Category Archives: LEDs

March 14, 2012 – Marketwire — Twin Creeks Technologies, semiconductor and solar cell manufacturing equipment supplier, debuted its first commercial wafer production system that reduces solar module and semiconductor device wafers by up to 90%.

The tool uses proton induced exfoliation (PIE) to generate monocrystalline wafers that are less than 1/10th the thickness of conventional wafers. This eliminates excess silicon material below the active substrate, using atoms as a scalpel to cleave wafers. Hyperion embeds a uniform layer of high-energy protons, which are hydrogen ions, into monocrystalline wafers to a depth of up to 20um. When heated, this new layer expands, cleaving the top surface from the donor wafer to form an ultra-thin wafer that is otherwise identical to the original. The ultra-thin wafer is then further processed into solar modules or semiconductors. Creating wafers with PIE eliminates the kerf, or wasted silicon from mechanical slicing.

Hyperion is compatible with various monocrystalline wafers, including germanium, gallium nitride (GaN), sapphire and silicon carbide (SiC) for power electronics and light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Initial applications have focused on crystalline silicon solar cells, with the process expertise gained from these installations being used for new applications, such as CMOS sensors. Hyperion notes that cost reductions are achieved from reducing the silicon used, as well as eliminating wafer saws, furnaces, and crystal pullers.

Hyperion wafers are thin enough to be bendable, opening opportunities in flexible electronics and solar modules.

Twin Creeks’ intellectual property for creating and handling ultra-thin wafers as well as producing finished solar cells can be licensed to Twin Creeks customers. The company, in collaboration with the state of Mississippi, has built a commercial demonstration plant in Senatobia, Mississippi where Twin Creeks and its customers can fine-tune processes for generating ultra-thin solar modules and wafers with Hyperion.

Twin Creeks Technologies provides manufacturing equipment for thin crystalline wafers for the solar and semiconductor industries. Learn more at www.twincreekstechnologies.com.

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March 13, 2012 – BUSINESS WIRE — Intematix, phosphor and phosphor component maker for high-quality light emitting diodes (LEDs), received $16.2 million in funding from current investors Draper Fisher Jurvetson and Crosslink Capital, as well as a new financial investor.

The funds will go into facility expansion, working capital, and development of phosphor products and ChromaLit remote phosphor products for the LED industry. Intematix operates R&D, manufacturing, business, and support operations in the US, Asia, and Europe.

LED lighting has made gains in efficiency, but color quality and thermal management in small form factors remain challenges. Intematix phosphors are used to create white light comparable to conventional sources. ChromaLit remote phosphor systems have shown more efficient cooling, enabling more compact lights.

The company is in a position to "advance solid-state lighting technology across the world, and to benefit from the current intense market focus on quality of light," said Alain Harrus, board member of Intematix and partner at Crosslink Capital.

Intematix Corporation is a materials developer, providing customizable, patented phosphors and remote phosphor components for high quality, energy efficient LEDs. To learn more, visit www.intematix.com.

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March 9, 2012 — Media tablets, a consumer electronics product sector experiencing "remarkably rapid ascension," will become the fourth-largest application for semiconductors globally by 2014, up from 35th in 2010 and 8th in 2011, and predicted 5th in 2012, according to the IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool.

In 2014, semiconductor revenues from media tablet consumption will hit $18.2 billion, up from $2.6 billion in 2010, the year that Apple introduced the iPad.

Rank (2014) Application Revenue
1 Mobile Handsets $58,589
2 Mobile PCs $48,239
3 Desktop PCs $19,213
4 Media Tablets $18,447
5 LCD TVs $17,489

“The speed of the media tablet’s rise from near insignificance to top-tier prominence is unprecedented in the history of the global semiconductor industry,” said Dale Ford, head of electronics & semiconductor research for IHS, who attributes much of this growth to Apple’s iPad. The global semiconductor industry will need to realign to accommodate the fast growth and vast size of the media tablet market, Ford said.

  2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015
USD Millions $2,585 $6,864 $10,673 $15,253 $18,447 $18,162
Figure. Global media tablet semiconductor forecast (USD Millions). SOURCE: IHS iSuppli

In the past, the PC microprocessor boom lifted Intel Corp. and the cellphone chipset rise brought along Qualcomm Inc, Ford said. "Media tablets will generate semiconductor demand that is much more broadly diversified, spreading the opportunity among a wider set of suppliers than previous platforms did."

The winners? Application processors, baseband and radio frequency (RF) chips, NAND flash and DRAM, wireless ICs, image sensors, micro electro mechanical sensors (MEMS), light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and power management ICs.

Media tablets and handsets are a key driving force in reducing semiconductor industry consolidation, developed in more mature markets like PCs, Ford noted.

Mobile handsets will become the world’s largest semiconductor application in 2012, for the first time exceeding mobile PCs as the leading chip segment.
 
The IHS iSuppli Application Market Forecast Tool from information and analytics provider IHS (NYSE: IHS) is available at http://www.isuppli.com/Semiconductor-Value-Chain/Pages/Consumer-Electronics-Semiconductors-to-See-Largest-Decline-in-Q4-2011.aspx?PRX

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March 9, 2012 — Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc. (K&S, NASDAQ:KLIC) launched the LUMOS Capillary for light-emitting diode (LED) die wire bonding. The capillary can bond with gold or gold-alloy wires and uses a new TG ceramic material for better workability.

The LUMOS is designed for LED packaging specifically, targeting better bond quality and more stable process, permitting lower level of assist and higher productivity throughout the bonding process. Its fine granular tip surface morphology helps maintain excellent second bonds over a longer bonding time.

The LUMOS Capillary will debut at the Semicon China show at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre from March 20-22, 2012. Also at K&S’ booth: New AccuPlus Hub Blades for discrete semiconductor dicing and the ConnX Plus high-speed ball bonder for low-pin-count semiconductor packaging.

Kulicke & Soffa (NASDAQ: KLIC) designs and manufactures semiconductor and LED assembly equipment. Internet: www.kns.com.

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March 9, 2012 — Metallic wafer supplier PLANSEE developed Mo-Cu R670, a new molybdenum-copper composite material for semiconductor wafer substrates, optimizing heat dissipation in light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Metallic wafers are high-temperature bonded to gallium-nitride (GaN) sapphire LED wafers to serve as a heat-dissipation layer in the final package. To prevent semiconductor wafer defects, such as cracking, the metal wafer must match the semiconductor wafer’s coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE).

Molybdenum offers good thermal conductivity and heat resistance, but with a lower CTE than sapphire (Al2O3). The molybdenum-copper composite material R670 has a thermal conductivity of 170 W/mK and the same coefficient of thermal expansion as sapphire (6.7 ppm/K).

Also read: Present at coolingZONE LED 2012 in Berlin

PLANSEE supplies Mo-Cu wafer substrates with nickel-gold, ruthenium, chromium, silver and other interface material coatings, designed to prevent corrosion and optimize the wafer surface for bonding.

PLANSEE manufactures refractory metals and composite materials, supplying metallic wafer substrates for heat dissipation and numerous other components for the production of LED chips and LED packages. Learn more at http://www.plansee.com/en/index.htm.

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March 8, 2012 — AIXTRON SE received a new metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) systems order from existing customer Quantum Wafer Inc., China. The new contract is for three more AIXTRON MOCVD units. All systems will be dedicated to processing high-brightness light emitting diode (HB-LED) wafers based on gallium nitride (GaN) materials.

The order was placed in Q4 2011 and delivery will take place during Q1 2012. AIXTRON’s local support team will install and commission the new reactors in a state-of-the-art clean-room facility at Quantum Wafer’s factory in China.

"We have been very impressed with the performance of the two 42 x 2" AIXTRON G4 MOCVD systems that we purchased in 2011," Dr. Shu Yuan, General Manager of Quantum Wafer Inc., comments. "We therefore wish to add more equipment from AIXTRON, as we implement the next step in our strategic plans."

Quantum Wafer Inc. is a semiconductor optoelectronic materials and devices company located at the heart of the Zhujiang Delta Industry Area of China. A manufacturer and provider of semiconductor wafers, the company supplies materials for the manufacturing of LED devices, as used in a wide range of applications such as LED TVs, mobile phones, solid-state lighting, large-screen displays, traffic lights, etc.

For further information on AIXTRON (FSE: AIXA, ISIN DE000A0WMPJ6; NASDAQ: AIXG, ISIN US0096061041) visit www.aixtron.com.

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March 7, 2012 – Marketwire — Meaglow Ltd., MOCVD and epitaxy supplier, launched a range of nitrogen-rich indium nitride (InN) wafers for research and industry development around the compound semiconductor material.

Indium nitride (InN) can be alloyed with gallium nitride (GaN) to build light-emitting diodes (LEDs). InN is also being developed for solar cells, high-speed transistors and other applications.

Research InN samples have been fabricated with >30% excess nitrogen. "Excess nitrogen is seen when forming the material at relatively low temperatures using plasma based nitrogen sources. These plasma sources provide the extra potential energy needed for nitrogen rich material to form. To a greater, or lesser, extent excess nitrogen species are probably present in most InN samples, as plasma techniques are commonly used," Meaglow Ltd’s chief scientist, Dr. K. Scott Butcher, published in Applied Physics Letters 101 (2012) 011913.

Nitrogen-rich InN could resolve InN’s surface current problem, enabling wider adoption of the material.

Meaglow Ltd. produces a range of epitaxy equipment (migration enhanced afterglow), MBE & MOCVD accessories, and specialized semiconductor thin films for research institutes and industry. Learn more at www.meaglow.com.

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March 7, 2012 — The gallium nitride (GaN) power semiconductor market is currently small, with only 2 major device suppliers. However, new entrants are ramping to production, silicon-based electronics suppliers developing GaN technologies, and light-emitting diode (LED) makers diversifying capacity to make power electronics, according to Yole Developpement.

Also read: GaN LED market growth starts in 2012

The GaN power device industry generated less than $2.5M (estimated) revenues in 2011, with only IRF & EPC Corp. selling products on the open market. R&D contracts, qualification tests, and sampling buoyed the industry with extra revenue. GaN power device revenues are likely to stay below $10M for devices in 2012, with the rest being made through R&D sales.

While IRF and EPC will remain on top in the near term, several new entrants in the GaN power device sector will transition from qualification to production ramp-up in 2013, possibly taking revenues over $50 million. In 2015, as these new entrants achieve higher volumes and qualified 600V+ GaN devices hit the market, GaN will reach non-consumer applications and grow rapidly. In 2015, 12-15 players will together consume more than 100,000 (6" equivalent) epiwafers.

If GaN is qualified in the electric/hybrid electric vehicle (EV/HEV) sector, GaN device business could top the billion dollar line and the GaN-on-Si substrate market could exceed $300 million in revenues by 2019, explains Dr Philippe Roussel, Business Unit Manager, Power Electronics at Yole Développement. However, it is still unclear how car makers will choose between silicon carbide (SiC), GaN, or established silicon technology.

R&D activities are still fragmented between several substrate options for power electronics: GaN-on-sapphire, GaN-on-SiC, GaN-on-GaN, GaN-on-aluminum nitride (AlN) and GaN-on-Si. GaN-on-Si should take a dominant position, thanks to the availability of6" wafers with >7μm-thick GaN epi and 8" wafers under qualification.

Yole Développement identifies 5 companies positioned on the epiwafer business side and more than 6 GaN device pure-players, and another 15 Si-based power firms developing GaN technology.

LED makers are now looking at GaN power electronics, considering ways to convert existing underutilized LED fab capactity to make power semiconductors or epiwafers. That represents an “epsilon” today, but Yole Développement assumes it may create some waves in GaN industry growth. The two technologies are manufactured with similar processes and are subject to similar market dynamics. GaN epi technology came from the LED industry, while current GaN-on-Si epiwafer work is feeding both industries. Most epiwafer vendors are targeting LED and power segments with dedicated products and offers. Yole expects LED and power electronics manufacturing to become so intertwined in the future that the analysts are grouping them under "GaN device industry."

Figure. GaN device market size and list of applications sectors. SOURCE: Yole Power GaN report, March 2012.

Power device makers usually buy polished silicon wafers, conduct the epitaxy (or buy Si epi-wafers) unless using FZ thin wafers, then process the devices. This model is roughly the same for SiC technology. New GaN producers may not integrate metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) GaN epitaxy, instead buying GaN epiwafers and processing them in existing CMOS front-end lines. Alternatively, new entrants could fully integrate the GaN process, from the bare silicon, GaN epi, and front-end fab.

"Power GaN — 2012 edition," a report from Yole Développement, provides a complete analysis of the GaN device and substrate industry in the power electronics field: market forecasts, company involvements, etc.

Companies cited in the report: Aixtron, AZZURRO, BeMiTec, Bridgelux, CamGaN Ltd, Diotec, Dow Corning, Dowa Electronics Materials, Enphase , EPC Corp., EpiGaN, Episil, Fairchild, FBH, Freescale, Fuji Electric, Furukawa, GaN Systems, GLO AB, Global foundries, HelioDEL, Hitachi, III-V Lab, IMEC, Infineon, International Rectifier, Intersil, IQE, Kyma, Lattice Semiconductor, LG Electronics, LG Siltron, Lumileds, MicroGaN, Microsemi, Mitsubishi Electric, Nitek Inc., Nitronex, NTT, NXP, OnSemi, Osram, Oxford Instruments, Panasonic, Plessey Semiconductors, Powdec, Power Integrations, Renesas, Rose Street Lab, Samsung, Sanken Electric, Shimei Semiconductor, Shindengen, Siltronic, Soitec, STMicro, Sumitomo SEI, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Transluscent, Transphorm, TSMC, Tyndall National Institute, Veeco, Velox, Vishay

Author:
Philippe Roussel holds a PhD in Integrated Electronics Systems from the National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) in LYON. He joined Yole Développement in 1998 and is leading the Compound Semiconductors, LED,Power Electronics and Photovoltaic department.

Yole Développement is a group of companies providing market research, technology analysis, strategy consulting, media in addition to finance services. Access reports at www.yole.fr.

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March 6, 2012 — Owens Design Inc., semiconductor, solar, and data storage capital equipment component supplier, released multiple customized film frame automated handlers to customers in the semiconductor and light-emitting diode (LED) manufacturing tool industries.

The handlers had to be customized for various wafer processing tool applications because of the variety of film frames and film frame cassettes. Owens Design combined expertise in film frame extraction, alignment and transport to develop the film frame system for semiconductor and LED process equipment suppliers. The Owens Design automated film frame handling product is easily customized to address various non-standard form factors, the company reports.

Automating the loading and unloading of film frames into a process tool reduces manufacturing time for semiconductor manufacturers and enables greater volume production of LEDs. Automation increases productivity while lowering LED manufacturing costs, added John Apgar, president of Owens Design.

Owens Design specializes in the engineering and manufacturing of capital equipment. For more information about Owens Design’s Customized Automated Film Frame Handler Solutions, please visit www.owensdesign.com.

March 6, 2012 — The market volume for high-brightness light-emitting diodes (HB LEDs) reached $12 billion in 2011, a 4.3% growth over 2010, reports EPIC, The European Photonics Industry Consortium.

While demand for LED backlight unit (BLU) display systems is still growing, consumption of LED chips not keeping up, as fewer LEDs are needed to realize a BLU than in previous generations. The demand for LEDs to produce edge-lit BLU has peaked and will settle at about 70% of its maximum value in 2010-2011. With average cost per LED also dropping, revenues attributed to LEDs for each display screen are declining rapidly, even as production of BLUs based on LEDs rises through 2014.

Also read: Cheaper LED backlights require LED, plate materials changes

Figure. The EPIC Bellwether Index of key companies is an important indicator of the commercial development of solid-state lighting.

In 2011, the bellwether companies showed varying levels of performance. Aixtron was challenged by scale-back of metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) purchases, due to slowing demand in the back lighting market and the end of purchase subsidies by the Chinese government. LED chip manufacturers like EPISTAR and Cree showed mixed results, while lighting systems companies like Philips and Zumtobel fared very well.

This data, as well as more on the response of the lighting and display industries to one of the most difficult economic crises in recent years, is presented in a new report from EPIC, LEDs: The 2011 Market Review. HB-LED and OLED unit production figures as well as revenues are detailed for major players around the world for the 2-year period of 2010 and 2011. The report is distributed exclusively to EPIC members.

EPIC is a leading European photonics industry association. Internet: www.epic-assoc.com.

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