Strategy Analytics: GaAs Market Shows Strong Growth; North American Manufacturers Dominate
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 21, 2008...Strategy Analytics, a leading compound semi industry market research firm based in the UK and Boston, Massachusetts USA, released its latest report about the gallium arsenide (GaAs) device market. The company says that the GaAs device market reached $3.6 billion in 2007, which is up 17 percent compared to 2006. Strategy Analytics (SA) says in the report that RFMD, Skyworks, and TriQuint continue to dominate, accounting for about 50 percent of the total market. SA says that seven out of the top ten GaAs device manufacturers are based in North America including Avago and M/A-Com, and these make up some 78 percent of the total market, according to SA. The company notes that Mitsubishi Electric continued to be the top Japanese GaAs device maker in 2007. Eudyna devices of Japan was also in the top ten. Win Semiconductor was tenth on the list of GaAs device manufacturers.
“Strong market growth was driven by demand from cellular handsets which we estimate to have represented 65 percent of the merchant market in 2007,” commented Stephen Entwistle, VP Strategic Technologies Practice. “GaAs-based RF modules accounted for nearly 90% of the cellular handset market in 2007; and these modules will continue to be key to future mobile handset designs.”
Asif Anwar notes, “While macroeconomic uncertainties will affect the primary end markets for diminishing year-on-year GaAs growth in 2008, the market leaders will strengthen their leadership as a result of the industry consolidation that has taken place over the past 12 to 18 months.” Company News Release
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IPG To Supply Fiber Lasers To German Luxury Automaker
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 21, 2008...IPG Photonics Corporation announced that its German subsidiary, IPG Laser GmbH, that the BMW group in Munich has ordered multi-kilowatt, continuous wave Ytterbium fiber laser systems totaling 63kW. IPG says the systems are equipped with an integrated beam switch and flexible processing fibers, and a newly released integrated cooling system. IPG sells kilowatt-class fiber lasers that range in power from 1kW to 50 kW, operating in continuous or modulated modes up to 20 kHz with wall-plug efficiencies of greater than 25 percent. IPG boasts that all of its robust fiber lasers have extremely compact size, long diode life, no or low maintenance operation, and the highest wall plug efficiency of any industrial laser.
According to the company, the lasers will be used to weld automotive doors in the new production line at BMW Group. IPG says that the contract represents the first large-scale production use of fiber laser systems for the BMW Group. The BMW group reportedly selected IPG after extensive research and testing, and since then IPG says that the BMW Group has used its high power fiber lasers in production for several years. IPG says it will manufactured the lasers at its facility in Burbach, Germany, and it will deliver the lasers in Q4 2008. Dr. Valentin Gapontsev, CEO of IPG Photonics Corporation said, "We are seeing particular interest in our high power fiber lasers in automotive applications because of their proven low maintenance and smaller footprint on the factory floor." IPG Photonics News Release GaAs Labs Adds $10 Million to Mimix Broadband's Fourth Funding Round
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 21, 2008...Mimix Broadband, Inc. announced that it has secured $10M from GaAs Labs in its fourth round of financing. Mimix says that investment from GaAs Labs and the participation of existing investors during the round will allow it to pay off debt and to grow in the diversified microwave and millimeter-wave marketplace.
John Ocampo, President of GaAs Labs, noted, "We believe Mimix is well positioned in the diversified microwave and millimeter-wave marketplace, and we are excited about building on its existing product offering and strong management team to continue its growth as a leading semiconductor supplier."
Rick Montgomery, CEO of Mimix Broadband, stated, "We are very pleased that GaAs Labs chose to invest in Mimix to close this new round of funding. The executives at GaAs Labs bring a wealth of industry experience that will assist Mimix as we continue to capitalize on the significant market opportunity for microwave and millimeter-wave semiconductors that is being driven by the increasing demand for higher bandwidth and power.”
Company News Release
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Researchers Develop Metallized Silicon Wafer Sapphire Alternative for GaN LEDsJuly 17, 2008...Researchers at Purdue University believe they may have overcome one of the obstacles slowing the adoption of LED technology, the cost of production. The researchers say that LEDs are currently prohibitively expensive because many of them require the use of expensive substrates such as sapphire. Mark Oliver, a graduate student in materials engineering indicated that the researchers have devised a way to produce LEDs on much less expensive, metal coated silicon substrates instead of sapphire. The findings are detailed in a research paper published this month in the journal from the American Institute of Physics called, “Applied Physics Letters”.
The key ingredient in most blue or green LEDs is gallium nitride. Sapphire reportedly has a close lattice match and similar coefficient of heat expansion as the gallium nitrided in white, green, and blue LEDs. The researchers note that sapphire-based LEDs are about four times as efficient, but frequently more than 20 times as expensive as incandescent or fluorescent lighting. The researchers also point out that GaN LEDs on sapphire wafers often require a separate mirror like reflector. However, the “metallized” silicon substrate has a built in reflector layer of zirconium nitride. Content continues for LIGHTimes SecondPage members... Strategy Analytics Predicts Increasing Demand for Six-Inch GaAs Bulk Wafers
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 16, 2008...Strategy Analytics announced its latest analysis of the semi-insulating (SI) GaAs bulk substrates market. The report entitled, “Markets for SI GaAs Substrates: 2007-2012,” predicts that merchant demand for four-inch material will decline by over 20% by 2009, with demand shifting to six-inch material. The report also indicates that six-inch substrates will account for 76% of total revenues from the GaAs bulk substrate market market in 2012, up from 63% in 2007.
Strategy Analytics estimates that demand for SI GaAs bulk substrates increased by 5% year-on-year in 2007 driven primarily by cellular handset and other wireless markets. The company predicts that the overall SI GaAs substrate market will grow at a CAAGR (compound annual average growth rate) of 5%. The company says that merchant demand will account for about 95% of the SI GaAs substrate market by 2012.
“We are forecasting that year-on-year substrate demand will grow 7% in 2008 and 9% in 2009, but demand for bulk substrates will vary by growth technology,” predicts Asif Anwar, Director of the GaAs service at Strategy Analytics. “In addition to the move to six-inch diameters, overall demand for SI GaAs bulk substrates is driven by HBT (Heterojunction Bipolar Transistor) device production, which will ensure dominance of VGF (Vertical Gradient Freeze) and VB (Vertical Bridgman) substrates.” Stephen Entwistle, VP of the Strategic Technologies Practice cautions that the GaAs wafer producers will have to develop and maintain strategic relationships with the main wafer using companies. Company News Release NREL and Optony Collaborate on Developing Thin Film Solar Concentrator Cells
CompoundSemi News StaffJuly 16, 2008...The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Optony, Inc. announced plans to collaborate on the development of thin film solar concentrator cells. The collaboration will reportedly develop thin-film solar concentrator cells based on technologies NREL developed with record setting efficiency. The first and second phases of the three-phase development project will concentrate on devising a design to work with Optony’s optical system. The third phase requires real world tests of the cells combined with Optony’s optical system at NREL’s testing facility.
The NREL points out that the conversion efficiency of silicon solar cells is currently better than that of thin film solar cells, but they are more costly. The highest efficiency solar concentrator cells are multi-junction gallium arsenide based solar concentrator cells. These are also more expensive and require 500 to 1000 times the concentration of sunlight to operate a peak efficiency. The NREL notes that silicon solar cells can’t take that high a concentration of sunlight because of the thermal properties of silicon. However, thin film cells apparently do not require as high a level of sunlight concentration, and they are less expensive. The NREL Senior Scientist Miguel Contreras, who developed the thin-film cells with the world efficiency record stated, “The cheaper thin-film cells and low-cost optics should lead to a less expensive product or a lower dollar per watt of electricity.” NREL News Release Our news features are reported
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