-energy conversion efficiency. Sealing thermopiles in a vacuum prevents the heat they create from dissipating into the air thereby increasing sensitivity. 

Omron will now also work on commercializing stand-alone human presence sensor modules by combining non-contact thermal sensors with algorithms that can accurately distinguish the number of people and their positions within a detected space.

Model versions of Omron’s new human presence sensors will be displayed at the "Nanomicro Biz" Exhibition at Tokyo Big Sight on July 3, 4, and 5.

The development of this new sensor was the result of research carried out in collaboration with Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization.

 

Element Six today announced it has acquired the assets and intellectual property of Group4 Labs, Inc. (Group4), a semiconductor wafer materials company that manufactured gallium nitride (GaN) on-diamond semiconductor technology for RF and high-power devices. The asset acquisition will expand Element Six’s semiconductor portfolio for defense and commercial applications.  The assets were acquired through an assignment for the benefit of creditors from Group4 LLC.

Group4 developed the first commercially available composite semiconductor wafer that includes GaN and diamond. Designed for manufacturers of transistor-based circuits with high power, temperature and frequency characteristics, the first-ever GaN-on-diamond system enables rapid, efficient and cost-effective heat extraction. This process reduces the operating temperatures of packaged devices, addressing heat issues that account for more than 50 percent of all electronic failures. Synthetic diamond dissipates heat up to five times better than existing materials, such as copper and silicon carbide, enabling device manufacturers to produce smaller, faster and higher power electronic devices, with longer lifespans and improved reliability.

When implemented within power amplifiers, microwave and millimeter wave circuits, GaN-on-diamond systems pose numerous benefits and applications within the defense and commercial sectors. This includes deployment in cellular base stations, radar sensing equipment, weather and communications satellite equipment, and inverters and converters typically used in hybrid and electronic vehicles.

The Group4 GaN-on-diamond technology was a critical element of TriQuint Semiconductor’s device, which won the Compound Semiconductor Industry Award in March. TriQuint demonstrated its new GaN-on-diamond, high electron mobility transistors (HEMT) in conjunction with partners at the University of Bristol, Group4 and Lockheed Martin under the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) Near Junction Thermal Transport (NJTT) program. TriQuint has designed devices using this technology to achieve up to a three-fold improvement in heat dissipation, the primary NJTT goal, while preserving RF functionality. This would translate into a potential reduction of the power amplifier size or increasing output power by a factor of three.

“GaN-on-diamond wafers are poised to take a center seat in many of our customers technology roadmaps, as new developments demonstrate its ability to dramatically reduce device temperatures, while maintaining output performance,” said Adrian Wilson, head of technologies for Element Six. “With the acquisition of the GaN-on-diamond process developed by Group4, we plan to continue to support the market’s growth trajectory, ramping up manufacturing capabilities to deliver innovative synthetic diamond solutions to meet emerging market demands.”

Founded as a startup in 2003, Group4 has partnered with Element Six since 2008.

“The scaling up of GaN-on-diamond wafer manufacturing volumes will need the unique heft, skill, and synergy of Element Six to make it possible,” said Felix Ejeckam, Chairman and CEO of Group4.  “We believe that our customers will benefit enormously from this GaN-on-diamond process acquisition.”

Element Six’s Technologies division continues to experience strong market success, growing 20 percent per annum.

UPDATE: Intel has been revealed as the purchaser of the GNSS business unit of ST-Ericsson. The deal extends Intel’s position in the mobile chip business, an area that it is eager to penetrate.

PREVIOUSLY: ST-Ericsson, a joint venture of STMicroelectronics and Ericsson, today announced the signature of a definitive agreement to sell the assets and intellectual property rights associated with its mobile connectivity Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) business to a semiconductor company. At the time of release, ST had not released the name of the purchasing company.

The sale of these assets represents another step in the execution of Ericsson’s and ST’s announcement of March 18, 2013. In addition to the assets and IPR associated with this business, a team of 130 industry veterans located in Daventry (UK), Bangalore (India) and Singapore are anticipated to join the buyer at closing of the transaction.

The closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and standard conditions and is expected to be completed in August 2013. ST-Ericsson estimates the proceeds from the sale, combined with the avoidance of employee restructuring charges and other related restructuring costs, will reduce the joint venture’s cash needs by approximately $90 million.

"Today’s transaction validates the leading innovation developed by ST-Ericsson in mobile navigation systems and marks a further important step towards the execution of our shareholders’ decision to exit from ST-Ericsson" commented Carlo Ferro, president and CEO of ST-Ericsson. "I am pleased that this organization will continue to develop leading-edge technologies and delighted that the team found a new home at a leading player in the semiconductor industry."

ATIC logoThe Advanced Technology Investment Company (ATIC) and the Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC) today launched the ATIC-SRC Center of Excellence for Energy Efficient Electronic Systems (ACE4S), to be hosted jointly in Abu Dhabi by Khalifa University of Science, Technology and Research, and Masdar Institute of Science and Technology. ATIC will dedicate over AED 17.5 million to the project over the next three years, which will be matched collectively by Masdar Institute and Khalifa University for a total budget of more than AED 35 million. This funding will drive innovation in next-generation electronic systems ranging in applications from smart phones and medical devices to the Internet of Things.

“This center is a significant research milestone for Abu Dhabi, the UAE and the region,” said Sami Issa, Executive Director at ATIC. “ACE4S is a critical building block of our ecosystem strategy to help enable the development of homegrown talent in key areas of science and technology. Such talent development is essential as Abu Dhabi transitions into an innovation-based society as per the 2030 vision.”

SRC logo“Over the past 30 years, SRC has successfully helped establish numerous university research centers and distributed more than $2 billion dollars in research funds in the United States; ACE4S role as our first international center reflects significantly on the quality of research we pursue,” said SRC President Larry Sumney. “The ACE4S Center has been established with valuable industry guidance from companies such as GLOBALFOUNDRIES, AMD, Applied Materials, Freescale, IBM, Intel, Mentor Graphics, Texas Instruments and Tokyo Electron (TEL) and will build on SRC-sponsored university research supporting 15 individual researchers in the UAE. Top semiconductor industry experts will oversee and serve as liaisons for each research task, and SRC will productively guide the overall research while also promoting strong student engagement—enabling us to identify areas of greatest need and foster the move of innovations from lab to market.”

The center will be overseen by a steering committee of high-level ATIC, SRC, Khalifa University and Masdar Institute representatives and will be directed jointly by Professors Mohammed Ismail of Khalifa University, and Ibrahim Elfadel of Masdar Institute. The directors will oversee research across five targeted areas and work closely with a Technology Advisory Board (TAB) of representatives from industry-leading companies.

GLOBALFOUNDRIES will serve a special role on the TAB, assigning Mohamed Lakehal as an Abu Dhabi-based industrial liaison to oversee design tape-outs to fabrication in GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ facilities worldwide. The liaison will also support design enablement, deploying design-for-manufacture tools and raising the level of local semiconductor expertise.

“As a research-oriented institution, we are proud to be part of the ACE4S leadership and offer our expertise and research capabilities,” said Dr. Fred Moavenzadeh, President, Masdar Institute. “Our faculty will aim to develop microelectronic technologies with healthcare applications individually and in collaboration with their peers within the initial period of the center’s operation. These innovative products will include biosensor applications, wearable devices and self-powered wireless body area networks (WBAN). We believe these applications will have a wide impact because of their energy efficiency and novel designs.”

“This partnership will transform the way we conduct research in nano-scale energy efficient systems-on-chips as it will help us educate and train a highly skilled workforce with relevant skills. This is a key element in driving innovation and entrepreneurship in the UAE’s semiconductor sector in line with the Abu Dhabi 2030 vision,” said Dr. Tod A. Larsen, President of Khalifa University. “The involvement of the SRC and its member companies in center development will help create a world-leading institution with a sustainable university/industry collaborative research environment conducive to high-tech job creation and direct local and foreign investment.”

The center will focus on energy efficient devices with research in energy harvesting, power management, sensor technologies and wireless communications networks. The research will be conducted primarily at Khalifa University and Masdar Institute but with important involvement from UAE University, American University of Sharjah and New York University, Abu Dhabi.  Within the first three years, ACE4S will seek to produce integrated prototypes with healthcare applications as well as knowledge and research relevant to safety and security, aerospace, water quality and the environment.

Supporting the transition of innovations to market, the center will develop an aggressive Intellectual Property Management Plan (IPMP). The IPMP will include early identification of interconnected families of innovation arising from technical themes, placing special emphasis on the integrated systems selected for demonstration at the end of year three.

ACE4S is a continuation of ATIC’s broader focus on cultivating a technology research ecosystem within Abu Dhabi. Additional programs supported in this vein include: the Twin-Labs research center, a collaboration between Masdar Institute and Technical University of Dresden with support from the State of Saxony, ATIC and GLOBALFOUNDRIES; the ATIC professorship chairs at UAEU and Khalifa University;  the Masters in Microsystems degree in collaboration with Masdar Institute; and ongoing MEES research grants in collaboration with the SRC.

Transparent electrodes refer to oxide degenerate semiconductor electrodes that possess a high level of light transmittance (more than 85 percent) in the visible light spectrum, and low resistivity (less than 1×10-3 Ω-㎝) at the same time. Transparent electrodes are key materials in the IT industry, used in flat displays, photovoltaics, touch panels, and transparent transistors, which need light transmission and current injection/output simultaneously. Up until now, sputtered ITOs (SnO2-doped In2O3) have been widely used.

Recently with the remarkable development in flexible photoelectronic technologies, such as flexible displays, photovoltaics and electric devices, more attention is being put on flexible transparent electrode technology, which can be produced on a flexible substrate rather than the conventional glass substrate. ITO tends to be vulnerable to the substrate’s bending, and thus CNT-, graphene-, and silver-based transparent electrodes as well as polymer transparent electrodes are suggested to replace the ITO.

The usage of transparent electrodes vary: they are used as electrode materials for LCDs, OLEDs, PDPs and transparent displays, while they are used as touch sensors for resistive and capacitive touch panels. They are also used as electrodes for a-Si, CIGS, CdTe, and DSSC photovoltaics.

Displaybank published the “Transparent Electrode Technology Trends and Market Forecast 2013” report. It covers the technological developments related to transparent electrodes and business activities as well as its market forecast up to 2020.

The overall transparent electrode market is forecast to grow to $5.1 billion by 2020, from $1.9 billion in 2012. By market size, display and touch sensor markets are deemed to be the largest. In the display segment, the flexible display will expand to make up 11 percent in 2019, thereby making way for transparent electrodes to replace the ITO and oxide transparent electrodes. In 2020, the oxide transparent electrode is forecast to make up 8 percent of the total market, and silver-based materials or carbon nanotubes will most likely be the strong candidates.

In terms of production cost, the touch sensor market is the best for the transparent electrode to enter, particularly compared to the display market. But the next generation transparent electrode applied to touch sensors will not reach 10 percent of the total market until 2020. It is because the alternative to the ITO must have the same level of properties as the ITO at low production cost. Strategic collaboration with major brands will be inevitably required. Currently, there is no next generation electrode that can perform on a similar level as the ITO and that is able to be mass produced. But if the flexible display market opens up earlier than expected, next generation transparent electrodes will likely replace ITOs at a faster rate.

CEA-Leti will host a workshop for industrial companies to present its latest advances in MEMS and an overview of the success of its recent MEMS startup, Wavelens, during Transducers’ 2013 and Eurosensors XXVII in Barcelona, Spain.

Workshop: 6:30-8 p.m., June 18, Rooms 118-119, CCIB Barcelona

The session features three brief presentations from 6:30-7:10 p.m.: 6:30-6:40 p.m.: Overview of CEA-Leti, from technologies to applications.  Jean-René Lèquepeys, head of Leti’s Silicon Components Division, which is involved in micro- and nanoelectronics, micro- and nanosystems, and 3Dstacking.

6:40-7 p.m.: Presentation of Leti’s most recent major achievements in the MEMS field, with a focus on advanced multi-purpose MEMS and NEMS platforms. Dr. Julien Arcamone, manager for MEMS business development in the Silicon Components Division.

7-7:10 p.m.: Update on Wavelens, a recent Leti startup that is focused on improving the performance of miniature cameras with innovative MEMS optical solutions. Dr. Arnaud Pouydebasque, Wavelens CTO.

A networking and cocktail event will follow the workshop from 7:10 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Leti is an institute of CEA, a French research-and-technology organization with activities in energy, IT, healthcare, defence and security. It specializes in nanotechnologies and their applications, from wireless devices and systems, to biology, healthcare and photonics. NEMS and MEMS are at the core of its activities. CEA-Leti operates 8,000-m² of clean room space on 200mm and 300mm wafer platforms. It employs 1,700 scientists and engineers including 320 Ph.D. students and 200 assignees from partner companies. CEA-Leti owns more than 2,200 patent families.

Mentor Graphics Corp. today announced significant achievements in its continued collaboration with TSMC on 20nm physical verification kit optimizations. This joint effort has reduced Calibre nmDRC 20nm signoff runtimes by at least a factor of 3X and memory requirements by 60 percent compared to initial design kits released last year. In addition, Calibre PERC N20 design kits are now available to TSMC customers as part of the companies’ ongoing collaboration for IC reliability improvement. The collaboration will continue as mutual customer’s ramp their releases of N20 production designs, with the goal of maintaining rapid turnaround on full-chip signoff runs for the largest SoC designs in the industry.

The Calibre PERC kit for N20 includes new checks for latch-up prevention and IO-ESD protection, and a number of multiple power domain checks, which represent a significant step forward in automating procedures that previously had to be done manually. Moreover, by using both the Calibre PERC and Calibre nmDRC kits, customers are able to quickly identify and correct voltage-aware DRC violations, which is critical for today’s multi-voltage advanced process designs.

Other ongoing collaboration between TSMC and Mentor is focusing on optimizing the Calibre DFM product family, which incorporates TSMC’s unified DFM (UDFM) engine. Improvements are expected to result in runtime reduction in TSMC’s latest DDK release, and customers who use any DFM tools compliant with TSMC UDFM engine will benefit.

“Our work with TSMC demonstrates the advantage of close collaboration among the foundry, EDA vendor and lead customers to bring new process nodes to market more efficiently,” said Michael Buehler-Garcia, senior director of Calibre Design Solutions Marketing at Mentor Graphics. “Our efforts don’t stop when tools are qualified. We continue to work with TSMC to optimize the design kits as the process matures, resulting in overall shorter design cycle times.”

“The close working relationship between TSMC and Mentor has existed for many years and continues to result in new solutions and rapid performance optimization,” said Suk Lee, TSMC senior director, Design Infrastructure Marketing Division. “With N20 we have taken our efforts to the next level to deliver optimized Calibre DRC decks, which include multi-patterning, on an even faster timetable than for prior nodes. Building on this success we have already extended performance improvements to the first-release Calibre N16 decks.”

TSMC and Mentor will speak about their recent optimization efforts in a session titled “Best Practices for Verification at Advanced 20nm Process Nodes” at the Design Automation Conference (DAC), Austin, Texas, June 2-5.

Signetics Corporation today announced that it has again approved capex plans that will further expand their capacity for flip chip package assembly at their factory in Paju, South Korea. The new Flip Chip expansion will be ready for volume production in July 2013 and will increase assembly capacity by more than twenty percent. This line is capable of handling boat type flip chip ball grid arrays (FCBGA) including Signetics’ new high density Super Wide Boat, as well as flip chip fine pitch BGAs (FCFBGA) with substrates as wide as 95mm.

"In the first half of this year, we have continued to see an increase in the forecasts for Flip Chip packaging from our established tier 1 and high growth customers," stated JI Kim, CEO and president of Signetics. "The growth in flip chip continues to be driven by applications such as Smart TVs, SSD and WiFi", continued Kim.

Signetics offers a range of flip chip packaging options that use industry standard bumping technologies as well as the finer pitch copper pillar bumping technology.  Substrates used for flip chip packaging at Signetics include both PBGA and FBGA as well as leadframe technologies such as QFN.  Flip chip assembly is offered in multi die or system-in-package configurations and hybrid configurations with both wirebond and flip chip connectivity for today’s new applications that require more and more system integration in a single package.

A new report from IHS Displaybank analyzes the scope of the flexible OLED patents issued. Of U.S patents published by July 2012, a patent containing flexible OLED structure-related technology was selected as the Issue Patent and through the prior art and citation analysis of the issue patent, key patents were extracted, and the flow of flexible OLED structure-related technology was analyzed.

Flexible OLED structure key patents analysis

patent analysis on flexible OLED structures

Flexible display is drawing attention because of its advantages that it is thin like a paper and can be bent and rolled without the damage through the substrate. As the display technology that can be integrated to the flexible display, OLED is being regarded as the one of the most likely candidates.

OLED is thin, bendable, cheap, self-luminance, and can implement clear picture quality. Thus, as OLED tries to widen the area up to large-area display market, the expectation for flexible OLED is growing.

The basic structure of flexible OLED consists of flexible substrate, which is needed to be the bendable or rollable form, TFT device that drives each pixel, light-emitting OLED, and thin-film encapsulation that blocks moisture and oxygen for the long lifetime of OLED.

Recently, the leading companies’ research on the core technology is accelerating and the patent barrier of the product structure (the basic concept) and the individual components of flexible OLED is strengthening, and it is not easy to find the source patent from many patents.

Thus, IHS Displaybank examined the source of flexible OLED structure patent through its report, “Flexible OLED Structure-related Key Patents Analysis.” 

Is the source patent of flexible OLED structure valid?

The report examined prior art that has been reviewed in the patent examination in details by selecting “issue patent,” and also traced the source of flexible OLED structure patents by encompassing 40 patents that have been cited in the “issue patent.”

In particular, main point analysis of flexible OLED structure-related key patents (16 patents), extracted from the citation analysis, and the presentation of yearly technology trend are configured to help setting the direction of R&D, patent application, and corresponding patent disputes.

ams AG, a provider of high performance analog ICs and sensors, today introduced the AS3721, a power management IC (PMIC) with an innovative remote-feedback circuit that helps reduce the thermal stress of applications processors in smartphones and tablets.

When paired with new AS3729 point-of-load regulators from ams, the highly-integrated AS3721 provides a complete power management system that offers a fast response to load transients for reliable processor performance, high efficiency, and flexible board layout.

The AS3721 and AS3729 are optimized for use with Tegra applications processors from Nvidia.

The AS3721 PMIC enables a compact remote feedback path from the processor to the IC’s integrated DC-DC controllers. Thanks to a patent-pending design innovation by ams, the feedback interface to the AS3721 only requires two wires (one control signal, one temperature signal) instead of the four or five wires typically required by other PMICs.

With fewer traces connecting the PMIC to the point-of-load power stages, the two devices can be placed far apart in the board layouts of space-constrained devices such as smartphones, tablets and notebooks. This dramatically reduces the size and intensity of the hotspot around the processor compared to conventional power architectures in which the processor and PMIC, both handling high currents simultaneously, must be located side-by-side.

The feedback loop carried over the AS3721’s two-wire interface also operates extremely fast, maintaining the processor it supports within its safe operating voltage even when supplying extremely fast-changing loads. Using an output capacitor of just 40µF and at an output voltage of 1.0V, the system’s voltage drop during a step up from 0.5A to 5A in burst mode is just 32mV (typical).

The AS3729 5A point-of-load power stages complement the AS3721 PMIC. The AS3729 contains NMOS and PMOS FETs for each of two phases, which can be controlled separately and can handle an output current of 2.5A. The PMIC can combine up to four devices in an eight-phase configuration that supplies a 20A maximum output. By choosing single- or multi-phase configurations, device manufacturers can optimize their design either for cost and board footprint (using fewer, larger inductors) or for low profile (using more, smaller inductors).

The AS3721 PMIC features four DC-DC step-down regulators supplying 4A, 2A and 1.5A; three DC-DC step-down controllers rated for 5A, 10A and 20A; 12 digital LDOs; a real-time clock; a supervisor circuit; GPIOs; a general-purpose ADC; and a one-time programmable boot sequence. The device’s 8mm x 8mm BGA package has a pitch of just 0.5mm.

The AS3729 power stage is in a chip-scale package measuring just 1.6mm x 1.6mm and with a 0.4mm pitch.

“Our patent-pending feedback interface technique provides for a huge improvement in the board layout of smartphones and tablets, and will allow device manufacturers to dramatically reduce the thermal stress on the processor and associated components,” Kambiz Dawoodi, vice-president and general manager of the power and wireless business unit at ams, said.