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October 18, 2007 — WEST LAFAYETTE, IN — Purdue University will break ground on the new Wayne T. and Mary T. Hockmeyer Hall of Structural Biology at 2:30 p.m. Friday (Oct. 19).

“Just as astronomers look out into the vast expanse of space to discover characteristics of stars and planets, structural biologists look inside living organisms to determine characteristics of viruses, proteins and the tiny elements of life,” said Purdue president France A. Cordova.

“Purdue is home to pioneers in this field. Professor Michael Rossmann and his group were the second team in the world to map a virus, and the first to model a common cold virus. Just as astronomers require better telescopes to see farther into space, structural biologists require better microscopes to see smaller structures. The development of new techniques and new technology is critical to advancing the field. This new building will give Purdue’s renowned structural biology group the space to continue to be at the forefront of this field.”

The $30 million, 65,690-sq.-ft. building will provide Purdue’s Center for Structural Biology research group. The group currently is housed in the basement of Lilly Hall.

Hockmeyer Hall will be located adjacent to Discovery Park at Harrison Street and Martin Jischke Drive and is named for Wayne T. Hockmeyer and his wife, Mary, who gave $5.3 million toward its construction. The groundbreaking is part of a two-week celebration leading up to Purdue’s homecoming on Oct. 27. The events focus on ways Purdue is improving education and the quality of life in Indiana.

“Structural biology has become one of the most promising fields in science over the past several decades,” says Wayne Hockmeyer, Purdue alumnus and founder of biotechnology company MedImmune. “The contributions to fundamental science and medicine made by Purdue’s structural biology group are unsurpassed by any other research team. This new building will provide these talented researchers with the space and tools necessary to continue to lead the field. Their work is key to prevention and treatment of widespread disease.”

The facility was made possible by $16 million in gifts and is scheduled for completion in the fall of 2009. The building will include eight specialized labs and eight general labs for work in the areas of protein production, cell and virus culture, large molecule crystallization, X-ray diffraction, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electron microscopy, and analytical and biophysical instrumentation.

In addition, the building will house 16 offices for structural biology faculty, 33 offices for students and staff, and three conference rooms.

The Science Women of Purdue alumnae group became the first group of women in Purdue’s history to raise funds for a named space on the West Lafayette campus. The group gave $300,000 for the Hockmeyer Hall project and will name a laboratory space to honor the women who came before them and to inspire future generations. The group will continue to support diversity initiatives within the College of Science.

“There is a rich history of women in science that continues today at Purdue and is reflected in our administration, faculty, and alumnae,” says Jeffrey S. Vitter, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science. “Just this year, President George W. Bush awarded alumna Rita R. Colwell the National Medal of Science for her accomplishments in the study of the agent that causes cholera. The Science Women of Purdue named laboratory space recognizes the pivotal role and fundamental breakthroughs women have contributed to the field.”

Structural biology examines the basic building blocks of biological materials — molecules and atoms — and how they are put together.

“Seeing is, in many ways, understanding how things work,” says Richard Kuhn, head of the Department of Biological Sciences. “Discovering how molecules are put together gives tremendous insight as to how they might function and provides a greater understanding of biological processes.”

Purdue’s Center for Structural Biology group studies a diverse group of problems, including cellular signaling pathways, RNA catalysis, bioremediation, molecular evolution, viral entry, viral replication and viral pathogenesis. Researchers use a combination of x-ray crystallography, electron cryomicroscopy, NMR spectroscopy, and advanced computational and modeling tools to study these problems.

One of the areas that needs a large amount of space and requires carefully controlled conditions is electron microscopy. Purdue’s structural biology group has five electron microscopes, three of which are advanced high-end cryoelectron microscopes that allow researchers to see nearly down to the molecular level. Each microscope takes up a small room, and the slightest vibrations can disturb the images produced. The new building will allow the group the space needed to house the large equipment necessary to advance structural biology, Kuhn says.

“We have historically been very successful, and this new building will move us to the next level,” he says. “The building will allow us to group our high-end instruments in such a way that researchers can easily move between laboratories and branch out into research techniques they may not have used. The building will facilitate the interaction and collaboration necessary to keep Purdue at the forefront of this field.”

Purdue’s structural biology group has had many breakthroughs during the past 40 years, including fundamental insights into how important groups of human viruses infect cells, build themselves and are recognized by the human body. Also, the group has achieved important breakthroughs in understanding the structure of membrane proteins, which are the gateways into and out of cells, Kuhn said.

Some recent examples of the group’s work include:

  • A team including Rossmann, Kuhn, and Timothy Baker mapped the structure of the dengue virus, knowledge that could prove important to the development of antiviral drugs. Dengue, a relative of West Nile virus and yellow fever, is spread by mosquitoes and kills more than 24,000 people annually. The group also determined the structure of the immature dengue particle while still within its cellular host, which could shed light on the virus’s development process.
  • Rossmann’s team analyzed the structure of the baseplate of the T4 virus, which commonly infects E. coli bacteria. The baseplate is a complex structure made of 16 types of proteins that allows T4 to attach itself to the surface of E. coli. The team also obtained clearer pictures of how the baseplate alters its shape as T4 prepares to pierce E. coli’s cell membrane. The team took images of the baseplate from different moments in the process, which resembles a flower opening, and transformed them into a brief animated movie, helping scientists understand how infection occurs.
  • Kuhn and Rossmann’s team determined the structure of the West Nile virus using cryo-electron microscopy and determined the orientation of the major surface proteins in the viral particle. Because these proteins allow the virus to invade a host cell, the research could be a step forward in combating the deadly mosquito-borne disease. In addition, the team found the precise location where antibodies bind to the virus and were able to offer a theory of how the antibody disarms the virus — crucial information for the development of a vaccine.
  • William Cramer’s team obtained a complete molecular-scale picture of how plants convert sunlight to chemical energy. The effort revealed information not only about a process crucial to life on Earth, but also about how cells handle and distribute energy.
  • David Sanders’ research team replaced the genetic material inside the Ross River virus with helpful genetic material, enabling them to alter the liver cells of living mice without producing the harmful side effects that have accompanied the use of other viruses. Sanders’ team also has redesigned the shell of Ebola, transforming the feared virus into a benevolent workhorse for gene therapy. And, as one of the first gene bearers that can be inhaled, the transformed virus might prove valuable in fighting lung disease.
  • Carol Post’s group has found the likely reason why a WIN compound — a prototype drug for curing colds — is showing so much promise. The flexible molecule’s structure may allow it to shimmy inside the proteins that form the virus’s outer shell and alter them to the point where the virus cannot complete the infection process.
  • Jue Chen’s group studies the process by which special proteins, called ABC proteins, open and close pathways into cells — permitting or denying materials entrance into the cell. This opening and closing is an integral part of the metabolic process and could be applied to drug delivery and cancer treatment.

Wayne and Mary Hockmeyer of Bethesda, MD, both grew up in Evansville, IN. He earned his bachelor’s degree in entomology from Purdue in 1966 and his doctorate from the University of Florida in 1972. Purdue awarded him an honorary doctorate in 2002. He returned that same year to participate in the Old Master’s program, which allows current Purdue students to interact with past graduates to gain perspective on confronting challenges in their careers. Mary Hockmeyer earned her doctorate in human development at the University of Maryland in 1990.

After three months in his first job at Dow Chemical Co. in Michigan, he was commissioned in the Army, and, following airborne and special forces training, was sent to Vietnam in 1968 with the 5th Special Forces Group. The Army assisted with Hockmeyer’s return to the University of Florida, where he earned his doctorate. He rose to the rank of lieutenant colonel and, during his 20-year military career, authored many research papers with particular emphasis on the development of malaria vaccines. He also was awarded the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service medal and the Army Commendation medal. The Legion of Merit and Meritorious Service medals were each separately awarded twice.

Following his military career, including the last six years as chairman of the Department of Immunology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Hockmeyer founded MedImmune Inc. in 1988 and served as president and CEO until 2000.

Hockmeyer was elected to serve on MedImmune’s board of directors in 1988 and became chairman of the board of directors in 1993. The company developed and now markets Synagis(R), an FDA-approved monoclonal antibody to prevent an infectious disease, and FluMist(R), a live attenuated intranasal influenza vaccine. MedImmune generated more than $1 billion in annual revenue in 2006 and invested more than $438 million in research and development. The company has approximately 3,000 employees worldwide and was acquired by AstraZeneca plc in June 2007 for approximately $15.6 billion.

In addition to his duties as MedImmune’s chairman, he also served as president of MedImmune Ventures Inc., the company’s venture capital subsidiary, which was launched in 2002. He is a member of the Maryland Economic Development Commission and the Governor’s Workforce Investment Board and serves on the boards of directors of several public companies, including Baxter International Inc., GenVec Inc., Idenix Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Middlebrook Pharmaceutical Corp.

Source: Purdue University, Elizabeth Gardner

October 25, 2007 – Hans Stork, formerly CTO and SVP of silicon technology development at Texas Instruments, has left his position to take on the role of CTO and group VP of Applied Materials’ silicon systems group, responsible for the company’s development of semiconductor equipment technologies.

Stork will lead AMAT’s roadmap for silicon technology equipment, oversee integration across the company’s silicon products, and coordinate external “engagements” with partners and academia, according to a statement. Mark Pinto, the previous CTO, will stay as corporate CTO focusing on cross-company strategies and new technology/business opportunities.

“With Hans joining SSG, we are reinforcing our commitment to meeting the technology needs of our customers and advancing the semiconductor technology roadmap,” stated Pinto.

Stork led IBM’s efforts on silicon germanium bipolar technology from 1982-1994, then after a stint at Hewlett-Packard he joined TI in 2001 as SVP of silicon technology development, and was promoted to CTO in early 2004. He was named an IEEE Fellow in 1994, and has sat on the Semiconductor Research Corp.’s board since 1999 and SEMATECH’s since 2002.

The move likely comes about amid a broader restructuring of TI’s internal technology infrastructure, as it prepares to shift most of the heavy development work for 32nm and beyond chipmaking to foundry partners. The company’s digital KFAB site in Dallas (involving >200 positions) is among the closures, with a larger cost-reduction plan eyeing 500 job cuts, totaling ~$55M in charges but ultimately saving $200M annually. Capex also is being sharply pruned, slashed by nearly 30% this year to $0.9B, and going forward kept down to <10% of sales.

by Katherine Derbyshire, Contributing Editor, Solid State Technology

Efficiency is one of the biggest challenges for solar cells: most of the sun’s incoming light is dissipated as heat, not converted to electricity. Yet researchers think the strange behavior of tiny particles known as quantum dots may help break the efficiency barrier. In quantum dots, energy that might otherwise be lost can excite additional free carriers.

Though the sun bathes our planet in about a thousand watts of energy per square meter, the best silicon solar cells achieve efficiencies of only about 24.7% 1. (All efficiencies quoted in this article are for individual cells. Fully integrated modules suffer additional resistive losses.) The maximum possible efficiency, the Shockley-Queisser limit, is only about 31% 2. After decades of effort, conventional silicon cells are approaching their theoretical limits.

One of the main reasons for the Shockley-Queisser limit is the mismatch between the energy of incoming photons and the band structure of the cell. If a photon has more energy than needed to generate a free carrier, the excess energy is lost: it simply dissipates as heat. If a photon has less energy than the band gap, it fails to excite a carrier, and its energy is also lost as heat. Since only a small fraction of the sun’s output lies precisely at the silicon band gap, substantial energy is lost through mismatch alone.

One partial solution, the so-called tandem cell, stacks several junctions, each with a different band gap. Though the Shockley-Queisser limit applies to each junction individually, combining junctions allows the cell to capture a larger fraction of the sun’s output. At this writing, the world’s record for cell efficiency is 40.7%, held by a multi-junction cell based on gallium arsenide 1. Still, tandem cells don’t address the basic problem of supra band gap photon energies. They still dissipate the excess energy of such photons as heat.

A phenomenon known as impact ionization may be able to help. In impact ionization, hot carriers generated by a high-energy photon transfer some of their energy to another carrier, exciting it to the conduction band and creating an electron-hole pair. In bulk materials, impact ionization is rare. There simply aren’t enough such events to offset electron relaxation back to the conduction band.

Carrier confinement in quantum dots produces a number of useful effects, however. First, as Eun-Chel Cho and coworkers at the University of New South Wales explained, restricting at least one dimension to less than the Bohr radius of silicon increases the band gap. In a closely spaced array, where all three dimensions are constrained and the wave functions of adjacent dots overlap, the band gap depends on the spacing of the resulting super-lattice. Thus, a material with arrays of embedded quantum dots of various dimensions functions as a tandem cell, capturing several slices of the total solar spectrum. 3

Second, and even more interesting, as Antonio Luque of the Polytechnic University of Madrid explained, the carrier confinement increases interaction between electrons and holes, greatly increasing the impact ionization rate. A single photon can generate two or even three or more photocarriers. Though not all will ultimately contribute to the photocurrent, calculations from the Shockley-Quiesser model put the maximum theoretical efficiency for quantum dot solar cells around 45% 4. As in tandem cells, this limit would apply to each sub-array separately, so the total efficiency could be higher.

Multi-exciton generation is not a new phenomenon, having been demonstrated in PbSe, PbS, and PbTe over the last several years. (See references to [4]) More recently, though, studies of silicon quantum dots have shown that this most ubiquitous of semiconductors can achieve multiple exciton generation as well. Using silicon allows manufacturers to deploy the full array of silicon deposition and patterning technologies, while still working with a much more environmentally neutral material than lead.

According to Cho, alternating layers of silicon-rich and silicon-poor dielectrics can be annealed to create a super-lattice. Annealing precipitates quantum dots out of the silicon-rich phase, while the dielectric phase isolates successive layers from each other.

Though this work is interesting, it doesn’t mean that we should expect 40% efficient silicon cells anytime soon. Actually extracting carriers from quantum dots into the circuit is difficult. Quantum dots, by definition, are completely surrounded by insulating materials

(October 22, 2007) DRESDEN, Germany & SUWON, South Korea— Sunic System, a producer of vacuum deposition equipment for OLED, and Novaled, a provider of doping technology and materials for organic electronics, will work together to build up the next generation of thin-film encapsulation (TFE) tools, technologies, and materials.


LG Philips developed the first full-color flexible active matrix organic LED in cooperation with Universal Display. (Photo: LG Philips)

October 18, 2007 — Universal Display Corp.), which develops organic light emitting diode (OLED) technology, has been awarded a $935,000 contract extension by the U.S. Army Communication Electronics Research and Development Engineering Center (CERDEC), the company announced.

The extension builds on an existing Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase III grant with CERDEC to develop flexible, active-matrix OLED display technology for demonstration in a prototype wrist-based communications device. Screens based on UDC’s technology are composed of several ultrathin films of special molecules that glow when excited by an electric current.

Development efforts under the contract extension will focus on combining Universal Display’s PHOLED (phosphorescent OLED) technology with companion technology by LG Philips LCD Co. Ltd. Bringing LPL to the program as a development partner marks an important step toward the commercialization of flexible OLED display products, Universal Display announced in a news release.

In May, the two companies showcased the world’s first high-resolution AMOLED display built on flexible metal foil. Building on this initial demonstration, Universal Display and LPL plan to work on a prototype with key design and performance enhancements under this program.

L-3 Communications Display Systems, which supplies ruggedized display systems for military uses, will design and integrate its advanced communications components with the QVGA, full-color, flexible AMOLED (“active matrix” OLED) display into the prototype wrist-mounted communications device for delivery to CERDEC.

Universal Display was awarded Phase III of the SBIR grant by CERDEC in January 2006. The Company’s work with the U.S. Department of Defense also includes flexible AMOLED display development for the U.S. Army Research Laboratories (ARL), the U.S. Navy and U.S. Air Force Research Laboratories.

Dow-Corning introduced three two-part high refractive index (HRI) silicone encapsulants to serve the light-emitting diode (LED) market. These encapsulants are said to offer increased light output, a range of hardnesses to suit a variety of applications, and resistance to heat, chemical, and ultraviolet (UV) light exposure.

October 11, 2007 — Specialty Coating Systems Inc. (SCS) has acquired Parylene Japan K.K. (PJKK) — a joint venture between SCS and Three Bond Co. Ltd. established in 1990 to provide world-class Parylene conformal coating services and technologies in Japan. Sole ownership of PJKK enables SCS to leverage more of its worldwide resources and capabilities in order to provide the best service and support for its global customers in the medical, automotive, electronics and military market segments.

Specialty Coating Systems will do business in Japan as Parylene Japan, Inc. (Nihon Parylene Kabushiki Gaisha in Japan) and will continue to be led by President Eddie Narita. The 10,000 square-foot Tokyo facility is ISO 9001:2000 certified and includes two Class 10K cleanrooms.

“Our customers in Japan will continue to receive outstanding Parylene coating services,” said Terry Bush, SCS President. “The acquisition of our long-term joint venture further establishes SCS’ foothold in Asia, a key component to SCS’ worldwide growth strategy.”

October 4, 2007 – Applied Materials is on track to recognize its first revenues for thin-film solar modules by the April quarter, earlier than many analysts have been expecting, and a first customer thumbs-up could set off a “domino effect” that generates a wave of solar business and a push toward end-market grid parity, according to one analyst’s report.

In a research note, Mehdi Hosseini with Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. (FBR Research) claims that “recent checks” suggest AMAT’s first customer, Moser Baer, is on schedule to install 40MW worth of TF solar module manufacturing equipment by the end of this year, with shipments of another line (40MW+ and likely converted to “tandem junction”) by mid-2008. Shipment to another customer, Signet (~15MW), should also be out the door by year’s end.

Hosseini writes that once AMAT recognizes revenues from Moser Baer, that could start a “domino effect” accelerating business from more customers, providing $320M+ in sales in 2008, ~$200M more than FBR had hoped. That would not only legitimizing AMAT’s place in solar, but also help AMAT’s TF solar customers in their dual plans — be a second source to FirstSolar, but also help develop the end market (e.g. India-based utility companies) to use a “solar farm” model to achieve grid party ($1/watt) and warrant further business expansion.

“We believe the most critical milestone in AMAT’s recent history is upon us,” he writes, if AMAT can debug and production-certify that first Moser Baer TF module manufacturing line by early 2008. If that happens, and other customers come in with confidence, “we estimate at least $1.6B of TF-related revenues at AMAT by 2010,” a figure that could soar, Hosseini adds, if customers can show that AMAT’ technology will enable grid parity at a module price of $1/watt by 2010.

There’s a caveat, though. While AMAT’s clout alone has led to 7-8 contract signings for solar, “none of AMAT’s TF customers has as much experience as FirstSolar,” Hosseini writes. Also, with AMAT providing turnkey services to help with the learning curve, there’s concern about execution risk.

“But, given AMAT’s history and, particularly, its experience in flat panel manufacturing, the odds are that AMAT will be able to deliver on its promise,” he writes.

By Stephen Ormrod, Edwards, West Sussex, United Kingdom

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW Vacuum technology is not often considered as leading semiconductor manufacturing. However, a look back at the last 50 years reveals that it has played an essential supporting role. Complex interactions between vacuum and manufacturing technologies have inspired the transition to dry pumps and the evolution of turbomolecular pumps. Meanwhile, vacuum processes have increased in number as fabs moved to producing ICs with tighter device geometries.

In the beginning of the semiconductor era, most high-vacuum systems consisted of oil-sealed, positive-displacement, mechanical pumps, and diffusion pumps for those processes that needed lower pressure. Improvements in residual gas analysis revealed that the primary source of contamination was the hydrocarbon oil in the mechanical rough pump. New oils were developed with lower vapor pressures, which led to faster pumping and lower pressures. The earliest integrated circuits needed vacuum only for metal interconnect deposition

October 2, 2007 – Global revenues for semiconductors used in LCD TVs should nearly quadruple from now to 2011, due to multiple factors led by a migration to digital TV sources, and availability of displays with better formfactors at a much cheaper price, according to new data from iSuppli Corp.

Worldwide sales of chips used in LCD-TVs is projected to surge to $7.4 billion (>84% of all DTV chips), from just $2.0B in 2006 (~54%), the firm notes. Shipments are expected to take off at an even faster pace: 178M units in 2011 vs. 43M in 2006 (410%), accounting for 77.4% of all DTV shipments vs. 55.5% in 2006.

The firm notes that LCD-TVs represent the clear growth driver for semiconductors used in TVs. Overall global shipments of chips for digital TV (including LCDs, plasma, CRTs, and rear -projection) will rise to 230M units by 2011, just under 300% total growth.

Falling prices for flat-panel TVs are at the top of the list of factors driving demand for DTV; flat-panel shipments will account for >50% of all TVs in 2008, iSuppli says. Other factors include more attractive formfactors (LCD and plasma sets), and a mandated switch from analog to digital TV signals in many countries over the next several years.

The need to integrate more functions into DTV display processors will offset falling ASPs for chips used in DTVs, the firm notes. As a result, semiconductor revenue for the A/V boards used in those TV sets will grow at a 19.4% CAGR clip to $8.8B in 2011.

Several trends are creating a need for increasingly complex video algorithms, and the chips needed to process them, the firm notes. Faster response times (refresh rates doubling to 120GHz frequency) is seen as the way to fix jerky motions in fast-moving objects (“film judder”), along with motion estimation/compensation techniques. Also, some premium TVs now sport full high-definition (TrueHD) panels with 1080 progressive scan pixel format — Sony and Samsung have 40-in. and larger panels, with Sharp not far behind with a 37-in. version. These panels have twice the number of pixels (1920 x 1080 = 2 million pixels) as mainstream resolution panels (1366 x 768).

Global LCD digital television semiconductor revenues

……………………………2006……….2007……….2008……….2009……….2010……….2011

US $M………………..1966……….3373……….4340……….5440……….6550……….7386
% growth……………………………..71.6%………28.7%…….25.3%……..20.4%…….12.8%

Source: iSuppli Corp.