InVisage Expands with New Taiwan Factory

InVisage Technologies Inc., the leading developer of quantum dot camera sensors, opened its first high-volume, fully automated QuantumFilm sensor manufacturing facility in Hsinchu Science Park, Taiwan.

As part of the opening ceremony in Taiwan, InVisage executives joined representatives from Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Ltd. (TSMC), Hsinchu Science Park, and additional supply chain partners to unveil the new facility with a formal ribbon cutting. A factory tour for guests followed. The new factory, named QFAB3, brings next-generation nanoscale manufacturing to Taiwan as InVisage prepares to introduce QuantumFilm technology later this year.

QuantumFilm is an extremely light-sensitive layer of quantum dots that replaces the conventional silicon photodiode in digital camera sensors and provides improved dynamic range, greater performance in low light, and global shutter capabilities. More details are preserved in both bright and dark areas, and fast motion can be captured with less distortion. The material is customizable to allow for dynamic adjustment of sensitivity and resolution, and can be optimized for better performance at wavelengths ranging from visible to infrared.

“We chose to establish our high-volume manufacturing in Taiwan because of the vitality of the semiconductor ecosystem here, and in particular because of our partnership with TSMC,” said InVisage’s CEO, Jess Lee. TSMC is the world's largest dedicated independent semiconductor foundry, located in close proximity to QFAB3.

Lee added, “With our new facility and staff, we are able to source and install custom, state-of-the-art fabrication equipment and are now well positioned to ramp up QuantumFilm production.”

The manufacturing facility features unprecedented sub-5 nanometer process geometry within an ISO Class 10 cleanroom. It is designed to support a wide range of products, from mobile phones to high-end cameras as well as drones and other IoT devices that require high performance cameras.

InVisage’s use of quantum dots eliminates the need for finely patterned lithography to achieve high performance and sub 5-nm scale. This has a multiplier effect in terms of product performance, value, and output. As a result, InVisage’s new facility is compact and more efficient than facilities manufacturing competing technologies.

Product wafers are first manufactured by nearby TSMC and then transferred to InVisage’s facility for QuantumFilm deposition. The deposition itself is performed by a single, custom tool that combines spin-coating and CVD deposition technologies into one machine for the first time. This combination allows the deposition process to be both modular and fully automated. This is the first of many facilities to come as InVisage increases its capacity and QuantumFilm technology becomes the new standard for cameras.

TI's Sugar Land, Texas Facility Awarded LEED® Gold Certification

Texas Instruments (TI) Incorporated announced the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has awarded a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification to TI's new design center in Sugar Land, Texas, near Houston. The award distinguishes the site as Sugar Land's largest LEED-certified facility. TI's design center is also the first building in the city to achieve Gold certification under LEED version 3.

"The LEED Gold certification is a validation of TI's commitment to environmental stewardship and to the health of the communities where it operates," said David Thomas, vice president of worldwide facilities. "The Sugar Land facility was designed from the ground up to provide a great place to work while minimizing environmental impact."

Some of the site's sustainable design and construction features, which helped win the award, include:

Sustainable Sites:

The site uses a highly reflective roof and pavement to reduce urban heat buildup
Exterior lighting is LED and dark sky compliant to reduce energy use and light pollution
Alternative transportation is accommodated with bicycle parking and showers and electric vehicle (EV) charging stations

Water Efficiency:

Native and adapted landscaping to reduce irrigation requirements
Efficient indoor plumbing fixtures and irrigation system to reduce water consumption

Energy and Atmosphere:

The building shell and systems are designed for efficiency to reduce energy use
Refrigerants and fire suppression systems minimize the use of ozone depleting substances

Materials and Resources:

More than 27 percent of the materials in the building were made from recycled content, and 50 percent of all construction materials were locally produced
More than 91 percent of the construction waste was diverted from the landfill through reuse or recycling

Indoor Environmental Quality:

Low-emitting materials such as paints, adhesives, sealants and carpet were used to minimize off-gassing and provide for better indoor air quality
Indoors, natural day lighting is used where possible, and efficient lights with sensors and controls meet additional lighting needs efficiently

TI began using LEED rating systems to guide continuing improvements for construction and sustainability in the early 2000s and now operates over two million square feet of LEED-certified buildings around the world. In addition to the Sugar Land site, TI's LEED-certified buildings include:

The Richardson, Texas wafer fabrication plant (RFAB), the world's first LEED-certified semiconductor manufacturing facility. RFAB received the LEED-New Construction (NC) Gold certification in 2004.
Phase V of the Baguio, Philippines assembly/test facility, the first LEED-certified building in the Philippines. It received LEED-NC Silver in 2009.
The Clark assembly/test facility in Pampanga, Philippines, the first facility in the Philippines to be awarded LEED-NC Gold, which it received in 2010.
Santa Clara, California Building A, awarded LEED-CI (Commercial Interiors) Gold certification in 2012.

Developed by USGBC, LEED provides building owners and operators a concise framework for identifying and implementing practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations and maintenance solutions.

The newly constructed 163,000 square foot facility is located directly across from the University of Houston-Sugar Land Campus. TI has had a presence in the Houston area for more than 50 years.

Samsung to put 10nm Chips into Mass Production by End of 2016

Samsung Semiconductor announced that it will have 10-nanometer FinFET chips in volume production by the end of next year.

At an event in San Francisco, the Samsung Electronics subsidiary exhibited a 12-inch wafer with what it said were 10nm FinFET semiconductors. Over the next 18 months, Samsung will provide process design kits and multi-die wafers for the 10nm FinFET chips.

Samsung Semiconductor is also ramping up volume production of 14nm FinFET chips at its S1 wafer fabrication facility in South Korea and its S2 fab in Austin, Texas, while preparing the S3 fab in South Korea for 14nm FinFET volume production. In addition, GlobalFoundries will implement the Samsung 14nm FinFET process at its chip-making facilities in New York State.

“We are in business for 14-nanometer FinFET,” said Hong Hao, senior vice president for Samsung’s foundry business. “We have brought broad competition back into the foundry business.”

Samsung Foundry has closely matched Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing in providing 14nm and now 10nm chips.

Hao said Samsung will support “a broad range of applications” with chips coming out of its foundry fablines – consumer electronics, mobile devices, computing, networking, and data center infrastructure. He also noted that Samsung is offering a 28nm fully-depleted silicon-on-insulator process, licensed from STMicroelectronics.

Samsung Semiconductor executives made brief presentations on other product areas for the chipmaker, and also reported on progress in constructing the company’s new facility in northern San Jose, Calif., which will be occupied this summer

Transphorm and ON Semiconductor Start of Production of GaN Power Devices

Transphorm Inc. announced at APEC 2015, in partnership with ON Semiconductor, the introduction of two co-branded 600V gallium nitride (GaN) cascode transistors and a 240W reference design that utilizes them. This introduction builds on the previously announced partnership between Transphorm Inc., Transphorm Japan Inc., and ON Semiconductor to bring GaN-based power solutions to market. With typical on-resistances of 150 and 290 mOhms, the two new GaN products, TPH3202PS (ON Semi equivalent: NTP8G202N) and TPH3206PS (ON Semi equivalent: NTP8G206N), are offered in an optimized TO-220 package for easy integration with customers’ existing circuit board manufacturing capabilities.

“At last year’s APEC 2014, the Transphorm booth displayed evaluation boards using our 600V TO-220 HEMTs. At this year’s show we’re excited to announce complete GaN-specific reference designs with ON Semiconductor,” said Primit Parikh, President and Co-Founder of Transphorm. “We have consistently demonstrated, since 2011, that our JEDEC-qualified 600V GaN products enable more efficient, compact and low-cost solutions than traditional silicon devices. With our partner, ON Semiconductor, we are providing complete reference design platforms and tools that enable designers to take advantage of GaN’s benefits while greatly accelerating their design cycles and reduce time to market.”

The two-stage evaluation board NCP1397GANGEVB (Transphorm equivalent: TDPS250E2D2) is offered as a complete reference design so that customers can implement GaN cascode transistors in their power designs. The evaluation board is representative of a production power supply that has been re-designed for smaller size and higher performance systems, and it highlights the capability and potential of GaN transistors in this power range. The boost stage delivers 98% efficiency and utilizes the NCP1654 power factor correction controller. The LLC DC-DC stage uses the NCP1397 resonant mode controller to offer a 97% full load efficiency. This performance is achieved while running at 200+ kHz and – impressively – is also able to meet EN55022 Class B EMC performance. Full documentation is available at the Transphorm and ON Semiconductor websites.

The Transphorm GaN HEMT devices are in mass production at the Fujitsu Semiconductor group’s CMOS-compatible, 150mm wafer fab in Aizu-Wakamatsu, Fukushima, Japan. The large-scale, automotive-qualified facility, which is providing exclusive GaN foundry services for Transphorm and its partners, will allow dramatic expansion of Transphorm’s GaN power device business to meet the growing customer demand.

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