Category Archives: LEDs

Philip E. Nelson, past president of the Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) and food science professor at Purdue University, has been recognized as the 2007 recipient of the World Food Prize in an announcement from the U.S. Department of State.

Nelson has been selected for the world’s highest honor in food for his achievements in the development of bulk aseptic packaging and storage, which allows highly perishable foods such as fruits and vegetables to be distributed globally in a sterile environment without refrigeration and without significant loss of nutrients.

World Food Prize president Ambassador Kenneth M. Quinn says Nelson’s work has proven to be a critical advancement in times of food crisis.

With the aid of aseptic food technology, potable water and emergency food aid was distributed to survivors of the 2004 tsunami in Southeast Asia and to the U.S. victims of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as well as to other crisis situations worldwide.

Nelson’s innovative research led to the development of preserving and transporting perishable foods without refrigeration in carbon steel tanks ranging in size from delivery truck to ocean freighter. By coating tanks with epoxy resin and sterilizing valves and filters, food can be stored and removed without introducing contaminants. As a result, enormous volumes of food are safely stored and shipped around the globe for final processing, packaging, and distribution.

“Bulk aseptic processing and packaging is recognized among the world’s greatest food innovations” during the past 70 years, according to Al Clausi, former IFT president and current member of the World Food Prize Council of Advisors that includes former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush and former Philippine president Corazon Aquino, among others.

Nelson is the first food scientist and second IFT member to receive this highest honor. He has been involved in the storage and packaging of food since childhood. In his early years working on his family’s tomato farm and canning factory in Morristown, IN, he earned the crown of “Tomato King” at the Indiana State Fair.

The Institute of Food Technologists is a not-for-profit international scientific society with 22,000 members working in food science, technology, and related professions in academia, government and industry.

The 2007 World Food Prize and its $250,000 award will be formally presented to Nelson on October 18 during ceremonies at the Iowa State Capitol, part of the World Food Prize’s Norman E. Borlaug International Symposium. Further information about the World Food Prize and the Laureate Award Ceremony and Symposium can be found at http://www.worldfoodprize.org/.

July 31, 2007 – Sumitomo Chemical Co. has agreed to acquire UK-based Cambridge Display Technology, a developer of polymer-organic LED (P-OLED) technologies seen as future LCD replacements in displays, for about $285 million in cash, nearly a 100% premium on CDT’s current stock price.

For CDT, the deal “will significantly enhance the prospects for P-OLED technology adoption,” said chairman/CEO David Fyfe in a statement, noting that the two already were closely aligned — Sumitomo was a licensee since 2001, and the two formed a 50-50 JV in 2005 to develop and manufacture P-OLED to CDT and its licensees.

Hiromasa Yonekura, president of Sumitomo Chemical, noted that his company has made display materials one of its strategically important business areas, which has included building a close relationship with CDT. “The complete integration of both companies’ technological and intellectual assets through this acquisition will make it possible to greatly accelerate development,” he stated.

by Phil LoPiccolo, Editor-in-Chief, Solid State Technology

The promise of solar power, both to solve the world’s energy problems as well as to fuel stellar market growth, packed SEMICON West’s center stage venue Wednesday. Rhone Resch, president of the Solar Energy Industries Association, delivered a keynote outlining the opportunities for the semiconductor industry to expand the adoption of photovoltaics (PV) technology in the US.

SEE ALSO: Why solar equipment suppliers need to know the “rule of 10x”

The upside for solar power in the US is huge, Resch contended. Of the total 4000B kWh of electricity consumed each year, only 1.5B kWh, or 1/30 th of 1%, comes from solar energy. While that’s “pretty pathetic,” he said, “it shows that solar has a tremendous opportunity for growth.”

Solar power’s future appears bright when one considers its potential for replacing traditional energy sources. For example, coal, which generates >50% of all electricity produced annually in the US, is a target of growing concern because its price continues to rise, as does the amount of greenhouse gases its combustion pumps into the atmosphere, Resch said. “Since many of these older power plants have been around for more than 50 years, it’s a perfect opportunity to replace them with solar technology,” he noted.

Moreover, unlike fossil-fuel plants, solar panels need not be confined to a single site but rather can be installed in virtually any available space, Resch explained. He noted that the technology is proving successful in a host of novel applications around the world, including a Fed Ex terminal and US Navy carport in California, a brownfield site in New Jersey, a soccer stadium and solar park in Germany, a solar community in Japan, and highway sound walls in Switzerland.

Annual solar energy production worldwide has maintained 46% CAGR/year since 2000, led by Germany (>50%) and Japan (~25%), with the US making up about 9%. “Even though the US invented PV and further pioneered advanced PV technologies, it has not been the primary marketplace,” said Resch. The irony is that US has the best solar “resources” of any developed country in the world in terms of the amount and intensity of sunlight available, he said, while Germany has solar resources equal to Alaska.

But the US solar market may heat up quickly. Looking forward, the global CAGR through 2010 is expected to average 36.5%, with Germany still the biggest user (see chart above). But the US is seen growing faster than all other regions, expected to average 83% CAGR through 2010, Resch pointed out (see chart below). “To maintain that pace, the industry will need solutions, in terms of first-, second-, and third-generation equipment that semiconductor suppliers can bring to the industry.”

What will spur growth?

Perhaps first and foremost, they key driver of solar demand in the US is a huge push toward energy independence, and solar can replace sources that must be imported from unstable countries, Resch said. Other drivers include energy security — which can be increased by solar energy’s ability to reduce peak power demand and stabilize the electricity grid — as well as escalating electricity costs, and the fact that solar energy can reduce carbon emissions.

Despite these factors, solar is still more expensive than energy based on fossil fuels. However, a positive trend is that government policies are being enacted to help jumpstart industry efforts to reduce costs. Currently, 23 states have established “renewable portfolio standards,” which require utilities to generate certain percentages of their electricity from renewable sources, including solar energy.

In addition, the federal government has been assuming a more aggressive role in promoting solar energy. In 2005, Congress enacted the Energy Policy Act, which included provisions for government tax credits, including a residential credit totaling 30% for PV installations systems for two years. Congress is now working on a bill to extend tax credits for eight more years, which should alleviate the biggest concern among manufacturers — that the market is being artificially propped up by short-term government policies — and allow for the industry to ramp up and develop capabilities to implement solar on a large scale, Resch said.

The Senate has passed a version of that bill and the House has taken it up over the last several weeks, and Resch is hopeful that by October President Bush will sign a version that will provide significant incentives for solar power. If the bill is passed and if state programs continue to expand, he thinks the US solar industry will experience a growth similar to that in Germany in recent years, perhaps averaging 67% through 2015. — P.L.

July 23, 2007 – Solaria Corp. says it has closed a $50 million Series C round of funding led by Q-Cells AG, the world’s No.2 solar cell manufacturer, which increases the firm’s stake to 33%. Solaria also says it has secured a cell supply agreement with Q-Cells, ensuring access to 1.35GW of power over the next 10 years, to produce >2.7GW of PV modules.

The two firms also work together to commercialize and scale Solaria’s PV technology platform and provide support services, and access to Q-Cell’s network of European partners.

In addition to Q-Cells, others joining the Series C round included existing investors Sigma Partners, NGEN, and Moser Baer.

by Ed Korczynski, Senior Technical Editor, Solid State Technology

Unit demand for ICs has been increasing at 10.3% CAGR since 1984, and now that we’re on a relatively steep part of the curve, the absolute amount of overcapacity in a given cycle can more quickly aborbed Novellus execs suggested, In a Tuesday analyst/press event at SEMICON West to discuss the company’s 2Q07 quarterly results. Though the consensus by most analysts is that fab capex investments will be relatively flat in 2007, Novellus projects that 17 new 300mm fabs will start accepting equipment in 2008, which adds to the 55 total fabs which will add capacity in 2008 for a total of ~700k WSPM capacity addition. In comparison, ~600k WSPM of 300mm capacity were added in 2006. Memory fabs are in the last phases of capacity additions for 200mm fabs, squeezing the last profits out of depreciated lines.

Novellus claims it has received orders for over 50 of its Vector Express systems to date, just three months after the tool was released in April, citing capital-productivity advantages versus Applied Materials’ Producer systems. With DRAM and FLASH megafabs now planned with >100k WSPM capacities, there is serious demand for very high-throughput tools. The Vector Extreme clusters three Vector Express chambers around a dual-end-effecter handler (see figure, below) to process up to 250 wafers/hr for thin films, and provide what Novellus says is 2x the throughput vs. a Triple-Producer configuration. The result is a hypothetical 40% reduction in the number of PECVD tools needed to sustain such a megafab.

Novellus said its 2Q profits rose roughly 9% to $57.3M — its slowest in four quarters — on ~5% higher revenues of $416.3M, though slightly better than expected. Orders evaporated, though, dropping >19% Q-Q TO $332.2M, with a similar slide predicted for 3Q (shipments, meanwhile, rose ~12% Q-Q to $436.4M). Novellus blames the current slowdown on capacity issues at NAND flash fabs, and estimates that overcapacity will be solved in 1-2 quarters. “You’ll see 2008 at the transition year for copper metallization for memory,” commented Tom Caulfield, EVP of sales and marketing, adding that 2007 is the year for most advanced memory fabs to begin pilot production using copper interconnects.

“The best NAND flash is already using copper, so that horse is already out of the barn,” explained Rick Hill, CEO. “If you want to compete on NAND flash you’ll need copper,” he said, adding that those firms that want to maintain fungible capacity in NAND flash will have to “bring DRAM along.”

Prefacing his comments with the disclaimer that he’s “often wrong; never in doubt,” Hill commented on the solar energy manufacturing market for which his company has no current position, though its biggest competitor (Applied again) has been vocal about its prospects. “I think everyone accepts that the solar market is not economically sound,” Hill said, adding some colorful vocal analysis of his own — quipping that solar panels are “a bit ugly” and “a status symbol,” targeting a customer base that’s “maybe some people in Beverly Hills,” for whom it’s great to “have them on the head of your Prius.” more promise in power-reducing LED lighting to replace incandescent bulbs, he suggested. “The economics are such that you’ve got to wait a long time to get a pay back and consumers are pretty fickle,” he cautioned, but ” it’s getting close to being a market that could be very, very significant and one that we like.”

Hill also see sour grapes in the ALD market due to alleged issues with adhesion and film quality, which he says motivates investment into new PVD technology as a stop-gap. Novellus’ investments into ALD have generally targeted interconnect applications, and they now tout an IONX extension of their hollow cathode magnetron (HCM) PVD that extends the plasma region to the wafer surface for more re-sputtering to more thoroughly cover sidewalls in copper barrier/seed deposition applications. — E.K.

July 18, 2007 — First Nano, a division of CVD Equipment Corp., has announced the release of its ET2000-SS and ET3000-SS solid source deposition systems designed for producing semi-conducting nanowires.

Single-crystalline nanowires made from materials such as zinc oxide (ZnO) and gallium nitride (GaN) have been the focus of researchers for many years because of their properties as electronic and optoelectronic materials.

First Nano says researchers have demonstrated that using solid sources such as gallium and zinc powders are less expensive and safer than using the conventional metal organic sources used by the current metal organic vapor deposition chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) method for manufacturing LEDs. Previously, production of GaN and ZnO nanowire LEDs and lasers have been possible only on a research scale, First Nano notes, adding that major issues for producing larger samples have been the ability to control the temperature of the solid source (Zn or Ga) and the temperature uniformity of the sample.

First Nano’s solid source deposition systems have been specifically designed to accommodate the typical “vapor-solid” (VS)” or “vapor-liquid-solid” (VLS) method of nanowire deposition. But the new design promises better temperature control of the source material and substrate temperature uniformity by providing distinct temperature zones and separate closed-loop temperature control systems. “The improved temperature control along with the increased capacity of the ET2000- SS and ET3000-SS systems are the first step in bringing these remarkable materials to full production levels,” the company says.

July 17, 2007 – Dwight Decker, non-executive chairman at Conexant Systems Inc., has been appointed chairman of the Fabless Semiconductor Association (FSA), taking over from Sanjay Jha who held the position f or nearly three years and will assume Decker’s previous role as vice-chairman.

In his role as chairman, Decker will help further FSA’s strategic direction, working closely with the group’s executive management team to execute the FSA’s expanding vision, the FSA said in a statement. A FSA board member for the past six years, Decker was president of Rockwell Semiconductor Systems before joining Conexant.

“He not only led one of the top 20 fabless companies, but he also understands what it takes to transition from an IDM to the fabless model,” stated Jodi Shelton, co-founder and executive director of FSA, noting that he also serves on the board of three public and two private semiconductor companies, including one based in China, and is “one of the most experienced CEOs in the area of India.”

As vice chairman, Jha, currently COO of QUALCOMM and president of QUALCOMM CDMA Technologies, will provide strategic counsel on FSA initiatives.

July 16, 2007 – First Nano, a division of CVD Equipment Corp., has unveiled two solid source deposition systems specifically for producing semiconducting nanowires, saying that solid sources such as gallium and zinc powders are less expensive and safer than conventional metal organic sources used in metal organic vapor deposition chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) methods for manufacturing LEDs.

The new ET2000-SS and ET3000-SS tools are specifically designed to accommodate “vapor-solid” (VS) and “vapor-liquid solid” (VLS) CVD methods of nanowire deposition. For ZnO materials (an alternative to GaN used for blue LEDs and lasers), the source is heated to ~900°C to vaporize the source powders, and then dropped to ~800°C when the sample is placed in the chamber, which typically leaves a nonuniform area for the substrate and a narrow process area for sample placement.

First Nano’s tools, however, provide distinct temperature zones and separate closed loop temperature control for better temperature control of the source material and substrate temperature uniformity, the company claims. It claims growth of ZnO nanowires grown on a 2″ sapphire wafer, and up to 25-microns long grown on carbon flakes (see image, below).

July 13, 2007 – Days after appointing a new CEO and president, Israeli metrology firm Tevet Process Control Technologies Ltd. says it has received $2.75 million in new financing, including support from the VC arm of customer Intel Corp.

The round, led by Israeli VC firm Eurofund with participation from Cipio Partners, Eurovestech, Goldman Investments Ltd., and Intel Capital — “we were particularly pleased to see Intel Capital and one of Tevet’s customers invest in this internal round,” said Ron Hiram, managing partner at Eurofund, in a statement — brings Tevet’s total VC fundraising efforts to $13 million, to develop its high-speed integrated metrology technology for semiconductor process control. The new funds will be used to expand into new “related product development initiatives,” the company said in a statement.

Ofer Du-Nour, newly named CEO of Tevet, stated that the company has seen 2x gains in its business from last year, when it released its Trajectory T3 product line, and this new investment infusion will enable the company aggressively “take advantage of the changing marketplace as our customers move to sub-65nm technology nodes and PECVD equipment moves to throughputs above 150wph.”

July 6, 2007– Melexis, a Belgium-based manufacturer of automotive semiconductor integrated circuits (ICs), and UMC, a global semiconductor foundry, announced that their successful collaboration has resulted in the delivery of chips using UMC’s 0.18um eFlash process and eFlash macro. The ICs are aimed at diversified automobile applications, including automotive sensors. Melexis and UMC have been cooperating on this product for several years, and the chip is currently being shipped to auto-module producers for assembly.

Melexis’ sensor ICs include Hall-effect, optical, infrared, and MEMS; communication ICs include low power RF, RFID and Automotive BUS; actuator ICs for electric motors, solenoids, and LEDs; and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs).

UMC manufactures advanced process ICs for applications spanning every sector of the semiconductor industry. UMC delivers cutting-edge foundry technologies that enable system-on-chip (SoC) designs, including volume production 90nm, 65nm, and mixed signal/RFCMOS.