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News Final.qxp18/8/1116:38Page 6news reviewIndia is set to benefit from CPVin energy and environment management.Together, we will access the Indian marketby enabling developers of solar projectsto build projects, supported by world-classtechnology from Amonix and the strongdelivery track record, supply chain andconstruction experience of Thermax.THERMAX LIMITED and Amonix, Inc. haveannounced an agreement that will bringproven, concentrated photovoltaic (CPV)technology for clean power generation toIndia. In this exclusive partnership, Amonixwill offer high-performance solar powergeneration systems and Thermax will bethe Engineering, Procurement andConstruction (EPC) partner to provideturnkey solutions to customers in India.Amonix CPV solar power systemsincorporate highly efficient solar cellsoriginally developed for aerospaceapplications. The dual-axis trackingsystems utilise durable state-of-the-artoptics to focus sunlight onto multijunctionsolar cells. As this technology requires nowater for power production and uses landmore efficiently, compared to conventionalsolar technologies, CPV systems deliversmore energy output from a given area atlow energy production costs.“Concentrated PV will be a game changerin solar power generation technologiesbecause of the substantially high efficiencyit offers. India, with its above average solarincidence, is an ideal location for CPVtechnology and we expect our nationalsolar mission to act as a catalyst for itsgrowth. We are happy to partner withAmonix, a global leader of thistechnology,” says M. S. Unnikrishnan,Managing Director and Chief ExecutiveOfficer of Thermax.Amonix systems can be deployed quickly,at the rate of half a megawatt postpedestal installation per day. They offer 31percent module efficiency and 29 percentsystem efficiency.“As an organization committed todesigning and manufacturing highperformance cost-effective CPV solarpower systems, Amonix is pleased to enterinto a partnership with Thermax, a leaderThis provides us the opportunity andaccess to the Indian market that is greatlysuited for CPV solar power systems,”commented Brian Robertson, CEOand aboard director at Amonix.Concentrated photovoltaic technology willpave the way to meet the goals of theIndian Government’s Solar Mission thatpromotes sustainable growth whileaddressing India’s energy security. It is anintegral part of the initiative to respond tothe global challenge of climate change.The first phase of the Mission aims tocommission 1000MW of grid-connectedsolar power projects by 2013. In additionto helping meet these targets in the mostefficient manner, concentrated photovoltaicsolar power will introduce a new solartechnology to India.First Solar heads to Copper MountainPACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC and SempraGeneration have entered into a 25-yearcontract for 150 MW of renewable powerfrom an expansion of Sempra Generation’sCopper Mountain Solar complex inBoulder City, Nevada.First Solar, a producer of CdTephotovoltaic (PV) solar modules, willprovide the ground mounted thin filmpanels and serve as the engineering,procurement and construction (EPC)contractor for the solar project.The first 92 MW of solar panels at CopperMountain Solar 2 are expected to beinstalled by January 2013, with theremaining 58 MW slated for completion by2015. Under the terms of the contract,PG&E has the option to accelerate thecommercial operation date of the secondphase.“Copper Mountain Solar 2 is a greatopportunity for PG&E to continue downthe path toward a clean energy future - avision we share with our customers,” saidFong Wan, senior vice president forprocurement for PG&E. “We are delightedto be part of this partnership that will allowus to deliver more green power to meetour customers’ long-term electricityneeds.”“Copper Mountain Solar 2 is anotherexciting step forward on our plan toconstruct 1,000 megawatts of additionalrenewable capacity by 2015, “said JeffreyW. Martin, president and chief executiveofficer of Sempra Generation.”We couldn’tbe more pleased to move forward withPG&E and First Solar on our third andlargest solar project in Nevada, which willdeliver a new supply of clean power toCalifornia consumers.”Construction on the 1,100-acre solar plantis expected to begin in early 2012. CopperMountain Solar 2 will produce enoughzero-emission electricity to powerabout 45,000 homes when fullydeveloped.6 www.compoundsemiconductor.net August / September 2011“The combination of First Solar’sadvanced thin film PV modules with ourindustry leading EPC capabilities enablesus to rapidly deploy utility-scale solutionslike Copper Mountain Solar 2, bringingdown the cost of renewable energy,” saidJim Lamon, First Solar senior vicepresident of EPC, Operations andMaintenance. “We’re pleased to beworking with Sempra and PG&E again.”Sempra Generation and First Solar havepreviously teamed-up on the constructionof two other large-scale solar projects inNevada, including Copper Mountain Solar1. The 48-MW installation was completedin late 2010 and is currently the largestphotovoltaic solar power plant in theU.S. PG&E is currently delivering thepower produced at the plant to itscustomers.The power supply contract betweenSempra Generation and PG&E is subjectto approval by the California PublicUtilities Commission.

News Final.qxp18/8/1116:38Page 7review newsChina aims for LED globaldomination by 2015ASIANgovernmentsare investing inLEDtechnologiesandconcentratingon reducingcosts; Chinaintends for itsLED lightingproducts to be40 percent below the market price by2015.According to the report “Niche Marketsand Strategies for Small/Mid-sizeSemiconductor Equipment Companies,”which was recently published by TheInformation Network, there is currently assee steady and positive proliferation ofLED lighting products. This analyst arguesthat key price points could trigger realcommercial demand, and Korea, Japan,and China appear to have the solutions.“The rapid increase in the market for LEDsused in various applications such asnotebook backlights and automobileheadlights is spurring heavy capitalinvestments by LED makers”, notedRobert Castellano, president of TheInformation Network. “LEDs are creating aniche market for conventional suppliers ofsemiconductor processing tools and alucrative market for MOCVD suppliers.”High brightness LEDs will reach nearly 135billion units shipped in 2011 from less than100 billion in 2010. Backlight LEDs willreach 30 billion units shipped, up from 20billion in 2010.The South Korean government launched anew LED lighting adoption program lastmonth as part of its national energy-savingprogram. The program aims at achieving100 percent adoption rate for LED lightingin the Korean public sector and 60 percentpenetration of all lighting applicationsnationwide by 2020. The government willfund 185 million in 2012 and 2013 tosupport energy-efficiency rebates.South Korea’s Samsung and LG have abroad range of LED lighting products forthe domestic market and highlycompetitive pricing strategies; Samsungalready has a60-wattequivalent LEDlight bulbpriced at lessthan 20.In Japan, salesvolume LEDlight bulbs havealready reachedan adoptionrate of morethan 40percent and are expected toexceed 50 percent in the second half of2011.In China, the Central Government’sobjective is to end up with five to six majorChinese players, who can competeglobally, including 3 to 5 flagshipcompanies. The report says that not onlywill China become a powerhouse in lowcost manufacturing by 2015, it will also bethe largest consumer of LEDs. Currentlythere are 50 large indoor and outdoorlighting projects already in place.The Information Network says that theChinese domestic SSL value will reachUS 74bn by 2015 and that a business-togovernment deal with central and localgovernments is imminent. Continuedinvestments in the Chinese LED valuechain between 2010 and 2015 will see75 percent going into the supply chainand 25percent into vertically integratedplayers.By 2015, China intends for itsmanufacturing standards to be globallyviable for the volume production marketand its LED lighting products to be40percent below the market price.Since mid 2009, the Chinese centralgovernment has had in place a substantialinvestment program, as have many localgovernment authorities in China. Both arefocused on accelerating the developmentof a sustainable LED industry.Apart from their global commercialaspirations, they are also greatly motivatedby the high potential internal benefits thatwill arise from having access to energyefficient lighting and consequently, LEDsare a very prominent target technology inChina’s latest five-year plan.Sales ofsapphiremanufacturingequipment yield 96.9 million forARC EnergyADVANCED RENEWABLE ENERGYCOMPANY, LLC (ARC Energy), hassigned 96.9 million in additional newcontracts with two leading Asianmanufacturers.Under the terms of the agreements,ARC Energy will provide each customerwith LED sapphire manufacturingequipment and technology, includinghighly automated, leading edge, c-axisControlled Heat Extraction System(CHES) Furnaces, and additionalturnkey solutions and services.ARC Energy is also expanding itsmanufacturing facility by 30,000 squarefeet. The expansion, which is scheduledfor completion in the 4th quarter of2011, will triple ARC Energy’smanufacturing capacity, enabling thecompany to become one of the largestLED sapphire furnace suppliers in theworld.“Many manufacturers are now installingand operating ARC Energy’stechnology for mass production of largediameter sapphire,” said Hap Hewes,ARC Energy’s senior vice president.“These new contracts and our plannedcapacity expansion highlight theadvantages of our unique c-axissapphire platform and ARC Energy’sassociated turnkey solutions. We arepleased by our progress andour continued success in themarketplace.”ARC Energy says its proprietary c-axistechnology is superior to other sapphiregrowth technologies and that c-axiswafers are the optimum orientation forLED applications. The company saysthat when compared with conventionala-axis technologies, c-axis growth leadsto higher material utilisation and loweroverall costs.August / September 2011 www.compoundsemiconductor.net 7

News Final.qxp18/8/1116:38Page 8news reviewreview newsMobile shipments see massive growthTHE WORLDWIDE mobile phone marketgrew 11.3 percent year over year in thesecond quarter of 2011 (2Q11), despitea weaker feature phone market, whichdeclined for the first time since 3Q09.According to the IDC Worldwide MobilePhone Tracker, vendors shipped a total of365.4 million units in 2Q11 compared to328.4 million units in the second quarter of2010. The 11.3 percent growth was lowerthan IDC’s forecast of 13.3 percent for thequarter and was below the 16.8 percentgrowth in 1Q11.The feature phone market shrank 4% in2Q11 when compared to 2Q10. Thedecline in shipments was most prominentin economically mature regions, such asthe US, Japan, and Western Europe, asusers transition to smartphones. This wasthe first decline since Q3 2009 andreflected a combination of conservativespending and shift to smartphones.“The shrinking market is having an impacton some of the world’s largest suppliers ofmobile phones,” said Kevin Restivo, seniorresearch analyst with IDC. “Stalwarts suchas Nokia are losing share in the featurephone category to low-cost suppliers suchas Micromax, TCL-Alcatel, and Huawei.”“For the overall market to grow by doubledigits year over year is testament to thestrength of the global smartphone market,”noted Ramon Llamas, senior researchanalyst with IDC’s Mobile PhoneTechnology and Trends team. “While thisis not a new trend it does mark somethingof a transition point, as demonstrated bythe number and variety of smartphonesfeatured in the vendors’ portfolios.”Model K1 sapphire expands its Californian facilitiesThermal Technology has recently tripled itsmanufacturing capacity with a productionfacility in California. The new location isdedicated to Model K1 sapphire crystalgrower production as well as neighboursThermal Technology’s sales andmanufacturing site.production, compared to competitors.”“Market response to the K1 grower hasbeen very strong. Customers see ourmachines in full production elsewhere andare convinced of our technology,” saysMatt Mede, Thermal Technology presidentand CEO. “Utilising the modifiedKyropoulos method, our growers remainthe most productive tool in the market withlarge crystal size and a short growth cycle.We also have the most growers in“The new facility increases our productioncapacity and improves the flow of ourproduction processes. The expansion wasfuelled by continued growth in our ModelK1 sales,” says Jim Coffey, ThermalTechnology’s production manager.Thermal Technology says it is shippingmultiple sapphire growers weekly. The newhigh-volume production facility enables thecompany to meet its customers’ risingdemand for the Model K1.Thermal Technology designs andmanufactures crystal growing systemsand high temperature vacuum and8 www.compoundsemiconductor.net August / September 2011Interior of Thermal Technologyproduction facility at the new “ModelK1” facility in Santa Rosa, California.controlled atmosphere furnaces forthe advanced processing of metals,ceramics, glass and quartz. ThermalTechnology has 60 years of experiencewith more than 3000 installations in40 countries.

THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCEON SILICON CARBIDEAND RELATED MATERIALSCONFERENCE TOPICS Impact of SiC on Systems Surfaces and Interfaces Circuits and Applications Materials Issues that ImpactDevice Performance Fundamentals (Theoretical and Device Fabrication Processes(Energy Savings, Size, etc.)Experimental) Devices (Power Switching SiC Bulk Growth SiC Epitaxial Growth New Materials Grown on SiC(Such as Graphene) Device Physics (Measurement,Modeling, Simulation and Reliability) III-N and Diamond Growth Material Characterization Defect EngineeringDevices, RF Power Devices, HighTemperature Devices, RadiationResistant Devices, etc.) Packaging and ModularTechnology Harsh EnvironmentMicro-systems andSensorsSeptember 11-16, 2011http://icscrm2011.orgUntitled-2 119/08/2011 11:28

News Final.qxp18/8/1116:39Page 10news reviewKyma addsn bulk GaNsubstrates toits portfolioKYMA’S new n GaN substrate productline will boast a bulk resistivityspecification of 0.02 Ω cm, which istwo orders of magnitude lower in resistivitythan Kyma’s offered n-type GaN.What’s more, Kyma has successfullyproduced n bulk GaN wafers withmeasured carrier concentrations of up to 6x 1018cm-3 and corresponding bulkresistivities of 0.005 Ω –cm. The firm’sn-type GaN product is still being offeredand, for distinction, is being relabelled asn- GaN (“nminus” GaN).Kyma says that although its n- GaNremains an excellent starting material for avariety of materials and device studies, itsn GaN offers benefits for vertical devicesas well as reduced contact resistance forall devices. Key advantages for verticalpower devices include ultra-low onresistance as well as decreased parasiticresistance. Key advantages for LEDsinclude low vertical resistance and themitigation of current crowding effects.Tamara Stephenson, Kyma’s TechnicalSales Engineer, added, “We are happy tooffer these new substrates in form factorsof 10 mm x 10mm squares and 18 mm x18 mm squares. Additionally, thedevelopment of commercially available 2”diameter and larger n bulk GaNsubstrates is underway.”“We are pleased to respond to ourcustomers’ requests for more conductivesubstrates,” said Jacob Leach, KymaCharacterisation and Device Engineer.“The high electron concentrations in thisnew product line directly support higherperformance and reliability for a number ofdevice applications of great commercialinterest.”Kyma is a supplier of crystalline GaN andAlN materials for a broad range of highperformance nitride semiconductor deviceapplications. The market for nitridesemiconductor devices is expected tosurpass 90B over the long term, includingover 60B in visible lighting applicationsand over 30B in power electronicsapplications.Ascent Solar climbs higher with strategic alliance in ChinaAscent Solar Technologies and TFGRadiant Group have signed a 275 millionplus royalties strategic partnership thatincludes investments by TFG Radiant intoAscent. They have also signed a jointdevelopment agreement to establishmanufacturing facilities in East Asia. Underthe agreement, TFG Radiant hascommitted 165 million for the initial EastAsia FAB, bringing the total deal value toabout 450 million plus royalties.Ascent has agreed to exclusively licenseits technology for fabrication anddistribution of flexible, lightweight CIGSphotovoltaic modules to TFG Radiant forEast Asia. The East Asia territory includesChina, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia,Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, andSingapore. Ascent retains all rights for theU.S. and rest of the world.Pursuant to the strategic alliance, inaddition to continuing to ramp its existingFABs and improve its technology, Ascentwill develop a next-generation PVproduction line in Colorado. Based onAscent’s technology, TFG Radiant willbuild its first fabrication facility in China,with a projected direct investment of over 165 million. This FAB is expected to havean annual production capacity of 100 MW.TFG Radiant will cover consulting costs forAscent personnel in helping to install andbring online the FAB in China. Ascent willreceive partial ownership of the China FABand royalties on all sales from that FAB.TFG Radiant also has the right to build, atits cost, multiple additional FABs for theEast Asian markets and Ascent will receivepartial ownership, royalties and consultingfees for all such FABs. Ascent will receivelicense fees and non-recurring engineeringfees from TFG Radiant. In addition, Ascentwill receive milestone payments tied to theachievement of certain production andcost goals. The total of such milestonepayments could exceed 250 million overmultiple years.“This partnership is transformative innature. It is based on the complementaryexpertise of TFG Radiant, in metal roofing10 www.compoundsemiconductor.net August / September 2011and construction in one of the world’slargest markets, and Ascent, in marketleading flexible CIGS technology,” saidAmit Kumar, Chairman of Ascent.“We are excited to be working with TFGRadiant,” said Ron Eller, President andCEO of Ascent. “They bring expertise ininnovative roof design and materials,balance of system design, volumemanufacturing, and broad access to theEast Asian markets. While we continue toramp our current Colorado FABs, thisarrangement enables us to work with akey partner to build the first non-U.S. andlargest CIGS FAB based on Ascent’sunique, flexible, monolithically integratedtechnology. TFG Radiant has the marketleadership, distribution channels,installation capability and infrastructure,and established and highly motivatedcustomer base that will accelerate themarket for Ascent’s CIGS products in EastAsia. TFG Radiant’s major financial andstrategic commitments to this alliance area strong endorsement of Ascent’s flexibleCIGS technology.”

News Final.qxp18/8/1116:39Page 11review newsAgilent teams up withDavis to speed terahertztechnologyAGILENT TECHNOLOGIES and theUniversity of California, Davis, are settingup the “Davis Millimetre Wave ResearchCentre”.The DMRC will focus on advancingtechnology in millimetre wave and THzsystems for radar, imaging systems,sensors, communications and integratedpassive devices found in electromagneticmetamaterials and antennae.The DMRC is vertically integrated, withresearch involving devices, integratedcircuits, packaging, metamaterials anddefected ground integrated passives,imaging systems, THz vacuum electronics,THz micro-machined devices, nonlinearmodelling, nanomaterials and wirelessimplantable devices.These devices and systems are found incommercial products such as medicalimaging systems, security scanners,gigabit wireless communications devicesand sensors, as well as defence usagessuch as radar and active denial systems.The first aim of the new centre is toestablish a core test facility withmeasurement capabilities that includeAgilent nonlinear vector network andspectrum analysis test equipment up to325 GHz. These facilities will supportgigabit wireless communications at 60GHz and 80 GHz, as well as the imaging,radar and active denial systems to 325GHz.“In launching the DMRC, our goal is tobecome a premier millimetre-waveresearch centre nationally andinternationally,” said Linda P.B. Katehi,chancellor of UC Davis. “With this newfacility, UC Davis will be able to expand theresearch, and recruit outstanding graduatestudents and faculty.”“Agilent is delighted to support UC Davis’research into millimetre wave technology,”said Gregg Peters, vice president ofAgilent’s Component Test Division.“Millimetre wave implementation hasbroad industry impact, and our manyfirst-to-market test solutions are idealtools for revealing the information cr

Input from companies was also lacking on the laser diode front, with the likes of Nichia, Rohm and Sumitomo not giving talks at the conference. And unfortunately GaN RF manufacturers were even thinner on the ground. Given that the vast majority