Semiconductor today

According to a report by Nikkei, Renesas Electronics Corp of Tokyo, Japan is abandoning its plans to produce silicon carbide (SiC) power semiconductors for electric vehicles (EVs), due to slowing growth in the EV market — coupled with a supply glut driven by increased production from Chinese manufacturers — that has led to falling prices...

Swansea University has signed a deal that makes Space Forge Ltd of Cardiff, South Wales, UK (which is pioneering space-based advanced materials manufacturing via fully returnable satellites) the first firm to be physically hosted in the Centre for Integrative Semiconductor Materials (CISM), where it will undertake work on manufacturing in micro-gravity. Space Forge will be CISM’s first incubation client with a dedicated cleanroom incubation bay and access to a full suite of semiconductor processing and characterization tools...

WIN Semiconductors Corp of Taoyuan City, Taiwan — which provides pure-play gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) wafer foundry services for the wireless, infrastructure and networking markets — has launched its NP12-1B, a 0.12μm gate-length depletion-mode (D-mode) GaN high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) technology on silicon carbide (SiC) substrates...

Resonantly tunable quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) are high-performance laser light sources for a wide range of spectroscopy applications in the mid-infrared (MIR) range. Their high brilliance enables minimal measurement times for more precise and efficient characterization processes and can be used, for example, in chemical and pharmaceutical industries, medicine or security technology. Until now, however, the production of QCL modules has been relatively complex and expensive...

Indium Corp of Clinton, NY, USA (a supplier of refined gallium, germanium, indium and other specialty technology metals) has joined Virginia Tech’s Center for Power Electronics Systems (CPES), an industry consortium that supports power electronics initiatives to reduce energy use while growing capability...

Gallium nitride (GaN) power IC and silicon carbide (SiC) technology firm Navitas Semiconductor Corp of Torrance, CA, USA has partnered with BrightLoop Converters of Paris, France (which develops and manufactures high-efficiency, high-reliability power converters) to support their latest series of hydrogen fuel-cell chargers with automotive-qualified Gen 3 ‘Fast’ SiC (G3F) MOSFETs for heavy-duty agricultural transportation equipment...

SuperLight Photonics of Enschede, the Netherlands — a spin-off from the University of Twente that is developing a photonic integrated circuit (PIC) wideband laser light source for measurement and detection applications — has announced a partnership with ProCareLight, a a spin-off of Instituto de Ciencias Fotónicas (ICFO) that specializes in photonics, lasers and laser safety in Spain and Portugal...

Molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) system maker Riber S.A. of Bezons, France has sold an MBE 412 research system to a leading Asian university institute, to support research on laser sources emitting at a wavelength of 1650nm, for application in methane detection...

Following the recent announcement by Minister for Science Lord Patrick Vallance in support of semiconductor skills, the UK Electronics Skills Foundation (UKESF) has announced the launch of the Semiconductor Skills, Talent and Education Programme (STEP). This investment in building a robust pipeline of skills is expected to provide crucial support enabling more young people to pursue Electronics Engineering careers, and help to underpin the long-term success of the UK semiconductor sector...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA — which was founded in 2015 and develops and manufactures high-power industrial blue lasers — entered into a standby equity purchase agreement on 30 May with YA II PN Ltd under which it has the option, subject to certain conditions, to sell up to $100m in shares. This facility provides NUBURU with the financial flexibility to execute controlled stock sales until 30 May 2028. Joseph Gunnar & Co LLC acted as the sole placement agent for the private placement...

Japan’s Sumitomo Electric Industries Ltd (SEI) and Osaka Metropolitan University (OMU) have fabricated a gallium nitride high-electron mobility transistor (GaN HEMT) on a 2-inch polycrystalline diamond (PCD) substrate in a joint research project with the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST). The technology is reckoned to be an important step toward achieving higher capacity and lower power consumption of core devices in mobile and satellite communications...

Skyworks Solutions Inc of Irvine, CA, USA (which manufactures analog and mixed-signal semiconductors) says that, due to an unforeseen medical condition, Mark Dentinger will not be joining it as chief financial officer. It had been announced on 7 May that on 2 June he would be succeeding Kris Sennesael, who has stepped down as CFO to pursue another opportunity...

Micro-LED technology firm VueReal Inc of Waterloo, ON, Canada has announced a strategic partnership for its reference design kits (RDKs) and micro-LED evaluation platforms to be exclusively distributed across Canada by ACA TMetrix Inc (a Canadian distributor of high-tech test & measurement solutions), empowering engineering teams to accelerate the adoption of next-generation display technologies in key markets such as automotive, defense, and consumer electronics...

Aeluma Inc of Goleta, CA, USA — which develops compound semiconductor materials on large-diameter substrates — has announced an advance in silicon photonics that could accelerate the adoption of quantum computing and communication at commercial scale, it is reckoned...

At the IEEE MTT-S International Microwave Symposium (IMS 2025) in Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, USA (15–20 June), MACOM Technology Solutions Inc of Lowell, MA, USA is showcasing its portfolio of high-performance RF, microwave and millimeter-wave (mmWave) solutions and foundry services, with technical experts available to highlight performance advantages, plus a full lineup of technical presentations throughout the show...

Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany has announced the first of a new family of radiation-hardened gallium nitride (GaN) transistors, fabricated at Infineon’s own foundry, based on its proven CoolGan technology. Designed to operate in harsh space environments, the new product is the first in-house-manufactured GaN transistor to earn the highest quality certification of reliability assigned by the US Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to the Joint Army Navy Space (JANS) Specification MIL-PRF-19500/794...

The chip market for micro-LED display applications is rising at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 93% from US$27.9m in 2024 and US$39m in 2025 to US$744.7m by 2029, forecasts TrendForce...

At the IEEE’s 75th Electronic Components and Technology Conference (ECTC 2025) in Dallas, TX, USA (27–30 May), nanoelectronics research center imec of Leuven, Belgium is highlighting the performance and flexibility of its 300mm RF silicon interposer platform, which enables seamless integration of RF-to-sub-THz CMOS and III/V chiplets on a single carrier, achieving a record-low insertion loss of just 0.73dB/mm at frequencies up to 325GHz. This is said to pave the way for compact, low-loss and scalable next-generation RF and mixed-signal systems...

Scintil Photonics of Grenoble, France (a fabless firm developing and commercializing silicon photonic integrated circuits with integrated lasers for AI data centers) has appointed Jim Theodoras as VP of product development. This strategic hire comes, as the firm scales operations to support exponentially increasing volume demands for advanced photonics in AI data centers...

Sivers Semiconductors AB of Kista, Sweden (which supplies RF beam-former ICs for SATCOMs and photonic lasers for AI data centers) has provided additional details on the debt financing with a US-headquartered bank, established to fully refinance the company’s existing debt, while also supporting ongoing growth and financial strategy...