Category Archives: LEDs

BY CAROLYN MATHAS

Montreal, P.Q.—An ultraviolet-based air purification system that kills deadly microorganisms at first contact is making its way into biotech cleanrooms.

The Sanuvox (www.sanuvox.com) UV Bio-Wall Air Purifier is designed to fit into the center of a cleanroom air duct, integrating five 19-mm high-intensity ultraviolet (UV) quartz lamps attached to five anodized parabolic reflectors. When properly installed, Sanuvox guarantees a 99.99-percent first-time purification rate.


Sanuvox’s UV Bio-Wall Air Purifier fits into the center of a cleanroom air duct. The system integrates five 19-mm high-intensity ultraviolet (UV) quartz lamps to kill deadly microorganisms on contact.
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“The Bio-Wall is not a filter, it's strictly a UV purifier, able to destroy the chemicals in the air, or bacteria virus in mold—it's a killer, but it doesn't do anything for dust or dirt,” says Aaron Engel, director of marketing.

Installation variables include how much fresh air is moving through the duct, the duct size, and air velocity. Offered in 40-, 50- and 60-foot lengths, two units of Bio-Wall are recommended to achieve sufficient UV dwell time when dealing with very large ductwork.

Purifying with UV

Ultraviolet light has four main wavelengths, UV-A, UV-B, UV-C and UV-V.

UV-C wavelengths are used to destroy bacteria and other microorganisms, destroying a cell's DNA. By mutating the DNA, viruses, bacteria, and mold are rendered benign by the biological destructive capabilities of short-wave UV radiation in the “C” band (UV-C) between 200 and 280 nanometers. UV-V, in comparison, is an oxidizing wavelength, destroying chemical contaminants and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are so small, they travel right through a filter.

Sanuvox air purifiers incorporate both UV-C and UV-V light. Together, the wavelengths clean by attacking microorganisms on a molecular level. The company's air purifiers destroy biological and chemical contaminants such as odors, mold, mildew, smoke, formaldehyde, and cleaning solvents.

“Most cleanrooms try to keep contaminants out,” says Paul Pinelli, project executive for DPR Construction (Redwood City, Calif.)—a national general contractor and one of the country's largest pharmaceutical and laboratory building companies. “In contrast, in these [bio-safety level] facilities, we're trying to keep whatever is being manufactured from getting out.”

“I can definitely see higher bio-levels requiring this type of UV technology,” agrees Sumner Tison, associate director of engineering at Biogen IDEC (Cambridge, Mass.). “Usually, a carbon filter is used to pull organics out of the air. What we are concerned with as we make biotech drugs is not so much the safety of our employee (as contaminants we work with are contained and are not released into the cleanroom air); our concern is to keep contaminants inside the facility and not expose the surrounding environment.”

A broad spectrum of UV light

Air purification systems typically fall into two categories: coil and UV air purifiers. Although both use UV light, they treat air differently. If an air conditioning coil develops mold, for example, an entire cleanroom will become infected with either volatile organic compounds or mold spores. When a UV light is placed over the coil, however, mold growth is arrested, and it begins to reverse.

But if other contaminants are traveling within the air stream—for example, a return duct located over a chemical source that's pulling air in, or a contaminant in the air from a sneeze or cough—UV light over a coil doesn't address the problem. For these situations, UV in-duct air purification is necessary.

The UV Bio-Wall delivers a high amount of UV intensity over a great distance. It fits into a duct, cleaning five or six feet deep and destroying any microbial contaminants traveling through it. Because Bio-Wall is thorough in destroying contaminants in the air stream, Sanuvox says a coil cleaner upstream of the coil is not necessary. In essence, the Bio-Wall is designed to starve any mold that would be on the coil.

Another Sanuvox cleanroom solution, the less expensive S1000FX, combines UV with filtration. Inside a box is a large aluminum cone containing two 30-inch UV lights, two 1-inch prefilters, and a HEPA filter. The combination is designed to provide a compact, high-efficiency purifier and filter unit that can be hung on a wall, or over a drop ceiling. It does not require ducting. An optional volatile organic compound (VOC) sensor triggers the firing of an additional light when tripped, to accomplish high purification quickly.

Cost and maintenance

S1000FX units cost about $3,500 while Bio-Wall systems cost approximately $5,000. Minimal maintenance is required, says Sanuvox. For the duct-installed Bio-Wall, a ballast control box features a countdown timer, LED indicator, and an audible alarm that provides constant monitoring. While lamps require changing every 12,000 to 17,000 hours, the company says that amounts to nearly four years of use.

Ultraviolet caveats

Also known as ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI), UV light has been used for more than 100 years to kill microorganisms that cause air quality problems. Not until the past 10 years, however—based on the availability of new high-output UV lights—has a concentration of UV energy been available to sufficiently purify a rapidly moving air stream.

Before adding UV systems into cleanroom applications, however, several issues must be considered. At the surface of the UV light itself is a tremendously effective ultraviolet intensity. But just a few inches away from the surface of the lamp, the germicidal wavelength drops off considerably, and more than 80 percent of the UV light is lost. So, factors for achieving a high “kill” of bacteria include the intensity of the UV source, and the length of time the bacteria is exposed to UV light.

Safety factors are few, but include potential eye damage with direct exposure. Another hazard to consider: UV light destroys plastic.—CM

Crystal IS raises $5 million


September 29, 2004

Sept. 29, 2004 – Crystal IS Inc., a Watervliet, N.Y.-based supplier of single-crystal aluminum nitride substrates for use in high-power lasers and other optoelectronic devices, announced it has raised $5 million in a Series A round of funding.

Arch Venture Partners led the round, which also included JVP, 3i, Harris & Harris Group and Walt Robb. Arch’s Keith Crandell, JVP’s Zeljka Matutinovic and 3i’s Sean Brownlee joined the company’s board of directors.

Crystal IS was founded in 1997 by Glen Slack and Leo Schowalter, both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute physics professors and former GE scientists. The company is located in RPI’s incubator center and uses Albany NanoTech for some processing capabilities.

Sept. 22, 2004 – The National Science Foundation has awarded $12.4 million to an academic-industrial group led by Northeastern University for the creation of a nanomanufacturing institute, according to a news release.

The five-year grant goes toward establishing the Center for High Rate Nanomanufacturing at the Boston University, and enables research focused on mass-production capabilities of such devices. The grant also strengthens a partnership between Northeastern and the University of Massachusetts Lowell, University of New Hampshire Durham, as well as several companies.

As the lead institution, Northeastern will receive $4.7 million, and much of the research associated with the project will be conducted at a nanomanufacturing facility under construction.

Qualcomm’s CDMA Technologies division led all public fabless companies in sales in Q2 with $790 million. Broadcom was second with $641 million, while graphics chipmaker ATI Technologies was third with $492 million.

(September 21, 2004) Manhasset, N.Y.&#8212Agere Systems announced that its engineers have found the right mix of packaging ingredients to enable the semiconductor industry to successfully implement lead-free packaging. The mix consists of tin-copper with a nickel undercoating, which meets the European Union’s RoHS legislation and reportedly mitigates tin “whiskering” problems.

September 14–Mykrolis Corporation, a leading supplier of components and subsystems to the semiconductor industry, today announced that it has shipped four Aeronex Infinity Gas Purification Systems to a major epi-wafer manufacturer located in Tainan, Taiwan. The systems–two EGPS12 I Series, an EGPS12 H Series, and an EGPS8 SK Series–will be used to purify process nitrogen, hydrogen, and ammonia used in the production of LED chips and will be installed this month. The Aeronex systems will help the epi-wafer manufacturer reduce production costs and achieve a higher and more consistent production yield.

“As part of Mykrolis’s overall strategy to continue expanding its Asia customer base, this selection of Aeronex Gas Purification Systems is a breakthrough in meeting overall MOCVD bulk purification needs in H2, N2, and NH3,” said Jay Hamidi, director of technology for the gas microcontamination control business at Mykrolis. “We are pleased to be recognized by this customer and look forward to providing them with the most innovative, gas purification technologies available.”

Dual-bed, self-regenerating Aeronex Infinity Gas Purification Systems deliver a continuous supply of pure gas and remove contaminants to sub-ppb (part-per-billion) levels, with some to ppt (part-per-trillion) levels, needed to purge contaminants and protect the process. They are available in several different gas series to generate ultra high purity H2, NH3, and inert gases.

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Sept. 14, 2004 – When Nanosys withdrew its initial public offering in early August, the debate over what its withdrawal meant was so loud and vociferous that it effectively drowned out the news that Cambridge Display Technology (CDT) Corp., a developer of organic molecules for display applications, had filed to go public just a few days earlier.

The Nanosys withdrawal and its causes suggest CDT will also have a tough time on the public markets. In addition, CDT’s public offering, which could have occurred by the time you read this, can retroactively tell us even more about the market encountered and ultimately eschewed by Nanosys. Nanosys has decided not to comment on its decision other than a press release citing “adverse market conditions.”

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Cambridge, England-based CDT is in many ways similar to Palo Alto, Calif.’s Nanosys. Like Nanosys, its key asset is an extensive portfolio of intellectual property covering materials and processing know-how, which it licenses to manufacturing partners to generate revenue.

Like Nanosys, it already has key relationships in place. And its technology is also widely considered potentially disruptive — in CDT’s case, for next-generation displays on everything from cell phones to big-screen TVs. And, like Nanosys, CDT is not yet profitable.

“They are in a funny position,” said Kimberly Allen, director of technology and strategic research at iSuppli/Stanford Resources, an El Segundo, Calif., market research firm that follows the display sector closely. “Commercialization is in the hands of their licensees and partners.” Ultimately, it may be that more vertically oriented, product-centric companies have the best model for today’s market.

CDT owns some of the key IP in the field of polymer organic light emitting diodes, or polymer OLEDs. But polymer OLED technology is just one route to next-generation displays. Manufacturers might license competing technology or develop their own type of OLED or other display device, leaving CDT and its IP portfolio out in the cold. For that and other reasons, Allen considers it as a high-risk investment.

Being similarly high risk hampered Nanosys, but not because there is never a market for such offerings. Risk tolerance comes and goes, but in August it appeared at a low. By Aug. 16, nine IPOs had already been withdrawn, according to Nasdaq.com, and seven were withdrawn in July, up from an average of 1.8 per month for the first six months of year.

As the markets fell, the market for higher risk issues fell more precipitously. For example, for the six months ending Aug. 20, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down about 5 percent and the Nasdaq about 10 percent. But the Punk Ziegel Nanotechnology Index was down 42 percent and the Merrill Lynch Nanotech Index, which launched April 1, was down 28 percent.

Meanwhile, the highest profile IPO of the year, Google, scaled back significantly as stock markets reeled in reaction to rising oil prices and other decidedly non-nano news.

“I think this (Nanosys’ withdrawal) is a statement about where the market is right now rather than about nanotechnology in general or Nanosys in particular,” said Lynn Foster, the emerging technologies director of Greenberg Traurig Consulting and a longtime nanotech industry observer.

“There are other companies making steady progress right now that will continue to gain traction and this won’t affect the timelines of their exit events,” he added, summarizing the views of many in the nanotech startup sector.

Now CDT will face the same scrutiny. It is one of just two companies — the other being Kodak — with a sizable portion of the patent pie surrounding OLED technology. Proponents are pushing the technology as the heir to the liquid crystal display, or LCD, most commonly used today in mobile phones, laptop computers and other consumer electronic devices.

Kodak, which discovered OLED technology in the early 1980s, uses a vapor-deposition process to build layers of OLED material onto a substrate. CDT suspends the OLEDs in a polymer solution that can be inkjet printed onto a substrate. As a result, says Allen, it can be used to make bigger displays like monitors and televisions.

But the company faces daunting challenges, not the least of which is the fact that, according to Allen, 98 percent of the product value currently on the market traces its roots to Kodak’s IP, not CDT’s. And, she says, even if you buy the idea that CDT’s portfolio deserves a premium for its future value when manufacturers build larger OLED devices like computer monitors and flat screen TVs, there’s no guarantee such devices will be OLED-based.

Add to that longevity issues. OLEDs degrade over time. Cell phones are the ideal proving ground for OLED technology because, among other reasons, consumers frequently upgrade to new phones. On the other hand, computer monitors and televisions are expected to function for years without a noticeable performance drop. CDT will have to significantly improve the lifetime of its displays for them to be viable in such markets, Allen says.

If CDT pulls off a successful IPO, it may be a sign that the market has become more risk tolerant or that investors are comforted by the fact that CDT’s manufacturing partners already have products on the market.

On the other hand, a withdrawn CDT offering or a poor performance would support the contention that the platform technology model is out of synch with the current stock market. It would suggest companies promoting the promise and potential of nanotech have less appeal than companies with new and better products tailored to a specific existing market, with scalable processes, solid relationships, and sustainable and growing revenues. If they also happen to be enabled by nanotech, so be it.

That was the approach taken by Immunicon Corp., which went public in April and raised $43 million in net proceeds. The company makes systems to collect and analyze rare cells from blood for cancer diagnostics and other purposes. It mentioned just once in its 122-page prospectus that its products use patented magnetic nanoparticles.

“Don’t try to sell your technology,” said Ed Erickson, chairman and chief executive. Instead, he advised, “Try to find some niche markets where you have specific leverage.”

The advice runs counter to the biotech boutique model and the platform play. In essence, Erickson maintains, companies should put the product horse before the platform cart, not the other way around.

By moving forward with a specific product in a proven market, he maintains, you prove your technology platform. You can branch out into other product markets later.

In a stock market skeptical of grandiose claims and high-risk ventures, the breakthrough nanotechnology IPO could be something as mundane as a market-focused diagnostics company. The breakthrough is that it presents a workable template for other nanotech-enabled startups to copy, and to go public despite an IPO market with a withering appetite for risk.

And in that sense, Immunicon might well have been the watershed nanotech IPO of 2004, precisely because it wasn’t a watershed at all.

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Sept. 9, 2004 – MesoSystems Technology Inc. has a number of products in its pipeline, one an upgrade, and two in beta testing. The company, headquartered in Albuquerque, N.M., began shipping its new and improved BioCapture 650 in June, said CEO Charles Call.

The firm’s upgraded product has been completely re-engineered from the ground up, he said, and recently won an innovation award for new products and technology from R&D Magazine.

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The BioCapture 650 samples air, looking for possible toxic threats like anthrax, plague, smallpox and tularemia. It collects micron and submicron airborne particles, as well as soluble vapors, from indoor or outdoor sites. Technicians responding to an alarm can use the capture tool when they arrive at a site.

The key to the product is its integrated, disposable collector cartridge. It has been improved by its higher flow rate, achieved with a rotating impactor, fluid chamber, fluid lines and sample vial pre-assembled in one cartridge, so the system is immediately ready to use.

“It does about ten times better in concentrating particles out of the air,” than the original product, Call said, “It uses a technology called rotating impaction that has a high-speed fan to sweep particles out of the air, then rinses fan blades to extract particles into the fluid.”

The disposable cartridge eliminates the possibility of contamination and cross-contamination between samples, making it useful for emergency responses by Hazmat, firefighting and law enforcement teams.

“We do a lot of small tech in nearly everything we do, but that’s not the selling feature,” Call said. With injection-molded parts, the product can produce sampling results at a lower cost and with a higher reliability.

He cites three popular uses for the product. First, technicians at the incident can have field-testing equipment, so they can analyze samples on the spot. A second use for the sample is its ability to confirm a previous test. The third is for forensics for evidence.

Beta testing for a new bio-aerosol sensor called AirSentinel is nearly completed, Call said. MesoSystems has built 20 units that are installed in critical infrastructure buildings on both coasts, and in Washington D.C. and New York City. Brand-new technologies are incorporated in several parts of the AirSentinel.

“It is an optical sensor that uses microfluidics for particle capture and size sorting. The optical piece of it uses state-of-the-art ultraviolet (UV) light emitting diodes made by Cree Inc., a world leader in LEDs,” Call said.

Durham, N.C.-based Cree developed these particular LEDs under a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) contract called the Semiconductor UV Optical Sources (SUVOS) program for developing a nanofabrication-based light source.

The SUVOS LED is a small-niche application for Cree, since the company’s primary market is backlighting LEDs for cell phones, according to Cree company spokesperson, Cindy Merrill.

The AirSentinel is a continuous monitor, much like a smoke alarm, that looks for bioparticles in the air. The device uses optical scanning, so there are no samples or fluids consumed that would drive up costs. The product can be tied into a smoke-alarm system, so it can send an alarm if it detects smoke or bioparticles in the air.

A third product that may be ready for beta testing in October, Call said, involves lab-on-a-chip technology. This multi-tasking chip performs sample preparation and cleanup, label and target isolation and label and readout tasks on one card-sized chip.

“We’re also working on a biosensor technology that is an advanced microfluidics-based immunoassay,” he said.

Call, who was formerly associated with Pacific Northwest National Labs in central Washington, has moved MesoSystems’ corporate headquarters to Albuquerque, N.M. The company employs 25 people, and still does some manufacturing in Richland and Kennewick, Wash., where the firm originated.

Ardesta LLC, the parent company of Small Times Media, is an investor in MesoSystems.

Sept. 8, 2004 – The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded a $9.5-million contract to a team led by Lucent Technologies to develop a MEMS-based system that would enable faster and cheaper fabrication of integrated circuits, according to a news release.

The four-year contract, awarded by the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego calls for the team to design and demonstrate spatial light modulators (SLM) for maskless optical lithography equipment. Masks, required in the process of imprinting patterns on semiconductor materials, are especially costly in low-volume applications, the release said.

The nanofabricated SLM technology, developed by Bell Labs, has features as small as 50 nanometers. Potential applications for the technology include homeland security and military communications. Lucent is working with Corning Tropel Corp., DuPont Photo Masks Inc., Lincoln Laboratories and ASML Holding NV.

Sept. 7, 2004 – Konarka Technologies (Profile, News, Web) announced Tuesday it has acquired Siemens AG’s organic photovoltaic research activities. Lowell, Mass.-based Konarka said the acquisition of the German corporation’s intellectual property and scientific team working on photovoltaics will accelerate its effort to commercialize affordable and efficient plastic power cells. Konarka intends to launch its first product by year’s end.

Konarka said the acquisition, whose terms were not disclosed, also increases the company’s presence in Europe and creates a base in Germany. The Siemens team will remain there and is expected to grow, the company said.

Christoph Brabec, who led Siemens’ scientific team, becomes Konarka’s director of polymer photovoltaic research. Thomas Grandke, head of the materials and microsystems department at Siemens Corporate Technology, will join Konarka’s Scientific Advisory Council. Ardesta LLC, the parent company of Small Times Media, is a Konarka investor.

In the News


September 1, 2004

It's Official: STATS/ChipPAC Merger is Complete

SINGAPORE AND FREMONT, CALIF. — Following a successful governmental review and shareholder vote, STATS and ChipPAC have officially merged and are now operating as “STATS ChipPAC Ltd.” ChipPAC is continuing operations as a wholly owned subsidiary of STATS ChipPAC Ltd. The pair merged in a stock-for-stock transaction, creating one of the world's largest independent semiconductor assembly and test solutions companies – with a global manufacturing footprint spanning China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and the U.S.

Under the terms of the merger agreement, Charles Wofford, chairman of STATS, is the chairman of STATS ChipPAC Ltd. Dennis McKenna, chairman and CEO of ChipPAC, is now the vice chairman. Tan Lay Koon, president and CEO of STATS, is serving as the president and CEO of the combined company.

“With the merger of STATS and ChipPAC now completed, we are moving forward in our vision of creating one of the world's premier independent providers of fully integrated test and assembly solutions,” says Koon. “STATS ChipPAC now offers customers end-to-end assembly and testing solutions by combining STATS' testing and ChipPAC's assembly expertise. This is a powerful differentiating factor and a compelling value proposition for our customers, employees and investors. STATS and ChipPAC each had impressive customer lists prior to the merger. Combined, STATS ChipPAC has one of the strongest customer bases in the industry, including nearly every major semiconductor company in the world.”

STATS ChipPAC Ltd. expects to have more than $1 billion in pro forma revenues for full year 2004, according to the company, assuming that merger had closed on January 1, 2004. “Financially, we have created one of the industry's strongest players, capable of supporting our customers' ongoing program ramps, while continuing to invest in advanced technologies essential to our own new business development,” says Michael H. Potter, CFO of STATS ChipPAC. “Due to the complementary nature of this merger, we believe that the integration will be straightforward and have minimal impact on employees and operations of our existing plants.”

The combined company's headquarters are located in Singapore.

Carsem's China Facility Ships Production Volumes

SCOTTS VALLEY, CALIF. — Carsem's Suzhou factory has completed its initial customer qualifications and is now shipping production volumes of micro-leadframe package products. The first production parts were recently shipped to Sematech Corp.

“Sematech has been an excellent partner in helping us reach another major step toward meeting the tremendous growth potential of the China market, as well as the rapidly increasing demand for the MLP package family,” explains David Comley, Carsem's group managing director.”

Construction of the new factory was completed back in January, and since then more than 100 of the current staff of 180 employees has received extensive training in Carsem's existing Malaysian factories, according to the company. The current installed assembly and test is focused on the production of the entire range of MLPQ (quad) and MLPD (dual) packages, which is a saw-singulated version of QFN- and SON-compliant packages per JEDEC's MO220 and MO229 standards. These packages are available in a wide range of body sizes, as well as a lead-free version.

Chip Sales Are Up, But SIA Cautions of Slower Growth Ahead

SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Worldwide sales of semiconductors reached $17.8 billion in June, a sequential boost of 2.8% from the $17.3 billion reported by the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) back in May, and a 40.3% increase from last year's $12.7 billion. During the second quarter of 2004, global sales reached $53.45 billion — an increase of 9.5% from first quarter sales of $48.8 billion.

Microchip sales remain on pace to reach a record of more than $214 billion this year, according to the SIA. While sales in the second half of the year are expected to remain strong, a slowing of the growth rate is expected for the rest of the year. Third quarter sales are expected to be 4 to 6% higher than the second quarter based on the SIA's analysis of inventories, product capacity and end-market demand.

Strong sales of DRAMs, which were up more than 100% year-on-year, are cited by the SIA as the leading driver of second quarter growth. “Sales of personal computers have remained strong, with year-on-year growth of around 13% in the second quarter,” says SIA President George Scalise.

Wireless communications was another strong driver of demand for semiconductors in the first half of 2004. Sales of chips for wireless communications, including digital signal processors (DSPs) and application specific standard products for wireless applications, rose by 86.5% from the same period a year ago. Reflecting strong sales of digital cameras and cell phones with picture capability, sales of optoelectronics devices were up 52.4% year-on-year.

The Asia-Pacific market again slowed the strongest year-on-year growth at 61%, followed by the Americas at 30%, and Japan at 26%.

Impressions from Semicon West

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BY JULIA GOLDSTEIN
SAN JOSE, CALIF. — Many companies deciding this was the year to unveil new products. Here are a few of the companies who enthusiastically shared their latest news with Advanced Packaging…

Nextest introduced their Magnum tester, based on their line of low-cost testers but designed for high-volume applications in the consumer digital appliance market. It uses a scalable architecture, combining many 128-pin systems to provide up to 5,120 pins in a single test head for parallel test of memory, logic or mixed-signal chips. Each 128-pin test system, which required five PCBs in Nextest's earlier products, includes its own PC and has been integrated onto a single board.

FEI has been doing circuit edit using focused ion beam (FIB) systems for many years, but they have added new features to their 5th generation tool, including 65-nm capability and copper deposition. Pattern recognition software has been integrated to provide “machine intelligence” and automate the alignment process, and endpoint techniques for z-direction navigation have been improved to accommodate higher aspect vias.

Unitive is excited about their turnkey wafer-level CSP capabilities at their new die- level processing facility. In addition to bumping and multilayer redistribution, they also perform backgrinding, dicing, package marking, test and inspection.

GE Advanced Materials announced three new silicone-based materials at the show. Their new thermal interface material is designed for low thermal resistance to quickly dissipate heat generated by high-power devices, and it can be used for both first- and second-level applications. New die attach adhesives are aimed at large or thin dies, where the low stress and low modulus of the material can improve reliability, and for lead-free processing, since silicones are stable at high temperatures. Their third product is a transparent encapsulant for high-power LEDs with a high refractive index that resists yellowing, bubbling and delamination over time, enabling long-term reliability. GE has been increasing R&D spending recently, with a new technology center opened in Japan and more new product introductions expected in the near future.