Semiconductor today

Funded by the European Commission under the Horizon 2020 program as a collaborative research and innovation initiative (grant agreement n°101016138), the recently concluded 42-month project ELENA (‘European electro-optic and nonlinear PIC platform based on lithium niobate’) has developed the first European-made lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) substrates for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), establishing a complete European supply chain for thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology...

EPC Space LLC of Haverhill, MA, USA (which provides high-reliability radiation-hardened enhancement-mode gallium nitride-on-silicon transistors and ICs for power management in space and other harsh environments) has launched the EPC7030MSH, a rad-hard (RH) 300V GaN FET that delivers what is claimed to be unmatched performance for high-voltage, high-power space applications, including next-generation satellite power plants and electric propulsion systems...

Silvaco Group Inc of Santa Clara, CA, USA — which provides technology computer-aided design (TCAD), electronic design automation (EDA) software and semiconductor intellectual property (SIP) for process and device development — has announced a strategic R&D collaboration with Fraunhofer Institute for Silicon Technology (ISIT) of Itzehoe, Germany, which develops and manufactures customer-specific components for power electronics and microsystems technology...

Gallium nitride (GaN) will likely be key for the next generation of high-speed communication systems and the power electronics needed for state-of-the-art data centers, but its high cost and the specialization required to incorporate it into conventional electronics have limited its use in commercial applications, notes the USA’s Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)...

Photonic chips industry accelerator PhotonDelta of Eindhoven, the Netherlands (which connects and collaborates with an ecosystem of photonic chip technology organizations worldwide) and Luminate NY of Rochester, NY, USA (the world’s largest accelerator for startups working on optics, photonics and imaging-enabled technologies) have entered into a strategic collaboration to support the growth of early-stage photonics companies across North America and the Netherlands...

The UK Government says that Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult will mobilize the new UK Semiconductor Centre (UKSC)...

At the end of this year, research institute TNO (the Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research in Delft) will begin constructing a pilot manufacturing line for photonic chips at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven. The new factory will enable the industrial-scale production of indium phosphide (InP)-based photonic chips. Additionally, the scaling up from 4-inch to 6-inch wafers will make production more efficient. TNO is collaborating on this with the Photonic Integration Technology Centre (PITC), Eindhoven University of Technology, and the University of Twente...

Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) of El Segundo, CA, USA — which makes enhancement-mode gallium nitride on silicon (eGaN) power field-effect transistors (FETs) and integrated circuits for power management applications — has released the EPC91109, a high-performance evaluation board designed to demonstrate the benefits of eGaN FETs in a compact, thermally efficient, two-phase synchronous buck converter. Targeting USB Power Delivery (USB-PD 3.1) applications up to 180W, the EPC91109 is optimized for space- and power-constrained designs such as laptops, portable devices, and battery-powered systems...

The University of Massachusetts Lowell says that Electrical Engineering assistant professor Anhar Bhuiyan is among 36 recipients of this year’s Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Awards, nationally competitive seed grants for faculty in the first two years of their academic careers. The award supports Bhuiyan’s research into next-generation materials and components for powering satellites and unmanned spacecraft...

The power module equipped with Japan-based ROHM Co Ltd’s fourth-generation silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET bare chip has been adopted in the traction inverter of Toyota Motor Corp’s new bZ5 crossover-type battery electric vehicle (BEV) for the Chinese market...

Technical University of Eindhoven (TU/e) in The Netherlands is establishing a new research institute dedicated to semiconductors, quantum, photonics, and the development of high-tech systems and chips of the future...

Renesas Electronics Corp of Tokyo, Japan says that, as a resuts of entering into a restructuring support agreement with Wolfspeed Inc of Durham, NC, USA and its principal creditors for the financial restructuring of Wolfspeed, it hence expects to record a financial loss...

As part of its efforts to strengthen its capital structure, Wolfspeed Inc of Durham, NC, USA — which makes silicon carbide (SiC) materials and power semiconductor devices — has entered into a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with key lenders, including (i) holders of more than 97% of its senior secured notes, (ii) Renesas Electronics Corp’s US subsidiary, and (iii) convertible debtholders holding more than 67% of the outstanding convertible notes. The transactions envisioned by the RSA are expected to reduce the firm’s overall debt by about 70% ($4.6bn) and to reduce annual total cash interest payments by about 60%..

Materials innovation company Diamond Technologies Inc (DTI) of Hudson, MA, USA (which is developing and commercializing diamond-based solutions for semiconductors, aerospace, defense, optics and industrial applications) has acquired the complete asset portfolio of AKHAN Semiconductor Inc of Gurnee, Lake County, IL, USA (which was founded in 2013 and specializes in the fabrication and application of synthetic, lab-grown, electronics-grade diamond materials)...

Aeluma Inc of Goleta, CA, USA — which develops compound semiconductor materials on large-diameter substrates — has announced a contract with the US Navy that could accelerate development of high-speed photodetectors for government and commercial applications...

Tokyo-based Oki Electric Industry Co Ltd, in collaboration with Japan-based NTT Innovative Devices Corp, has established mass-production technology for high-power terahertz devices using its proprietary crystal film bonding (CFB) technology for heterogeneous material bonding to bond indium phosphide (InP)-based uni-traveling carrier photodiodes (UTC-PD) (a PiN junction photodiode that selectively uses electrons as active carriers) onto silicon carbide (SiC) with what are claimed to be excellent heat dissipation characteristics for improved bonding yields. UTC-PDs could operate faster and with much wider output linearity simply by excluding the hole transport contribution to the diode operation...

Chicago-based fabless firm Tagore Technology Inc — which was founded in 2011 and has design centers in Arlington Heights, IL, USA and Kolkata, India developing gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) technology for RF and power management applications — has launched the TSL8028N, a compact, high-performance receiver front-end module tailored for demanding wireless infrastructure and radar applications operating in the 2–5GHz frequency range...

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA – which designs and makes lightweight, flexible copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) modules that can be integrated into consumer products, off-grid applications and aerospace applications – has signed a master services agreement with NOVI Space Inc, a Virginia-based space AI infrastructure & compute company that develops and operates AI-powered satellites with their TRL-9 edge computing technology...

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA says that its flexible thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) photovoltaic (PV) technology has reached record energy conversion efficiency of 15.7% (AM0) at production scale. The achievement aligns with the firm’s previously announced 2025 strategy, which aimed to continue improving on its thin-film PV’s material quality, technological efficiency and production design optimization to increase the applicability of the technology in the space market...

Materials, networking and laser technology firm Coherent Corp of Saxonburg, PA, USA has launched the COMPACT EVOLUTION AC, a next-generation compact, air-cooled 500W diode laser system for polymer welding...