SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY
UPDATE
December 2010
McIlvaine Company
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SAFC Hitech to Build in Taiwan
TriQuint Semiconductor Awarded Contract
Manufacturing Plan for Nottingham
Emerald Invests in Manufacturer Azzurro
Fujitsu to Transfer Advanced Tech to China
Semiconductor Manufacturing Expansion at Rochester Electronics
SAFC Hitech, a division of the Sigma-Aldrich Group, plans to build a new, dedicated facility in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for trans-filling, technical service and production of chemical precursors used for high brightness LED and silicon semiconductor manufacturing. The announcement follows the March production expansion of trimethylgallium (TMG) at its Bromborough, UK manufacturing site.
The new facility, expected to be operational by the end of 2011, will extend the company's ability to serve the Asian market.
SAFC Hitech already operates a facility in Kaohsiung, which handles and characterizes highly specialized laboratory-scale chemicals and features a dedicated customer support centre. This site is certified to ISO 9001 for quality and ISO 14001 for safety and environmental protocols.
The facility was originally built to service the semi-conductor industry demands for ultra-high quality precursors using proprietary technologies. The site also provides integrated inert atmosphere transfilling stations, analytical instrumentation for the detection of ultra-low metallic and oxygen-containing contaminants and dedicated cylinder preparation and packaging areas.
SAFC Hitech says the new investment will move current operations into a new environment that will expand its transfilling and technical service base, as well as add significant capacity for the dedicated manufacturing of high-quality precursors to support the growing High Brightness LED (HBLED) market and ALD and CVD precursors for the silicon semiconductor market. HBLEDs are used in applications such as backlighting in flat panel television sets and energy efficient lighting.
“As mass manufacturing continues its rise, we are experiencing significant increases in customer and partnership activities in the Asia-Pacific region, which aligns nicely with our core commitment to driving global expansion in the production of precursors for the rapidly expanding HBLED market,” said Philip Rose, SAFC Hitech president.
TriQuint Semicnductor has been awarded a $17.5 million research contract from the US Air Force Research Lab. The Hillsboro-based chip-maker will hone the process for manufacturing gallium nitride integrated circuits. The work will be done in the companies Richardson, Texas facilities.
A collaboration between semiconductor manufacturer e2v and the University of Nottingham will address development and manufacture of devices for use in microwave and terahertz applications.
Funding of £1m from e2v will see a new purpose-built cleanroom built at the School of Physics and Astronomy on University Park, housing the e2v semiconductor fabrication facility.
The company will also have access to the existing nanofabrication facilities within the school, as well as the wide range of advanced materials characterization instruments available on campus.
“We look forward to working with e2v to develop the next generation of devices based on our existing expertise in III-V semiconductor physics,” said Dr Chris Mellor, principal investigator of the new collaboration for the University.
E2v has restructured its manufacturing operations in Lincoln; microwave semiconductor device fabrication will be conducted in a new facility at The University of Nottingham.
An example of this is a range of devices known as P-i-N diodes, which are used in sensitive microwave receiver systems. The collaboration’s initial focus will be to develop new devices which have a much faster response time than currently available and can work over wider frequency ranges.
According to Professor Laurence Eaves of the School of Physics and Astronomy, “This is an exciting development for physics at Nottingham. Having an internationally-recognized company working in our lab here offers exciting prospects for translating fundamental research in semiconductor materials and devices into new technology.”
Dr Nigel Priestley, chief engineer at e2v, said: “This is an excellent example of industry and academia making the decision to collaborate at both the research level and device realization level.”
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co, the world's largest contract chip maker by revenue, announced on Dec. 3 that it plans to expand capacity by 30% in 2011 to meet strong market demand. The company expanded its production capacity by 37% this year amid the recovering global economy, said Chairman Morris Chang, adding that the firm's capital expenditure next year will be more than this year's US$5.9 billion, but he declined to disclose the amount. Chang expected that global semiconductor industry will see a 5% revenue growth in 2011, driving by rapid growth of chip outsourcing. TSMC's revenue growth rate will exceed the 14% of the global industrial average. In addition, the company announced that it will build a new 12-inch wafer plant in Taiwan in 2015, according to an earlier report.
The Germany-based firm, Azzurro, uses a novel process to produce Gallium Nitride on Silicon for cheap LED manufacture.
Azzurro Semiconductors announced the closing of a € 14.5 million growth financing round with Emerald Technology Ventures, Wellington Partners and Good Energies as new investors, joining existing investors Cedrus Private Equity and IBG Innovationsfonds.
Azzurro is a manufacturer of ultra high quality Gallium Nitride (GaN) epi wafers based on large area silicon substrates. These wafers are used in the power electronics industry to build high performance devices and in the LED industry to manufacture inexpensive high-brightness LEDs.
High power electronic applications like power supplies, solar inverters and power converters for hybrid and electric vehicles are usually manufactured with conventional silicon semiconductors or very expensive silicon carbide devices.
GaN-on-silicon is a new material system which has unique advantages in both high efficiency and low cost at high voltages and currents. Previously, this material was not available on large sized silicon wafers and therefore has not been widely adopted. Azzurro closes this gap by providing high-quality GaN layers on 150 mm (and soon 200 mm) standard silicon wafers, enabling a whole new device category that provides consumers with more efficient electronic devices.
The LED industry has adopted GaN but is relying on small sapphire-based solutions, which have supply and cost constraints. Azzurro offers a platform technology for LED producers to process wafers in standard silicon production facilities with high productivity. When compared to the conventional technology, substantial cost savings can be achieved while maintaining the same performance.
Following this investment, Markus Moor, Partner with Emerald Technology Ventures will join the Supervisory Board of Azzurro Semiconductors.
Azzurro is a rapidly growing semiconductor company. Having pioneered the growth of gallium nitride on silicon substrates using metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE), Azzurro is providing its global customer base with epiwafers for LED and high-voltage applications. Azzurro’s unique capability to grow very thick high quality gallium nitride on large area silicon substrates enables cost breakthroughs for high-brightness LEDs and other GaN-based devices.
Emerald Technology Ventures is a global leader in cleantech venture capital and operates from offices in Zurich, Switzerland and Toronto, Canada. Founded in 2000, Emerald is a pioneer in this rapidly emerging sector and is focused on innovative technologies in energy, advanced materials and water. Since inception, Emerald has managed three venture capital funds and two venture capital portfolio mandates totaling over € 300 million (US$ 440 million). Emerald is currently investing out of its latest fund and is looking for energetic and passionate entrepreneurs with the vision to build world-class clean technology companies.
Japan's Fujitsu Semiconductor Ltd. will transfer its flip chip mounting technology to a Chinese group affiliate for system chip assembly.
Flip chip mounting attaches semiconductor chips directly to boards with solder bumps, eliminating the need for metal lead wires. This speeds assembly, enables chips to be designed thinner, and reduces power consumption.
Before the end of the year, the Fujitsu Ltd. arm will transfer some of the manufacturing equipment from its main domestic factory in Mie Prefecture to Nantong Fujitsu Microelectronics Coa Jiangsu Province joint venture in which the Fujitsu group owns a roughly 20 per cent stake.
This will mark the first time that a leading Japanese chipmaker transfers such advanced mounting technology to China. Fujitsu Semiconductor is doing this to strengthen Chinese operations and better compete with rivals like Texas Instruments Inc. and Renesas Technology Corp., which have bolstered their own production operations in China to cut costs.
Fujitsu Semiconductor will also collaborate with Nantong Fujitsu to open an R&D center in the city of Nantong this December. The company will dispatch engineers to this center so they can work with Chinese counterparts to develop chip assembly technologies meeting the needs of China's electronics manufacturing service providers.
Rochester Electronics, authorized manufacturer and distributor of end-of-life and mature semiconductors, has expanded its space-level continuing manufacturing services and product offering to provide a continuous, long-term source of certified semiconductor devices.
Since many manufacturers are discontinuing production of space-level parts due to the rigorous certification processes and expansive infrastructure required to manufacture, test, and store these low-volume parts, electronics manufacturers are often left with few places to turn for authorized space-level solutions. Contractually licensed by more than 60 original manufacturers, Rochester currently has more than two million space-level semiconductor devices in stock. In addition to the space-level finished goods inventory, Rochester is licensed to continuously manufacture space products from such manufacturers as National, Texas Instruments, Fairchild, and others.
Rochester's combination of semiconductor re-creation and continuing manufacturing is a cost-effective and time-saving alternative to system re-design when critical semiconductors are no longer available from the original manufacturer. Rochester's advanced re-creation process provides customers with a replicated device that matches the original semiconductor's physical features, layer-by-layer and pin-for-pin, and is guaranteed to perform exactly as the original.
As an approved member of the Class V Qualified Manufacturer List (QML) by the Defense Supply Center of Columbus (DSCC), Rochester manufactures devices that meet MIL-PRF-38535 space-level certification requirements. This certification verifies Rochester Electronics' capabilities in manufacturing processes, materials, and highly defined test flow to ensure the production of reliable parts that are electrically stable and can withstand harsh environmental stresses.
"Our unique Semiconductor Replication Process (SRP) guarantees that replicated devices perform as effectively as the original semiconductor devices. Rochester has successfully completed 83 semiconductor replication projects in the last 18 months and is currently engaged in more than 30 additional re-creation projects," said Paul Gerrish, co-president of Rochester Electronics. "In addition, we also maintain a large inventory of space-level parts to keep lead times as short as possible."
Rochester Electronics' space-level certification and manufacturing capabilities enable the company to provide continuing long-term support for military and aerospace programs.
McIlvaine Company
Northfield, IL 60093-2743
Tel: 847-784-0012; Fax: 847-784-0061
E-mail: editor@mcilvainecompany.com
Web site: www.mcilvainecompany.com