Tag Archives: letter-wafer-business

SPTS Technologies, an Orbotech company and a supplier of advanced wafer processing solutions for the global semiconductor and related industries, today announced it has won an order for its Omega plasma etch system from Chengdu HiWafer Semiconductor Co., Ltd (HiWafer), China’s first pure-wafer foundry, to establish their new gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon carbide (SiC) production line. SPTS’s Synapse and ICP process modules on an Omega c2L platform will etch SiC backside vias (BSV) and GaN epitaxial layers to manufacture high power radio frequency (RF) devices. The high rate Omega system was selected over the competition because the Synapse provided superior SiC etch rates while the ICP module delivered improved selectivity for GaN etch.

“HiWafer is already a well-established Chinese foundry producer of gallium arsenide based pHEMT and HBT RF devices currently used in 4G communication, and they are an early adopter of SiC and GaN materials for use in high-end RF devices that target the worldwide 5G protocol,” stated Kevin Crofton, President of SPTS Technologies and Corporate Executive Vice President at Orbotech. “This leadership position is important as Power and RF applications are high on the ‘Made in China 2025’ agenda for promoting domestic production of semiconductor devices, and companies like HiWafer are well-positioned to contribute to realizing this national initiative. Our leadership in high rate etching of SiC and other dielectric materials will support HiWafer to provide manufacturing solutions for the coming 5G wave.”

Mr. Nengwu Gao, General Manager of HiWafer, stated, “Orbotech’s SPTS Technologies is a recognized leader in compound wafer processing solutions to the global power and RF device industries. The addition of SPTS’s Omega plasma etch system gives us the tools to compete in GaN on SiC RF technology in telecoms and transportation applications, including railway systems. Acquiring this capability enables us to explore new applications and supports our ambitions to become a highly profitable and successful semiconductor foundry.”

Leti, a technology research institute of CEA Tech, announced that Emmanuel Sabonnadiere has been named CEO, succeeding Marie-Noelle Semeria.

Emmanuel SABONNADIERE P_ Jayet-CEA-010Sabonnadiere, who has more than 25 years of executive leadership experience in a variety of large technology environments, joins Leti from CEA Tech, where he led the industrial-partnership program. He brings a strong background in new-technology development with broad private-sector expertise in operational excellence, team building and guiding multicultural organizations in business transformation in Europe and globally.

As Leti’s chief executive officer, Sabonnadiere leads the activities of one of Europe’s largest micro- and nanotechnologies research institutes, which employs approximately 1,900 scientists and engineers, has a portfolio of 2,700 patents and has launched more than 60 startups.

“Success in today’s demanding international digital landscape requires a combination of deep technological expertise, advanced platforms, a commitment to customer and partner success and a shared excitement and agility about the new opportunities,” Sabonnadiere said. “This is where Leti is today, and I am very excited to join this world-class team to develop the solutions that will bring digital innovations to the benefit of leading technology companies around the world.”

Prior to joining CEA, Sabonnadiere was CEO of the Philips Lighting’s Business Group Professional in Amsterdam. From 2008 to 2014, he was CEO and chairman of General Cable Europe in Barcelona, and from 2005 to 2008 he served as CEO of NKM Noell in Wurzburg, Germany. Before that, he served as vice president of Alstom T&D for five years. Early in his career, he held multiple positions at Schneider Electric, including managing director of development for equipment units.

During his career, he has designed and implemented strategic plans for process optimization, product redesign-to-costs, market repositioning and system development.

Sabonnadiere holds a Ph.D. degree in physics from the Ecole Centrale de Lyon, an MBA degree from Ecole Supérieure des Affaires de Grenoble and an engineering degree in information technology from the Université Technologie Compiègne.

Sabonnadiere is a fully qualified instructor at the ski school in Les Ménuires, and member of the advisory board of IAC.

Cadence Design Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDNS) today announced that Anirudh Devgan, executive vice president and general manager of the Digital & Signoff Group and the System & Verification Group, has been appointed president of Cadence, effective immediately.

Dr. Devgan will report to Lip-Bu Tan, Cadence chief executive officer. Together, they will further the company’s System Design Enablement strategy by accelerating the momentum in the core electronic design automation (EDA) business and delivering to the expanding needs of its growing customer base.

As Cadence’s President, Dr. Devgan will oversee Cadence’s EDA products, including the digital implementation and signoff, functional verification, custom IC design, PCB and packaging businesses. Additionally, he will be responsible for the corporate strategy, marketing ­and business development functions.

“This is an exciting time for Cadence, and Anirudh will play a key leadership role as we capture opportunities that are being driven by groundbreaking trends in high-performance and edge computing, automotive electronics and machine learning, among others,” said Lip-Bu Tan, CEO of Cadence. “Anirudh is a visionary and an innovator and a strong team leader with broad operational experience. Both Cadence and its customers will benefit from his enhanced role. I am delighted to partner with him to further our System Design Enablement strategy by accelerating the strong momentum in our existing businesses and by expanding into new areas. The Cadence Board and management team join me in congratulating Anirudh on his promotion.”

“It is an honor to step into the role of president as Cadence continues to execute well across all areas of our business,” said Anirudh Devgan. “I look forward to working closely with Lip-Bu and my talented colleagues to accelerate our momentum and drive further growth.”

Anirudh Devgan is a 25-year industry veteran. Prior to joining Cadence in 2012, he was at Magma Design Automation, Inc. for seven years where he was general manager of the Custom Design Business Unit. He also spent 12 years at IBM in a variety of technical and management roles. He received numerous awards there, including the IBM Outstanding Innovation award. Dr. Devgan is an IEEE Fellow and has numerous research papers and patents. He received a Bachelor of Technology degree in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.

Broadcom Limited (NASDAQ: AVGO) (“Broadcom”), a semiconductor device supplier to the wired, wireless, enterprise storage, and industrial end markets, today announced that it has completed its acquisition of Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: BRCD).

Brocade’s common stock will now cease to be traded on NASDAQ. Brocade will operate as an indirect subsidiary of Broadcom and will be led by Jack Rondoni as General Manager. Previously, Rondoni served as Senior Vice President of Storage Networking at Brocade, having joined the company in 2006. Rondoni brings over 20 years of experience in storage, networking and technology.

“We are pleased to complete this transaction, which strengthens Broadcom’s position as a leading provider of enterprise storage and networking solutions and enables us to better serve our OEM customers,” said Hock Tan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Broadcom. “Broadcom has a track record of successfully integrating and growing companies we acquire, enabling us to offer customers a leading portfolio of best-in-class franchises across a diverse set of technologies. We intend to invest in and grow the Brocade business to further enhance its capabilities in mission-critical storage networking.”

Tan continued, “We are pleased to announce Jack’s appointment as General Manager, and would like to welcome the outstanding team of employees at Brocade to the Broadcom family. Together, we will continue to exceed the expectations of our customers.”

“We are very excited to join the Broadcom team and provide compelling benefits for customers and new opportunities for Brocade’s employees,” said Jack Rondoni, General Manager, Brocade business unit. “Broadcom provides us with the scale, resources and complementary capabilities to accelerate growth, execute on our strategic initiatives and extend our market leadership in storage area networking. We share a common culture of innovation and execution, and we look forward to the exciting new growth opportunities we will have as part of the Broadcom team.”

SkyWater Technology Foundry announces that it has been assigned the Specialty Foundry customer relationships from Cypress Semiconductor Corporation. The customer relationships were already being serviced within SkyWater’s 200mm semiconductor wafer manufacturing facility when purchased from Cypress earlier this year. Through the transaction, SkyWater assumes ownership of Cypress’ current embedded Specialty Foundry customer engagements and adds associated business management personnel.

“This transaction builds upon the concept of a Technology Foundry, which enables customers to design, build, and scale their products by simplifying the realization of complex technologies through access to semiconductor technology, experienced personnel and volume manufacturing capabilities,” said SkyWater Chairman of the Board Gary Obermiller. “The addition of the Specialty Foundry customers is synergistic with our pure-play Technology Foundry model; customers come to us with their ideas and we transform them into practice through the application of our differentiated semiconductor technology and operational expertise.”

The Technology Foundry Business model enables customers to design and optimize their product concepts. In tandem with SkyWater’s advanced wafer manufacturing facility, customers are able to prototype and rapidly scale to production volumes, all inside of a high-yield production fab.

“The Specialty Foundry Business was created in 2008 with the vision of providing advanced development access to a high-volume production-scale fab, building on the site’s proven track record of success in bringing new technologies to production,” said Michael Moore, executive vice president of Sales and Marketing at SkyWater. “It’s in our DNA. We’ve been doing development work at this site for decades, right alongside production.  This move is a natural next step for the company and our customers.  We have successfully diversified the customer base this way, by serving new and unique markets that are poised for rapid growth.”

As part of the assignment, which closed October 2, SkyWater will now have direct responsibility for all Specialty Foundry Business customers, eliminating the prior Cypress interface. Because of the existing working relationship between all parties, there will be a seamless transition for all current projects; the same team will continue working with all existing customers, the only difference being that they are now SkyWater employees.

Within SkyWater’s manufacturing facility there are a wide variety of unique technologies currently being developed and manufactured – from superconducting quantum computers to advanced technology Readout IC’s (ROIC), MEMS-based infrared imagers, DNA sequencing and fabrication platforms, and photonic integrated circuit (PIC) devices.

According to SkyWater’s Senior Director of Sales Brad Ferguson, “These types of Technology engagements just start with a simple conversation about our capabilities, and once Customers see the potential of our Technology Foundry solution, they realize this is the right place to transform their concepts into a manufactured product.”

SkyWater is a U.S.-based technology foundry specializing in the development and manufacturing of a wide variety of semiconductor based solutions.

The Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA) today announced the SIA Board of Directors has elected Matt Murphy, president and CEO of Marvell Semiconductor, Inc. (NASDAQ: MRVL), as its 2018 Chair and Sanjay Mehrotra, president and CEO of Micron Technology, Inc. (NASDAQ: MU), as its 2018 Vice Chair.

SIA Matt Murphy headshot

“It is a great pleasure to welcome Matt Murphy as SIA’s 2018 Chair and Sanjay Mehrotra as SIA’s Vice Chair,” said John Neuffer, SIA President and CEO. “Matt is a strong leader, an industry veteran, and an outstanding champion for SIA and our industry. An engineer by trade, Sanjay is a mainstay in our industry and a respected voice on semiconductor technology. Together, their skills and accomplishments will be a major asset to advancing SIA’s priorities in Washingtonand around the world.”

Murphy has led Marvell since joining the company in July 2016, and serves as a member of the company’s board of directors. Since that time, he has led the company’s turnaround and reestablished Marvell as a leading innovator in storage and networking technology.

Prior to joining Marvell, Murphy spent over two decades at Maxim Integrated, most recently as Executive Vice President of Business Units and Sales & Marketing, overseeing all product development and go-to-market activities. Previously, Murphy managed the company’s Communications & Automotive Solutions Group, led Worldwide Sales & Marketing, and served in a range of other business unit management positions.

“Few technologies have impacted the modern world more than semiconductors, and we’re now entering an era that promises even greater change,” said Murphy. “However, progress isn’t guaranteed unless the United States does more to support research, boost competitiveness, and promote global trade. As 2018 SIA Chair, I look forward to working with my colleagues to champion these priorities.”

Mehrotra joined Micron in May 2017, after a long and distinguished career at SanDisk Corporation where he led the company from a start-up in 1988 until its eventual sale in 2016. In addition to being a SanDisk co-founder, Mr. Mehrotra served as its President and CEO from 2011 to 2016, overseeing its growth to a Fortune 500 company.

Prior to SanDisk, Mr. Mehrotra held design engineering positions at Integrated Device Technology, Inc., SEEQ Technology and Intel Corporation. Mehrotra earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. He holds more than 70 patents and has published articles on nonvolatile memory design and flash memory systems.

“Semiconductor technology has revolutionized our society and transformed our economy,” said Mehrotra. “The success of our industry is driven, in part, by our unity of purpose. Working together through SIA, we can ensure continued U.S. leadership in semiconductor manufacturing, design, and research. I look forward to helping lead that effort as 2018 SIA Vice Chair.”

SUNY Polytechnic Institute (SUNY Poly) is hosting the 11th IEEE Nanotechnology Symposium at its world-class Albany NanoTech Complex on Wednesday, November 15, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., with support from sponsors IEEE and the Electron Devices Society, as well as from donors IBM and GlobalFoundries.

The symposium will feature keynotes and presentations on topics from computational health, silicon photonics, spintronics, and packaging to advances in quantum computing devices and architecture. In addition, a number of technical leaders will be recognized with awards for their contributions toward the introduction of copper (Cu) interconnects to the semiconductor industry, including Dr. Dan Edelstein, IBM Fellow and one of the pioneers of this advancement.

In addition to the award recipients from IBM and GlobalFoundries, guests of honor include:

  • Mukesh Khare (Vice President, Semiconductor Technology Research, IBM);
  • Bahgat Sammakia (Interim President, SUNY Poly);
  • T.C. Chen (Vice President Science & Technology, IBM Fellow, IBM);
  • Bijan Davari (Vice President, Next Generation Computing Systems and Technology, IBM Fellow, IBM);
  • George Gomba (Vice President, Technology Research, GLOBALFOUNDRIES);
  • Thomas N. Theis (Executive Director, Columbia Nano Initiative, Columbia University); and
  • Kang-ill Seo (Vice President, R & D, Samsung Semiconductor Inc.).

A link to more information about the symposium, as well as an agenda, can be found here: http://albanynanotechnology.org/

SEMICON Europa 2017 will take place in Munich from 14 to 17 November, co-located with productronica. Consistent with SEMI’s theme “Connect, Collaborate, and Innovate,” co-locating SEMICON Europa with productronica gathers the full span of electronics manufacturing and end-products, creating the largest European electronics platform ever. More than 400 exhibitors will present their products and innovations at SEMICON Europa 2017. Over 40,000 attendees are expected at the co-located events.

After a period of slow growth, Europe’s semiconductor manufacturers are investing in new construction of 300mm fabs in Germany, Italy and France. Four semiconductor and MEMS manufacturers have announced investments in Europe totaling more than $10 billion. Bosch will build a new fab in Dresden; ST Microelectronics is planning two new 300mm fabs in Agrate and Crolles; and GLOBALFOUNDRIES and Infineon plan to expand their production capacity.

“The global industry will invest more than US$100 billion in equipment and materials this year. Forecasts for 2017 also predict that semiconductor manufacturers worldwide will exceed $400 billion in revenue ─ a new record,” says Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI.  “An unprecedented number of new inflections and applications will broadly expand the digital economy and drive increasing silicon content — in areas including IoT, assisted driving in automotive, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data, and 5G. Assuming an average 7 percent CAGR, global chip sales could approach $1 trillion by 2030, and equipment and materials spending could similarly grow to nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars.”

The market segments in which European companies hold strong market positions also shape the conference program of SEMICON Europa 2017. More than 250 presentations, 50 conferences and high-caliber discussions provide an overview of current trends. Key issues this year include: materials, semiconductor manufacturing, advanced packaging, MEMS/sensors, power electronics, flexible and printed electronics. The focus is also on important applications such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI), smart manufacturing (“Industry 4.0”), automotive electronics and medical technology.

The Opening Ceremony will include a welcome speech by Ajit Manocha, president and CEO of SEMI,followed by Laith Altimime, president, SEMI Europe, plus four keynotes:

  • Bosch Sensortec: Stefan Finkbeiner, CEO, on how environmental sensing can contribute to a better quality of life in the context of the IoT
  • Rinspeed Inc.: Frank M. Rinderknecht, founder and CEO, on how to create innovative technologies, materials and mobility means of tomorrow
  • SOITEC: Carlos Mazure, CTO, executive VP, on contributions and benefits of engineered substrates solutions and thin-layer transfer technologies, focusing on applications in the smart space
  • TSMC Europe: Maria Marced, president, on opportunities for new business models to apply in the Smart City

On the exhibition show floor, the TechARENA free sessions are a highlight with the SEMI China Innovation and Investment Forum and the INNOVATION VILLAGE.

U.S. semiconductor chemical suppliers lost market share to Japanese and European competitors in every major segment over the past decade, according to the report entitled “Chemicals and Materials for Sub-100 nm IC Manufacturing,” recently published by The Information Network (www.theinformationnet.com), a New Tripoli, PA-based market research company.

“Despite a shift in semiconductor manufacturing from the U.S. to Japan, to Korea, and then to China, the chemical supply chain is still dominated by U.S., Japanese, and European chemical companies,” noted Dr. Robert Castellano, president of The Information Network.

Within this supply chain, U.S. chemical manufacturers lost market share in every major chemical sector over the past decade, according to The Information Network’s report. Specific details for the top three suppliers in each of the sectors are listed in the table below:

chemicals

 

The first sector is one of the more interesting, because GlobalWafers, a Taiwanese company, acquired SunEdison in late 2016 making it the first company to break into the top three that wasn’t from headquartered in the U.S., Japan, or Europe,” added Dr. Castellano.

According to the report, the company held a 13.5% share in 2004 (when it was called MEMC) but it dropped to 10.1% in 2016 (when it was called SunEdison).

In each of the other sectors, the U.S. company dropped in market share. In the liquid chemicals sector, KMG Chemicals dropped from first place to third place, but gained market share because of its acquisition of OM Chemicals in 2014.

The Global Semiconductor Alliance (GSA) today announced the 2017 award nominees for the GSA Awards Dinner Celebration. Featuring a new Master of Ceremonies format hosted by Wayne Brady, five-time Emmy winner and Grammy nominee, the celebration will take place on Thursday, December 7, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, California. The program will recognize companies that have demonstrated excellence through their vision, strategy, execution and future opportunity. These companies will be honored for their achievements in several categories ranging from outstanding leadership to financial accomplishments, as well as overall respect within the industry.

The 2017 Dr. Morris Chang Exemplary Leadership Award winner is Ray Stata, Cofounder and Chairman of Analog Devices, Inc.

The evening’s program will recognize leading semiconductor companies that have exhibited market growth through technological innovation and exceptional business management strategies. The award categories and nominees (in alphabetical order) are as follows:

View Nominee Announcement Video

Start-Up to Watch Award

  • DecaWave Ltd.
  • Innovium, Inc.
  • SiFive, Inc.

Most Respected Private Semiconductor Company Award

  • Aquantia Corporation
  • Luxtera, Inc.
  • Montage Technology
  • Silego Technology, Inc.

Most Respected Emerging Public Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving $100 Million to $500 Million in Annual Sales):

  • Monolithic Power Systems, Inc. (MPS)
  • Parade Technologies, Ltd.
  • Power Integrations, Inc.

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving $500 Million to $1 Billion in Annual Sales):

  • ams AG
  • Shenzhen Goodix Technology Co., Ltd.
  • Silicon Labs

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving $1 Billion to $5 Billion in Annual Sales)

  • Analog Devices, Inc.
  • Dialog Semiconductor
  • Xilinx, Inc.

Most Respected Public Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving Greater than $5 Billion in Annual Sales)

  • Infineon Technologies AG
  • NVIDIA Corporation
  • NXP Semiconductors N.V.

Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving Up to $1 Billion in Annual Sales):

  • Parade Technologies, Ltd.
  • Silicon Labs
  • Silicon Motion Technology Corporation (Silicon Motion, Inc.)

Best Financially Managed Semiconductor Company Award (Achieving Greater than $1 Billion in Annual Sales)

  • Maxim Integrated
  • SK Hynix Inc.
  • Skyworks Solutions, Inc.

Analyst Favorite Semiconductor Company Award (chosen by analyst Rajvindra Gill of Needham & Company, LLC)

  • Microchip Technology Inc.
  • Micron Technology, Inc.
  • NVIDIA Corporation

Outstanding Asia Pacific Semiconductor Company Award

  • MediaTek Inc.
  • Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
  • Spreadtrum Communications

Outstanding EMEA Semiconductor Company Award

  • Graphcore
  • Infineon Technologies AG
  • STMicroelectronics
  • Valens