Tag Archives: letter-wafer-business

Immersion Corp. (Nasdaq: IMMR), a developer and licensor of touch feedback technology, today announced that Tom Lacey will become the company’s Interim Chief Executive Officer and the newest addition to the Immersion Board of Directors, effective immediately. Lacey succeeds Carl Schlachte, the company’s prior Interim CEO, who is resigning as a director of Immersion.

Lead independent director Sharon Holt has been named Chairman of the Immersion Board.

“We are delighted to have Tom Lacey join us as Interim CEO and a member of the Immersion board,” said Ms. Holt. “Tom is a world class executive who brings a wealth of experience and talent during this important time for Immersion. We are confident that Tom’s leadership and industry expertise will serve Immersion well during his time as Interim CEO as well as during his ongoing service on our Board of Directors. The board looks forward to expeditiously completing the process of hiring a permanent CEO.”

Tom Lacey, the Interim Chief Executive Officer and new Immersion board member, said, “I have gotten to know Immersion well, and I am thrilled to join as both Interim CEO and as a member of the board. I am looking forward to working with the employees, management, customers and board of Immersion to help capitalize on the opportunities ahead.”

With 30 years of experience in the industry, Lacey has a proven track record of successfully leading a diverse group of technology companies.

From May 2013 to June 2017, Lacey served as Chief Executive Officer and a director of Xperi Corporation (formerly Tessera; Nasdaq: XPER), a technology licensor in mobile computing and communications, memory and data storage, and 3-D integrated circuit technologies. He also currently serves as a director of DSP Group (Nasdaq: DSPG). Prior to these roles, he held a number of senior leadership positions at Components Direct, Phoenix Technologies Ltd., Applied Materials, Inc., Flextronics International, and International Display Works. Prior to that, Lacey held various management and executive positions at Intel Corporation for 13 years, including Vice President Sales and Marketing, President of Intel Americas, and Vice President and General Manager, Flash Products.

ClassOne Technology, a supplier of new electroplating and wet process tools to the 200mm and smaller semiconductor manufacturing industry, today announced a multi-tool sale of its flagship Solstice® CopperMax™ electroplating system to China’s premier compound semiconductor manufacturer. As the largest such supplier in China—among the largest Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) fabs in the world—ClassOne’s new client will use CopperMax™ to anchor the production of highly-advanced power chips with breakthrough designs suitable for a variety of leading-edge semiconductor markets.

“ClassOne has emerged as the supplier of choice for the exacting requirements of the Compound Semiconductor industry,” says ClassOne CEO Byron Exarcos. “ClassOne has presence in each of the leading Compound Semiconductor fabs around the world, now including a global leader in the development and manufacture of semiconductors based on GaAs substrates. This sale further confirms ClassOne’s leadership status in electroplating technology worldwide.”

ClassOne expects multiple similar sales in the coming months, as semiconductor manufacturing facilities throughout Asia expand their processing capabilities for advanced applications such as 3D Sensing, Autonomous Vehicles, and 4G/5G Communications—applications that require highly-advanced Compound Semiconductor chip technology.

Sanan Integrated Circuit Co., a pure-play compound semiconductor foundry, today announces its entry into the North American, European, and Asia Pacific (APAC) markets with their advanced III-V technology platform. With their broad portfolio of gallium arsenide (GaAs) HBT, pHEMT, BiHEMT, integrated passive device (IPD), filters, gallium nitride (GaN) power HEMT, silicon carbide (SiC), and indium phosphide (InP) DHBT process technologies, they cover a wide range of applications among today’s active microelectronics and photonics markets. Sanan IC is strongly focused on high performance, large scale, and high quality III-V semiconductor manufacturing and on serving the RF, millimeter wave, power electronics, and optical markets.

Founded in 2014, headquartered in Xiamen City, in the Fujian province of south China, Sanan IC is subsidiary of Sanan Optoelectronics Co., Ltd., the leading LED chip manufacturing company, based on GaN and GaAs technologies. Leveraging high volume production and years of investment in numerous epitaxial wafer reactors of its parent company for the LED lighting and solar photovoltaic markets, Sanan IC is expanding their go-to-market strategy beyond the Greater China region as their process technologies and patent portfolio mature, with a vision to fulfill the needs of independent design manufacturers (IDM’s) and fabless design houses for high volume compound semiconductor fabrication.

“We see tremendous opportunity in serving the world-wide demand for large scale production of 6-inch III-V epitaxial wafers, driven by continual growth of the RF, millimeter wave, power electronics, and optical markets,” said Raymond Cai, Chief Executive Officer of Sanan IC. “Our vertically integrated manufacturing services over our broad compound semiconductor technology platform, with in-house epitaxy and substrate capabilities, make us an ideal foundry partner. Given the capital investments made on state-of-the art equipment and facilities, with full support from our parent company, Sanan Optoelectronics, combined with strategic partnerships, and a world-class team of scientists and technologists, Sanan IC is well positioned for success in this active compound semiconductor market”.

As cellular mobility and wireless connectivity proliferates in the Internet-of-Things (IoT), and 5G sub-6GHz evolves into millimeter wave, III-V technologies become even more critical to support the infrastructure and client device deployments by carriers worldwide. According to Yole Développement (Yole), a leading technology market research firm, part of Yole Group of Companies, the GaAs wafer market, comprised of RF, photonics, photovoltaics, and LEDs, is expected to grow to over 4 million units in 2023, with photonics having the highest growth at 37% CAGR1. GaN and SiC for power electronics, such as for data centers, electric vehicles (EVs), battery chargers, power supplies, LiDAR, and audio, are predicted to ramp up, with GaN reaching up to $460M shipments by 2022 with a CAGR of 79%2 while SiC projects to reach $1.4B at 29% CAGR by 20233. Optical components continue to be in high demand for datacom, telecom, consumer, automotive and industrial markets, leading to increased revenues for photodectors, laser diodes, and especially VCSELs with expected shipments of $3.5B in 20234. As these applications emerge, Sanan IC is poised to support the industry’s needs.

Sources:
1GaAs Wafer & Epiwafer Market: RF, Photonics, LED & PV Applications Report, Yole Développement (Yole), 2018
2,3Power SiC 2018: Materials, Devices and Applications Report, Yole Développement (Yole), 2018
4Source: VCSELs – Technology, Industry & Market Trends report, Yole Développement (Yole), 2018

TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry, today announced its participation at the 44th European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC) being held in Rome, Italy on September 23-27, 2018. The Company will showcase its advanced SiGe (Silicon Germanium) process, with speeds in excess of 300GHz, and its newest production SiPho (Silicon Photonics) process built into data center high-speed optical data links.

TowerJazz has a significant foundry share of the 100Gb/s transceiver market served by its SiGe Terabit Platform and will showcase even higher SiGe transistor speeds and patented features appropriate for 200 and 400Gb/s communication ICs such as  transimpedance amplifiers (TIAs), laser and modulator drivers, and clock and data recovery circuits.

TowerJazz’s SiPho production platform enables high bandwidth photo diodes, together with waveguides and modulators, with a roadmap to allow InP components on the same die and permit a high-level of optical integration for next-generation data center optical links.  An open design kit is available to all customers and supported by prototyping and shuttle runs.

To set up a meeting or see a demo with TowerJazz technical experts at the TowerJazz ECOC booth (#569), or for more information, please click here or inquire at: [email protected].

In the last few years, biggies in the Vacuum Pump Market have set different business goals to attain a dominant market position. Their approach toward improving their current stance has been remarkably influencing the quality and design performance of vacuum pumps, which has positively impacted the shelf life and cost-effectiveness of the products. The optimized approach of players toward new product developments and business expansions is certainly poised to push vacuum pump market size. Some of the recent instances witnessed across vacuum pump market that are likely to etch a positive growth path for this industry are described below.

How Leybold, Atlas Copco, and Edwards combinedly contributed toward vacuum pump market expansion

Of late, it has been observed that reliability and cleanliness are becoming highly important in most of the production processes. Having recognized that efficient vacuum technology development could fulfill these industrial requirements, a few days before, Leybold, a subsidiary of the Atlas Copco Group, unveiled an oil-free vacuum pump with two variants of speed, which are designed to be useful in dusty and moist processes. Through in-depth R&D, the product manufacturers have successfully reduced the operating noise and maintenance cost associated with the Oil-Free VARODRY Vacuum Pump. In addition, the compact design helps users to integrate this product into existing systems very easily.

Speaking more about this product launch, the speed variants have made it ideal for industrial vacuum requirement with low investment and operating costs. This innovative product prevents oil leaks and particle emissions in a vacuum chamber, which will turn out to be a tremendous help to speed up industrial processes. It is thus rather overt, that with the launch of this maintenance-free and robust pump, Leybold has set a new benchmark ahead for the giants in vacuum pump market.

Prior to this launch, the parent company of Leybold, Atlas Copco unveiled its new product – a multiple dry claw vacuum pump system which is ideally suited for the industries operating in dry and hot working environments. This newly developed vacuum pump aims to provide high energy efficiency and better operational performance. The future deployment of this product for performing numerous dry pumping applications comprising pneumatic pumping, packaging lines, and drying processes is certain to fuel vacuum pump market trends over the years ahead.

With the development of a next-generation oil sealed rotary vane vacuum pump, the UK headquartered vacuum engineering company, Edwards had aimed to expand its customer base. This subsidiary of Atlas Copco designed a safe, stable, and compact size vacuum pump which could be suitable for applications in explosive environments especially in chemical processing industries. While developing this variant of vacuum pump, the designers of Edwards focused on customary requirements mainly across the U.S. and European belts. Post the launch, analysts deem that this approach could help Edwards considerably extend its customer base across North America and Europe. In addition, the deployment of these new products across the chemical, automotive, degassing, and pharmaceutical sectors has helped giants in vacuum pump market to extend their application scope across most of the industries.

It is rather overt that with the launch of a novel pumping system portfolio, core companies are looking forward to achieving competitive benefits ahead. The increasing need of highly efficient and environment-friendly pumping systems is considerably encouraging giants in vacuum pump market to carry out intensive research programs as well. The recent R&D outcomes such as improved lifecycle and cost-effectiveness will prove to be game-changing for the biggies in vacuum pump market, which is predicted to generate a revenue of over USD 6.5 billion by the end of 2025.

  • Key Industry participants for Vacuum Pump Market are –
  • Atlas Copco
  • Pfeiffer Vacuum Technology AG
  • Gardner Denver
  • Agilent Technologies Inc.
  • ULVAC Inc.
  • Ebara Corporation
  • Leybold GmbH
  • Busch Vacuum Pumps and Systems
  • Shimadzu Corporation
  • Kashiyama Industries Ltd.
  • KNF Neuberger GmbH
  • Gast Manufacturing Inc.
  • Becker GmbH
  • DEKKER Vacuum Technologies, Inc.
  • PPI Pumps Pvt. Ltd.

Powered by a widespread application scope and ongoing technological advancements, vacuum pump market trends have undergone a tremendous transformation since the last few years. The extensive involvement of industry players in research and development activities has been paving the way for remarkable breakthroughs in futuristic vacuum technology requirements. Having recognized the significance of frequent product launches, vacuum pump market contenders have been focusing lately on the development of customized solutions to strengthen their customer base.

Speaking of advancements in vacuum technology, the end-users across myriad sectors ranging from solar manufacturing to scientific instrumentation and flat panel display to semiconductors have been going the whole hog to tap the benefits of modern vacuum mechanisms. The subsequent deployment of modern vacuum pumps for pumping services across numerous industrial applications is thus poised to boost vacuum pump market share.

Browse key industry insights report, “Vacuum Pump Market Size By Lubrication (Dry, Wet), By Technology (Gas Capture/Binding Pumps, Gas Transfer Pumps [Positive Displacement Pumps, Kinetic Pumps]), By Product (Low Vacuum, Medium Vacuum, High Vacuum), By End-user (Chemical & Pharmaceutical, Semiconductor & Electronics, Oil & Gas, Food & Beverages, Wood, Paper & Pulp), Industry Analysis Report, Regional Outlook (U.S., Canada, Germany, UK, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, China, India, Japan, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Korea, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Kuwait), Application Growth Potential, Price Trends, Competitive Market Share & Forecast, 2018 – 2025”

https://www.gminsights.com/industry-analysis/vacuum-pump-market

RF power semiconductors for wireless infrastructure (for <4GHz and >3W) was over a US$1 billion business for 2018. The segment was essentially revenue flat, but Gallium Nitride (GaN) continues to make inroads into this segment.

“Gallium Nitride should continue to gain share over the next few years,” noted ABI Research Director Lance Wilson. “It bridges the gap between two older technologies, exhibiting the high-frequency performance of Gallium Arsenide combined with the power handling capabilities of Silicon LDMOS. It is now a mainstream technology which has achieved measurable market share and, in the future, will capture a significant part of the market.”

The wireless infrastructure sub-segment while representing about two-thirds of total RF power device sales has been anemic recently but is still holding its own.

The eventual deployment of 5G also offers an upside for the wireless Infrastructure segment. The main issue is one of timing on a large-scale rollout. Wilson also added, “the business environment for the RF power semiconductor device business has become more complex with potential trade tariffs, merger and acquisition troubles and other similar issues clouding the market”.

These findings are from ABI Research’s RF Power Semiconductor Devices for Mobile Wireless Infrastructure report. These reports are part of the company’s 5G & Mobile Network Infrastructureresearch service, which includes research, data, and Executive Foresights.

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) today announced a collaboration with IBM to apply design technology co-optimization (DTCO) to the pathfinding of new semiconductor process technologies for the 3-nanometer (nm) process node and beyond. DTCO is a methodology for efficiently evaluating and down-selecting new transistor architectures, materials and other process technology innovations using design metrics, starting with an early pathfinding phase before wafers become available. The collaboration will extend the current Synopsys DTCO tool flow to new transistor architectures and other technology options while enabling IBM to develop early process design kits (PDKs) for its partners to assess the power, performance, area, and cost (PPAC) benefits at IBM’s advanced nodes.

“Process technology development beyond 7 nanometers requires the exploration of new materials and transistor architectures to achieve optimum manufacturability, power, performance, area, and cost. A major challenge for foundries is to converge on the best architecture in a timely manner while vetting all the possible options,” said Dr. Mukesh Khare, vice president of Semiconductor Research, IBM Research Lab. “Our DTCO collaboration with Synopsys allows us to efficiently select the best transistor architecture and process options based on metrics derived from typical building blocks, such as CPU cores, thus contributing to faster process development at reduced cost.”

In this collaboration, IBM and Synopsys are developing and validating new patterning techniques with Proteus™ mask synthesis, modeling new materials with QuantumATK, optimizing new transistor architectures with Sentaurus™ TCAD and Process Explorer, and extracting compact models with Mystic. Design rules and process assumptions derived from these process innovations are used to design and characterize a standard cell library while Fusion Technology™ at the block level using the Synopsys physical implementation flow based on IC Compiler™ II place-and-route, StarRC™ extraction, SiliconSmart® characterization, PrimeTime® signoff, and IC Validator physical verification benefits the evaluation of PPAC.

The scope of the joint development agreement covers multiple facets, including:

  • DTCO to optimize transistor- and cell-level design across routability, power, timing, and area
  • Evaluate and optimize new transistor architectures, including gate-all-around nanowire and nanoslab devices, with process and device simulation
  • Optimize variation-aware models for SPICE simulation, parasitic extraction (PEX), library characterization, and static timing analysis (STA) to accurately encapsulate the effects of variation on timing and power for highest-reliability design with least over-design and design flow runtime overhead
  • Gather gate-level design metrics to refine the models, library architecture, and design flows to maximize PPAC benefits

“Synopsys has developed the only complete DTCO solution, from materials exploration to block-level physical implementation,” said Dr. Antun Domic, chief technology officer at Synopsys. “IBM’s extensive process development and design know-how makes them an ideal partner for extending our DTCO solution to 3 nanometers and beyond.”

Cabot Microelectronics Corporation (Nasdaq: CCMP), a supplier of chemical mechanical planarization (CMP) polishing slurries and second largest CMP pads supplier to the semiconductor industry, and KMG Chemicals, Inc. (NYSE: KMG), a global provider of specialty chemicals and performance materials, have entered into a definitive agreement under which Cabot Microelectronics will acquire KMG in a cash and stock transaction with a total enterprise value of approximately $1.6 billion. Under the terms of the agreement, KMG shareholders will be entitled to receive, per KMG share, $55.65 in cash and 0.2000 of a share of Cabot Microelectronics common stock, which represents an implied per share value of $79.50 based on the volume weighted average closing price of Cabot Microelectronics common stock over the 20-day trading period ended on August 13, 2018.  The transaction has been unanimously approved by the Boards of Directors of both companies and is expected to close near the end of calendar year 2018.

The combined company is expected to have annual revenues of approximately $1 billion and approximately $320 million in EBITDA, including synergies, extending and strengthening Cabot Microelectronics’ position as one of the leading suppliers of consumable materials to the semiconductor industry.  Additionally, the combined company will be a leading global provider of performance products and services for improving pipeline operations and optimizing throughput.

“We are excited about the combination of two world-class organizations with dedicated and talented employees that provide innovative, high quality solutions to solve our customers’ most demanding challenges,” said David Li, President and CEO of Cabot Microelectronics. “KMG’s industry-leading electronic materials business is highly complementary to our CMP product portfolio, while its performance materials business broadens our product offerings into the fast-growing industry for pipeline performance products and services.  We welcome KMG’s employees to our team and look forward to our future together as one company.”

Chris Fraser, KMG Chairman and CEO, said, “This is an outstanding combination, bringing together two leading companies that will benefit from increased size, scale and geographic reach. For KMG shareholders, this transaction creates significant and immediate value while also providing participation in the future growth of the combined company.  Thanks to the dedication and hard work of KMG employees around the world, KMG has achieved significant progress over the past several years, and I am confident that Cabot Microelectronics will continue to build on this success to further enhance value for our shareholders.”

SEMI today announced that all legal requirements have been met for the ESD (Electronic Systems Design) Alliance to become a SEMI Strategic Association Partner.

Full integration of the Redwood City, California-based association representing the semiconductor design ecosystem is expected to be complete by the end of 2018. The integration will extend ESD Alliance’s global reach in the electronics manufacturing supply chain and strengthen engagement and collaboration between the semiconductor design and manufacturing communities worldwide.

As a SEMI Strategic Association Partner, the ESD Alliance will retain its own governance and continue its mission to represent and support companies in the semiconductor design ecosystem.

The ESD Alliance will lead its strategic goals and objectives as part of SEMI, leveraging SEMI’s robust global resources including seven regional offices, expositions and conferences, technology communities and activities in areas such as advocacy, international standards, environment, health and safety (EH&S) and market statistics.

With the integration, SEMI adds the design segment to its electronics manufacturing supply chain scope, connecting the full ecosystem. The integration is a key step in streamlining SEMI members’ collaboration and connection with the electronic system design, IP and fabless communities. The Strategic Association Partnership will also enhance collaboration and innovation across the collective SEMI membership as ESD Alliance members bring key capabilities to SEMI’s vertical application platforms such as Smart Transportation, Smart Manufacturing and Smart Data as well as applications including AI and Machine Learning.

“The addition of ESD Alliance as a SEMI Strategic Association Partner is a milestone in our mission to drive new efficiencies across the full global electronics design and manufacturing supply chain for greater collaboration and innovation,” said Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI. “This partnership provides opportunities for all SEMI members for accelerated growth and new business opportunities in end-market applications. We welcome ESD Alliance members to the SEMI family.”

“Our members are excited about becoming part of SEMI’s broad community that spans the electronics manufacturing supply chain,” said Bob Smith, executive director of the ESD Alliance. “Global collaboration between design and manufacturing is a requirement for success with today’s complex electronic products. Our new role at SEMI will help develop and strengthen the connections between the design and manufacturing communities.”

All ESD Alliance member companies, including global leaders ARM, Cadence, Mentor, a Siemens business, and Synopsys, will join SEMI’s global membership of more than 2,000 companies while retaining ESD Alliance’s distinct self-governed community within SEMI.

TowerJazz, the global specialty foundry, announced details of its China Technical Global Symposium (TGS) event in Shanghai on August 22, 2018, focusing on the company’s analog technology offerings, advanced manufacturing solutions and commitment to customer partnerships.

In addition, TowerJazz has launched its official “WeChat” account, the most popular communication app in China, enabling the Company to support the growing activities in China while increasing interaction with Chinese users and sharing the latest TowerJazz technology information, news and events.

“China is a strong region for TowerJazz with on-going increased activities and we are answering the growing demand of Chinese players with our various advanced analog platforms, including Radio Frequency (RF) & High Performance Analog (HPA), power management, and CMOS image sensors (CIS), targeting fast growing markets such as automotive, sensors, the IoT, and 5G, among others,” said Qin Lei, TowerJazz China Country Manager. “In addition, we are pleased to launch our “WeChat” account to better reach and network with our existing and potential Chinese customers.”

Company executives and experts will provide technical sessions on TowerJazz’s leading specialty process technologies such as: RF SOI and SiGe for wireless handsets and the IoT, high performance SiGe for optical networking, 5G, mmWave and automotive applications, silicon photonics (SiPho) technology for optical networks, 65nm CMOS technology with embedded NVM solutions, 0.18um and 65nm BCD focusing on low voltage power products, and CMOS image sensors for face recognition and automotive.

TowerJazz will also present the latest design enablement tools and solutions jointly developed with its EDA partners, and its sponsors – Mentor, Empyrean, Silvaco and Xpeedic Technology –will share the latest design capabilities offered in collaboration with TowerJazz.