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Growth in the last quarter of 2012 pulled GaAs device revenue to a slight gain for 2012. The Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service (GaAs) Insight, “GaAs Device Industry Closes up in 2012,” explores GaAs device revenue growth and trends. It also presents the revenue performance of leading GaAs device manufacturers and foundries like RFMD, Skyworks, TriQuint Semiconductor, Avago Technologies and WIN Semiconductors.

The Insight concludes that handset growth, particularly smartphones, is responsible for most of the revenue growth in the GaAs device market. As data consumption continues to soar, handsets will remain the primary driver for GaAs device growth. In the short-term, revenue in the GaAs device market is expected to exceed the historical average. In the longer term, the Insight points out that recent developments in CMOS multi-mode, multi-band handset PAs from Qualcomm and others will pose a significant threat to the GaAs device market.

“Smartphones continue to grow faster than the overall handset market. This growth, coupled with more bands and increased GaAs device content remains the single biggest driver for revenue growth in the GaAs device market,” noted Eric Higham, Director of the Strategy Analytics GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Technologies Service (GaAs). “In the short-term, we anticipate this combination of factors will drive GaAs device revenue growth above historical averages”.

Asif Anwar, director, Strategy Analytics Strategic Technologies Practice, added, “Strong growth in the last quarter of 2012 provides a good starting point for the GaAs industry in 2013. However, recent announcements about CMOS multi-mode, multi-band PAs and envelope tracking will threaten the GaAs device market and these developments will be monitored closely.”

 

ARM Holdings plc, a semiconductor intellectual property (IP) supplier, announces today that Chief Executive Officer Warren East has decided to retire from the company, effective 1 July 2013, after nearly 12 years as CEO and 19 years at the company. Simon Segars, currently President of ARM, will become the company’s new CEO.

Warren East joined ARM in 1994 to establish the company’s consulting business and later became VP of business operations. Within three years, he was appointed to the board as Chief Operating Officer. Warren became ARM’s CEO in October 2001.

Simon Segars, 45, joined the board in January 2005, is president of ARM, and has operational responsibility for the company’s IP divisions. Simon has been with ARM since 1991 and has held several executive roles including EVP Engineering, when he worked on many of the early ARM processors, as well as EVP Worldwide Sales and EVP Business Development. He has international leadership experience having held senior positions for ARM in both the UK and the USA.

“It has been a privilege to lead ARM during such a momentous and exciting time for our industry and I am proud of what the ARM team of employees and partners has achieved together while I have been CEO; ARM is a great company with a strong market position and a unique culture,” Warren East said. “We take a very long-term view about our business, and we believe that now is the right time to bring in new leadership, to execute on the next phase of growth and to plan even further into the future. I have worked with Simon in the senior leadership team for many years and we share a global perspective and belief in the ARM approach to partnership and collaboration; he is an excellent choice to lead ARM.”

“Warren has transformed ARM during his time as CEO,” John Buchanan, chairman of ARM Holdings plc, said. “During Warren’s tenure the company has received royalties for over 40 billion ARM-based chips. As CEO he has created a strong platform for growth and consistently created value for shareholders even in a challenging external environment. On behalf of the board, and the wider ARM team, deep thanks are due to Warren for his passion, service and leadership. The Board is delighted to have someone of Simon Segars’ experience and calibre within ARM to appoint to the role of CEO.”

“I am honored to have been appointed to succeed Warren, who has achieved so much in his time leading the business,” Simon Segars said. “Above all, Warren’s vision of the ARM business model and commitment to the ARM partnership has been inspirational and has created a tremendous platform for future growth. I am keen to lead the Company into the next phase of growth, working even more closely with John, the Board, our employees and our customers as well as continuing to develop the ARM partnership.”

STMicroelectronics and CMP today announced that ST’s THELMA MEMS manufacturing process, the process ST uses for its industry-leading accelerometers and gyroscopes, which have shipped in billions of units, is now available for prototyping to universities, research labs and design companies through the silicon brokerage services provided by CMP. ST is releasing this process technology to third parties as a prototyping and foundry service to encourage new developments in motion-sensing applications for consumer, automotive, industrial and healthcare markets.

The 0.8-micron, surface micro-machining THELMA (Thick Epitaxial Layer for Micro-gyroscopes and Accelerometers) process combines variably thick and thin poly-silicon layers for structures and interconnections. This enables the integration of linear and angular mechanical elements in a single chip, delivering significant cost and size benefits to customers.

The CMP multi-project wafer service allows organizations to obtain small quantities — typically from a few dozens to a few thousand units — of advanced ICs manufactured using the same process technologies as would be used on much higher-volume products. The THELMA process design rules and design kits are now available for universities and microelectronics companies and the first requests are already being answered.

The introduction of ST’s MEMS manufacturing process in CMP’s catalogue builds on the collaboration that has allowed universities and design firms to access ST’s semiconductor manufacturing processes from the 130nm CMOS, introduced in 2003, up to the 28nm FD-SOI technology, released for prototyping in late 2012, which enables the efficient design of next-generation mobile devices that simultaneously require high performance and low power consumption.

"The small-scale availability of our industry-leading MEMS process alongside CMOS technologies including the game-changing FD-SOI, complemented with CMP’s advanced service capabilities, offers unprecedented access to state-of-the-art in chip manufacturing for start-ups and R&D labs looking to design intelligent sensor systems," said Benedetto Vigna, Executive Vice President, General Manager, Analog, MEMS & Sensors Group, STMicroelectronics. "With leading-edge industrialized processes at their fingertips, innovators can now concentrate on developing new products rather than investing time and resources in developing technologies."

"Anticipating huge development in MEMS, CMP was the first silicon brokerage service in the world to offer MEMS technologies as early as in 1995," said Bernard Courtois, Director of CMP. "Today, CMP is expanding the very successful ST partnership to the THELMA process, offering both the CMOS part and the MEMS part from a single manufacturer. Going beyond inertial sensors, pressure sensors, microphones, e-compasses etc., the ST-CMP partnership will allow CMP customers to move towards complex, embedded systems, addressing more and more societal needs, as components of the Internet of Things."

Today at OFC/NFOEC, Kotura, Inc. announced an agreement with a large semiconductor foundry as well as relationships with strategic partners, semiconductor solutions provider Mindspeed Technologies, Inc. and laser supplier BinOptics Corporation. These partnerships will provide Kotura with an effective supply chain to commercialize Kotura’s 100G Optical Engine — a key component in the just-announced industry-first 100 gigabits per second (Gb/s) 4×25 WDM, QSFP+ module.

Kotura will leverage the capabilities of the outside foundry partner for high-volume production of its optical engine — a low-power, integrated, 100 Gb/s chip solution that supports the interconnect fabric for next generation data centers and high performance computing.

"Our silicon photonics solutions resolve price, performance and reliability issues not currently being addressed by existing approaches," said Jean-Louis Malinge, Kotura president and CEO. "In a world full of applications with pressing bandwidth and performance needs, there is tremendous opportunity for silicon photonics to heed the call, starting with the data center market as our primary target. This foundry partnership offers Kotura the fastest and most reliable path to mass production and the ability to scale to meet this demand."

The partnership with Mindspeed enables Kotura to meet the low-power requirements of the QSFP package.

"The market wants a QSFP package because of the small footprint," said Marek Tlalka, director product marketing at Mindspeed. "Integrating 25G quad drivers and TIAs can be quite a challenge. By combining our high-speed, low-power electronics and Kotura’s silicon photonics optical engine, we can meet the stringent power consumption constraints of a 100 Gb/s WDM QSFP module."

Kotura partnered with BinOptics to develop laser arrays, which can be passively flip-chip bonded onto Kotura’s Optical Engine, producing a high-volume, low-cost, electronics-style assembly.

"BinOptics’ Etched Facet Technology allows III-V photonic device facets to be formed with lithographic precision, enabling low-cost passive alignment with silicon photonics," said Dr. Alex Behfar, CEO and co-founder, BinOptics Corporation. "Eliminating active alignment is one of the key ingredients for economical, large-scale rollout of silicon photonics based 100 Gb/s solutions."

 

vacuum pumpMV Products has announced that their high-capacity, modular vacuum pump inlet-exhaust traps can be stacked for semiconductor wafer fabrication processes which produce a lot of heavy particulates.

The MV Multi-Trap 12" Vacuum Inlet Trap is an inlet-exhaust trap that can be stacked for 300mm semiconductor wafer fabricators utilizing LPCVD, PECVD, and ALD processing. Featuring all stainless steel construction with a first stage knock-down baffle, two stacked traps can accumulate up to 2,500 cu. in. of solids, depending upon the process.

Increasing the number of wafer processing runs between maintenance intervals, two stacked MV Multi-Trap 12" Vacuum Inlet Traps provide six stages of user-selectable filter elements. Filter elements include stainless steel and copper gauze, molecular sieve, activated alumina or charcoal, micro-rated pleated polypropylene, and Sodasorb.

Mass-Vac, Inc. specializes in solving the process contamination problems associated vacuum systems that are used with processes such as MOCVD, HVPE, PECVD, or LPCVD which generate high volumes of particulates. These processes are used in manufacturing green products such as solar cells, HB-LEDs, and Li-Ion batteries. Mass-Vac, Inc. is an active member of SEMI and the American Vacuum Society.

Spansion Inc., a developer flash memory solutions for embedded markets, and XMC, China’s fastest-growing 300mm semiconductor foundry, today announced an expanded partnership, to develop and manufacture Spansion 32nm NOR Flash memory. The agreement expands XMC’s current 300mm manufacturing of Spansion’s proprietary 65nm and 45nm flash memory technology.

Demand for flash memory from embedded applications continues to rise as devices become more interconnected and applications are increasingly more feature-rich with enhanced graphics and immersive user interfaces. Continued investment in Flash memory technology is critical as these connected devices demand higher densities, fast read performance, and Spansion-grade quality to ensure consistent operation.

"XMC has proven to be a strong partner for Spansion and is a critical component of our manufacturing strategy. The agreement with XMC will help Spansion meet the industry’s growing demand for advanced flash memory solutions across a range of embedded applications," said John Kispert, president and CEO of Spansion. "The combination of our leading edge 32nm technology and their manufacturing expertise will deliver innovative and high-quality products that will drive differentiation for our embedded customers."

The Spansion and XMC collaboration began in 2008. XMC foundry services, along with Spansion’s flagship manufacturing facility in Austin, Texas, are central to Spansion’s fab lite manufacturing strategy. Spansion utilizes world-class flash memory fabs from both existing internal facilities as well as foundry partnerships to create a flexible, cost-efficient manufacturing network.

“Spansion’s MirrorBit product line continues to scale providing performance and cost advantages.  XMC has been a quiet but important part of that success. There is obviously a lot of trust and confidence in the relationship,“ said Joanne Itow, managing director, Semico Research. “The move to 32nm takes the partnership to the next stage, and is a notable milestone for XMC as they establish themselves as a significant player in the industry.”

“Spansion’s flash memory is at the heart of many of the world’s electronics systems. It is a privilege to have them as a partner to drive the technology to smaller process geometries,” said Simon Yang, CEO of XMC. “The partnership is a good combination of our manufacturing prowess and their proven leading edge flash memory products.”

In 1998, Spansion started development of MirrorBit charge trapping technology to provide a scalable alternative to floating-gate technology.

Parallel and serial NOR products based on Spansion 32nm MirrorBit Charge Trap Technology from XMC will be launched in 2015. Spansion recently introduced the industry’s first 8 Gb NOR Flash memory using 45nm technology, and continues to lead the industry with the highest density and highest performance parallel and serial NOR flash memory products for embedded applications. Additional 45nm NOR Flash memory products will be available throughout 2013 and beyond.

Brooks Instrument, a provider of advanced flow, pressure, vacuum and level solutions, has expanded its GF 40/80 Series portfolio of thermal mass flow controllers. Broader capabilities, including increased flow rates up to 50 slpm and a “normally open” valve for non-hazardous gas applications, are ideal upgrades for users of Aera (Hitachi), Celerity, Tylan, Mykrolis, Millipore and Unit mass flow controllers, as well as other competitive devices.

The GF 40/80 Series leads the market in long-term zero stability at less than 0.5% per year. This specification means the device will return more reliable accuracy data for a longer period of time, giving users greater confidence in the numbers reported. The GF 40/80 Series is also available with Brooks’ patented MultiFlo, a powerful technology that enables users to re-program the gas and/or range in minutes without the trouble and cost of removing the mass flow controller from service. Brooks has expanded the flow rates for the GF 40/80 Series from 30 slpm to 50 slpm, making these devices an excellent choice for applications that require a higher flow rate with the flexibility of a MultiFlo-capable mass flow controller.

Newly expanded RS485 communication protocols increase the flexibility and application range of the GF 40/80 Series. These versions of the RS485 protocols are ideal for users of Aera (Hitachi), Celerity, Tylan, Mykrolis, Millipore and Unit mass flow controllers, which are now part of the Brooks product line following its acquisition of Celerity Instrumentation in 2009. These end users can now upgrade to a device that offers better accuracy and repeatability while keeping the same communication protocols.

The GF 40/80 Series also integrates the EtherCAT communication protocol, which is a high-performance, ethernet-based fieldbus system designed for process control applications requiring short data update times with low communication “jitter.” Adopted by leading-edge technology companies, EtherCAT makes it easier to network instrumentation for advanced process control and diagnostics capabilities.

The GF 40 is now equipped with a “normally open” valve for non-hazardous gas applications that require a fully open valve in the event of a process interruption. Normally open valves are desirable in applications where it is preferable for the valve to remain open even if a facility loses power, so that the mass flow controller continues to provide maximum purge gas flow from the system.

The GF 80 also features a new Teflon valve seat. The valve seat is non-reactive, which allows the GF 80 to be used in applications for corrosive and reactive gases.

mass flow controllers

A joint industry/academia consortium, supported by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme, has reported the successful conclusion of a three-year project and the release of its design-synthesis tool flow and related litho-friendly cell libraries and evaluation metrics.

The SYNAPTIC research project included eight partner organizations from across Europe and Brazil who worked together to develop innovative regularity-centric design methods and Electronics Design Automation (EDA) tools. The goal of the project was to reduce limitations in both logical and physical implementation effectiveness associated with technology scaling and advanced sub-wavelength lithography.

Through the development of new pattern-aware logic synthesis and implementation techniques, SYNAPTIC addressed critical problems such as systematic variability reduction, DFM (Design for Manufacturing) and yield improvement (at the cell, IP/macro, and system levels), sophisticated area/performance trade-offs, and system-level/architectural predictability and sign-off, for the European semiconductor industry. The goal has been to sustain the scaling predicted by Moore’s Law into advanced nanometer technologies.

The libraries, tools, and methodologies developed within the SYNAPTIC project can enable synthesis and implementation of several designs based on a reduced set of regular layout patterns with similar area, power consumption, and timing performance. These efforts have demonstrated that the beneficial impact of regularity on variability and manufacturability does not have detrimental effects on the other metrics. The yield metric and models developed in SYNAPTIC show that a significant yield improvement can be achieved for large process windows, which immediately translate into cost benefits, increased productivity, and faster time-to-market by reducing the effort on OPC (Optical Proximity Correction) before fabrication. The process flow developed by SYNAPTIC is stable and delivers consistent results, and is ready for an evaluation on industrial designs.

By successfully reaching all the milestones and enabling the exploitation of the regularity concept at different stages of design development and implementation, and in a new class of innovative synthesis and automatic library generation tools, the SYNAPTIC project has been instrumental in aligning the European semiconductor industry to global Integrated Device Manufacturers (IDMs) and Far East foundries, increasing the competitiveness of semiconductor and EDA companies in Europe.

Moreover, by thoroughly disseminating its activities throughout the project, SYNAPTIC has also contributed to making the European academic research in this field more visible worldwide.

The SYNAPTIC Consortium partners include design optimization company Nangate; Europe’s largest IDM, STMicroelectronics; Thales (France), which is the European global technology leader for the aerospace, space, defense, security and transportation markets; and imec (Belgium), which performs world-leading research in nanoelectronics. Three leading universities, Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain) and Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil) brought significant and highly specialised technology contributions to the joint research. The final partner, Leading Edge, participated as a consultancy company specializing in the introduction of innovative EDA technologies to the European marketplace.

American Graphite Technologies Inc. announced today the successful production of test samples of a graphene paper product by its development and manufacturing partner, CTI Nanotechnologies LLC.

CTI Nanotechnologies reported it had successfully developed test samples and reproducible test results of a highly flexible membrane of nano-particles from 50-150um thick that is highly conductive showing about 2-3ohms resistivity across a 2 inch area.

The next phase of development is to work to continue improvements to the size, conductivity and scalability resulting in a low cost continuous "roll to roll" production operation at industrial specifications. In parallel with this work, CTI Nanotechnologies is working to upgrade its Vermont development facility.

Graphene Paper has the potential to revolutionize the automotive, aviation, electrical and optical industries. Currently Graphene Paper is available only in limited sizes, is relatively expensive and is very time consuming to make.

"This is an important early milestone, we are still engineering the drying, curing, and reduction process but most importantly we have thus far shown that our technology is capable of producing small scale graphene products," said Rick Walchuk, CEO of American Graphite Technologies. "This milestone is an important step towards AGIN’s goal of the development of a proprietary process for the production of high quality, low cost, large area Graphene Paper at a commercial scale."

  • Potential applications for Graphene paper include:
  • Computer and television displays
  • Electrical shielding
  • Reinforcing Material for manufacturing cars, boats, airplanes and machinery
  • Lightning Strike Dissipation
  • Heat Dissipation
  • Protection against electromagnetic pulses (EMP)
  • Armor plating
  • Reinforcement of plastics and polymers
  • Electrodes for batteries, fuel cells, solar cells and capacitors
  • Thermal heatsinks for electronic and computer equipment
  • Artificial limbs

American Graphite Technologies Inc. is focused on developing North American graphite mining opportunities along with the commercialization of graphene specific proprietary technology methods to maximize shareholder value.

Ericsson and STMicroelectronics today announced an agreement on the way forward for the joint venture ST-Ericsson. As communicated by the parent companies in December 2012, both have been working together toward a strategic solution for the JV. After months of intensive joint work, the parent companies have selected the strategic option which maximizes their respective future prospects and growth plans.

The main steps agreed upon to split up the JV are the following:

  • Ericsson will take on the design, development and sales of the LTE multimode thin modem products, including 2G, 3G and 4G multimode
  • ST will take on the existing ST-Ericsson products, other than LTE multimode thin modems, and related business as well as certain assembly and test facilities
  • Starting the close down of the remaining parts of ST-Ericsson.

The formal transfer of the relevant parts of ST-Ericsson to the parent companies is expected to be completed during the third quarter of 2013, subject to regulatory approvals.

After the split up, it is proposed that Ericsson will assume approximately 1,800 employees and contractors, with the largest concentrations in Sweden, Germany, India and China.

It is also proposed that ST will assume approximately 950 employees, primarily in France and in Italy, to support ongoing business and new products development within ST.

Today, it is also announced that Carlo Ferro is appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of ST-Ericsson, effective April 1, 2013. Ferro is currently Chief Operating Officer of ST-Ericsson and succeeds Didier Lamouche who, as previously announced, will pursue opportunities outside the company. Ferro will lead the work in securing both business continuity of ST-Ericsson and effective completion of the transition phase.

"I welcome Carlo Ferro as the new President and CEO of ST-Ericsson. Carlo has over twenty years of experience in the semiconductor industry and a strong track record in driving and managing complex transformation projects,” Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson and Chairman of the Board of Directors, ST-Ericsson said. “He has been a contributor to the solid progress ST-Ericsson has made the past year in terms of strategy execution and significantly lowering the breakeven point."

"In line with what we announced in December last year, we have now moved to the next step of our exit process and found a solution with Ericsson that fully aligns with our new strategy," said Carlo Bozotti, President and CEO of ST. "The agreement made with Ericsson represents a major step forward in reaching our new financial model target and allows us to further strengthen the skillsets of our company, by welcoming in ST, at completion, additional strong competences to fuel growth in specific key product areas. Moreover, it protects and leverages the ongoing ST-Ericsson’s business, allowing us to reinforce our relationships with key customers, both of ST and of ST-Ericsson."

With the proposed transfer of competencies from ST-Ericsson, ST will further strengthen its capabilities in the areas of application processors, RF, analog and power as well as software and complex system integration. In addition, ST-Ericsson’s portfolio includes devices that are complementary to ST’s focus on the fastest growing segments of the wireless semiconductor market, such as system-optimized analog mixed signal and power management devices, high-quality, low-power audio and video enhancements and innovative energy harvesting solutions.

The agreement is fully in line with ST’s financial model target of an operating margin of 10 percent or more and with plans to reduce quarterly net operating expenses to an average quarterly rate in the range of $600 million to $650 million by the beginning of 2014.

In addition, as a result of the agreement, ST expects to incur cash costs, including the covering of ST-Ericsson’s ongoing operations during the transition period and its restructuring costs, in the range of approximately $350 million to $450 million, narrower than the range provided at the end of January 2013.