Features
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Dec 09 / Jan 10
Advances in nitride precursors pave way to HB-LED mass production
SAFC Hitech discusses the demands on nitride MOCVD precursor manufacturing.
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Digging into SiC etch
Two groups of researchers, at Fujitsu and TriQuint, have been looking at some problems of etching back-side via holes in SiC substrates. Mike Cooke reports.
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Thickening AlN layers on sapphire substrates
Growth of aluminum nitride on a-plane rather than c-plane sapphire yields lower defect densities, reports Mike Cooke.
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Thickening AlN layers on sapphire substrates
Growth of aluminum nitride on a-plane rather than c-plane sapphire yields lower defect densities, reports Mike Cooke.
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November 2009
Management of arsenic-rich waste streams in III-V foundries
Safe practices for waste management associated with the grinding, lapping and polishing of GaAs in wafer thinning. Authors: Keith Torrance and Helen Keenan, University of Strathclyde.
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Progressing etch techniques for compound semiconductors
Dr Mike Cooke reports on recent developments in using various etch processes on compound semiconductors.
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Other articles in this issue include: DARPA awards NEXT contracts for GaN ICs research. For this and much more, subscribe for free
October 2009
Getting a green light from lasers
Dr Mike Cooke reports on approaches to producing green lasers in the III-nitride material system by using InGaN based active layers.
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Other articles in this issue include: Fujitsu develops first mm-wave GaN transceiver amplifier chipset. For this and much more, subscribe for free
September 2009
Extending dot-dash advantages to InP
Dr Mike Cooke reports on recent quantum dot/dash laser diode developments.
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Other articles in this issue include: Buffer boost for InGaN on silicon solar cell. For this and much more, subscribe for free
Jul/Aug 2009
New angle on approach to green lasers
Dr Mike Cooke reports on UCSB’s use of 1º -miscut m-plane GaN substrates to develop blue–green lasers with lower threshold current densities than is achieved using on-axis c-plane GaN.
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Other articles in this issue include: Fujitsu develops GaN HEMT for use in power supplies. For this and much more, subscribe for free
June/July 2009
Wide load potential for electric vehicles
The enhanced material properties of wide-bandgap materials beckon for developers of electric vehicles. Dr Mike Cooke reports.
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May/June 2009
Conference Report: CS MANTECH 2009
Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology conference sees new focus on photovoltaics in light of inventory correction in established wireless markets.
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Other articles in this issue include: OFC conference report.
April/May 2009
LED growth compatibility between 2", 4" and 6" sapphire
By understanding thickness and wafer bow dependence for MOCVD, process conditions can be modified to provide GaN-based blue LEDs on 4” and 6” wafers equivalent to those on 2”, says Veeco.
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Other articles in this issue include: GaAs industry downturns: 2001 versus 2009, and CIGS solar: a new investment landscape. For this and much more, subscribe for free
March/Apr 2009
Heterostructuring for high speed, power and light
Dr Mike Cooke reports on heterostructure materials (III-nitride, III-arsenide, III-phosphide) for power, light and high speed applications.
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February 2009
III-Vs from a logical point of view
Dr Mike Cooke reports on IEDM 2008, with a focus on III-V channels research.
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Other articles in this issue include: ISE raises multi-junction solar-cell efficiency record to 41.1%. For this and much more, subscribe for free
Dec 08/ Jan 2009
Nanowire transistors, lasers and hetero-engineering
Semiconductor nanowires constitute a growing field of research, particularly as the size of commercial devices decrease. Dr Mike Cooke looks at some recent research looking to achieve ultra-small transistors, photovoltaic devices, lasers and bandgap engineering.
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Other articles in this issue include: Probing hydrogen’s impact on ZnO. For this and much more, subscribe for free
November 2008
Solutions don’t solve droop controversy
InGaN LEDs suffer a nasty fall-off in efficiency as the current through the device increases. Although some companies say they have solved the problem, debate about the cause continues. Dr Mike Cooke reports.
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October 2008
Powering up GaN MOSFETs
In the past few years a new application for nitride semiconductors has been developing for high-power radio/microwave frequency amplifiers based on high critical field and carrier mobility properties. Dr Mike Cooke reports on progress.
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Other articles in this issue include: First high-output normally-off GaN HEMT. For this and much more, subscribe for free
September 2008
CdTe PV progresses to mass production
First Solar has accelerated its mass production of CdTe thin-film photovoltaic modules, and others are following the company's lead, says Dr Mike Cooke.
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Other articles in this issue include: Central delivery of TMGa for lower-cost epi. For this and much more, subscribe for free
August 2008
Oxide materials for III–V MOSFET gate stacks
New incentive to find suitable ‘gate oxides’ for III–Vs could lead to early adoption of III–Vs into mainstream logic, reports Dr Mike Cooke.
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Other articles in this issue include: PbSe research resurrects nanocrystal avalanche hopes. For this and much more, subscribe for free
Jun/July 2008
Flash fast forward to quantum dot memory
NAND Flash is driving silicon industry development, but the technology can only continue through adaptation. Dr Mike Cooke looks at how III-V quantum dots offer the prospect of faster non-volatile memory.
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May 2008
Wide-bandgap RF devices: a $100m market by 2010
Yole Développement's Philippe Roussel asks what can displace the LDMOS monopoly.
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Other articles in this issue include: CS-MANTECH 2008 conference report.
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April 2008
Infinera targeting PICs of 4Tb/s within 10 years
Infinera outlines its roadmap to integrating more components and wavelengths into InP-based photonic integrated circuits.
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March 2008
CMOS reaches for 60GHz+ applications?
Dr Mike Cooke looks at the prospects for using CMOS at frequencies of 60GHz and 77GHz.
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Other articles in this issue include: 100Gb/s or bust... and Semiconductor choices for wireless access. For this and much more, subscribe for free
February 2008
Lighting up CIGS PVs
Dr Mike Cooke reports on developments in producing lower-cost solar energy based on compounds of the elements copper, indium, gallium and selenium.
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Dec 07/ Jan 08
Are silicon technologies poised to displace GaAs?
GaAs remains cost competitive in high-volume markets, says Asif Anwar.
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Graphene opens up to new possibilities on SiC
A positive bandgap has been found for graphene on SiC, pushing it into the semiconductor domain, reports Mike Cooke.
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Other articles in this issue include: MMICs making gains in terahertz range. For this and much more, subscribe for free
November 2007
Towards low-cost high power density devices
GaN power electronics are now ready to address a $3.5bn market, reckons Philippe Roussel of market research firm Yole Développement.
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Other articles in this issue include: Seeking workable low-cost silicon carbide. For this and much more, subscribe for free
October 2007
Antimonides - Electromagnetic alchemy
Applications beckon for antimony compounds in high-speed electronics, and for the detection and manipulation of infrared light and magnetic behavior, says Dr Mike Cooke.
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Other articles in this issue include: ICNS-7 Conference Report. For this and much more, subscribe for free
September 2007
Narrow focus, wide scope
Both basic research and applications ranging from gas sensing to tomorrow’s high-speed computer chips use and characterize semiconductor materials with narrow energy bandgaps. Dr Mike Cooke reports on such opportunities as described at the Narrow Gap Semiconductor conference.
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Other articles in this issue include: Substrates challenged by raw material prices. For this and much more, subscribe for free
July/Aug 2007
GaAs industry back in equilibrium
The CS MANTECH 2007 conference in Austin, Texas evidenced much optimism about GaAs market growth (despite glitches with Motorola’s handset business), as well as progress in GaN HEMT performance and reliability, reports Mark Telford.
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June 2007
SiC power devices: if only we had a switch...
With 4" diameter substrates and zero-micropipe technology now introduced, Dr Philippe Roussel of market research firm Yole Développement considers what else remains in the path of SiC power device market development.
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May 2007
Charting routes to zinc oxide applications
A wide bandgap and piezoelectric properties make zinc oxide an interesting material for research into producing and detecting light (up to ultraviolet) and for electromechanical systems. Dr Mike Cooke looks at progress in producing p-type doping, allowing light emission from p–n junctions, and new ideas for mechanical coupling and photodetection from nanowires.
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April 2007
Eliminating bowing in blue LED and laser epi
LayTec and Ferdinand-Braun-Institut describe new in-situ technology for optimizing the growth of blue LEDs and laser diodes by reducing wafer bowing during epitaxial growth.
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Other articles in this issue include: Blue laser output boost; Coherent emission from room-temperature excition-polariton; and Restructuring the cascade for Bloch gain. For this and much more, subscribe for free
March 2007
Channel surfing
Nanoelectronics developers are aiming to boost channel properties in metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) as used in mainstream complementary MOSFET (CMOS = nMOS + pMOS) silicon technology. Dr Mike Cooke reports.
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Other articles in this issue include: InGaAs HEMTs challenge Si, and Company profile: AXT Inc. For this and much more, subscribe for free
February 2007
Filling the THz gap with new applications
New imaging opportunities for medical and security applications may launch terahertz technology into the public domain. Semiconductor technology is key to many of these developments, says Dr Mike Cooke.
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Other articles in this issue include: CIGS PV cells progress. For this and much more, subscribe for free
Dec 06/Jan 07
Resonant tunneling barriers in nitrides
The widening applications for nitrides, from LEDs through lasers to high-power HEMTs, has led to work on advanced devices. Dr Mike Cooke reports on GaN/AlN quantum-well-based resonant tunneling diodes.
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Other articles in this issue include: CSIC Conference report - Optimizing technologies. For this and much more, subscribe for free
Nov/Dec 2006
SiC driving interest for power semiconductors
Mark Telford reports on ECSCRM 2006: SiC has formerly been the preserve of niche industrial applications such as power generation and control, but is now attracting interest from major silicon power semiconductor manufacturers.
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Other articles in this issue include: IMEC - Stress control for GaN HEMTs on 150mm Si and Finisar - Doubling fab capacity. For this and much more, subscribe for free
Oct/Nov 2006
Silicon shortage opens window for CIGS PVs
The shortage of polysilicon is constraining uptake of solar power, driving some recent large investments to speed less costly thin-film copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) solar cells on flexible substrates into production.
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Other articles in this issue include: Taiwan's LED makers consolidate and grow, and Emcore refocuses. For this and much more, subscribe for free
September 2006
Transending frequency and integration limits
Dr Mike Cooke reports on how indium phosphide enables higher-frequency transistors and large scale integration of optical communication components.
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Other articles in this issue include: Strained SOI, Silicon lasers, and BluGlass company profile. For this and much more, subscribe for free
August 2006
The wide blue yonder
Dr Mike Cooke looks at blue laser developments in the light of the recent market introduction of HD-DVD and Blu-ray optical storage disks, and surveys future applications and prospects for improvements in the technology.
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Other articles in this issue include: Microsemi profile, and ICMOVPE XIII conference report. For this and much more, subscribe for free
July 2006
Enhanced BiFET boosts wireless integration
Skyworks' Ravi Ramanathan and colleagues detail how the BiFET process is integrated into a high-volume GaAs HBT manufacturing facility, allowing integration of external bias control circuitry into wireless power amplifier die.
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Other articles in this issue include: Beaten-up industry turns upbeat, Nitride substrates bridging the gap, and Fab tools enabling opto device integration. For this and much more, subscribe for free
