Semiconductor Industry News: May 2017

Wednesday 31 May 2017

PCIM: UK-based Amantys develops next generation IGBT gate drive

Called NG Gate Drive, it has been designed to be compatible with IGBT modules known as LinPak, XHP, nHPD2 and SemiTrans20 that are available from several power semiconductor manufacturers.

This is achieved because IGBT module variation, such as the position of gate drive connections, is accommodated through use of a module interface card which means the NG Gate Drive can target modules from 1700V to 3300V, and up to 6500V in the future.

Air Force electronic weapons to get an electromagnetic power boost

The Air Force is working with Raytheon to integrate high power electromagnetic (HPEM) capabilities with cyber and electronic warfare weapons systems to increase the effectiveness of EW weapons through higher energy pulses and the use of new methods of backdoor penetration.

Raytheon, along with other industry developers, will experiment with and develop the most efficient and effective way to integrate HPEM technology with cyber and electronic warfare weapons systems.

Indiabulls Group moves into LED lighting business

Indiabulls Group is venturing into LED lighting business in the country. This will be the business conglomerate’s first venture outside finance and services sector.

The new venture has been branded as ‘IB LED’, with formal launch expected in a couple of days. The formal launch follows an internal soft launch and a couple of customer installations as part of the soft launch.

“The group’s growth during the last 17 years has evolved around service business, but now it has decided to venture into product business. LED is the first move into the product business and we will initially cater to the B2B professional LED lighting needs in the country,” Partha Banik, President, IB LED, business told BusinessLine.

This means the company will initially target lighting requirements of commercial offices, building, shopping malls, warehouses, showrooms and infrastructure sectors, while IB LED will move to B2C segments later.

Fukushima aquarium displays Blobfish, deemed world’s ugliest creature

IWAKI, FUKUSHIMA PREF. – Blobfish, a deep-sea blob sculpin fish dubbed the world’s ugliest animal, has been put on display at an aquarium in Fukushima Prefecture.

Aquamarine Fukushima in Iwaki said it is rare for the fish, which are found in the northern Pacific Ocean and off the coasts of Japan and California, to be captured alive and put on display in an aquarium.

The 60-cm fish on display was accidentally trapped in mid-May in a gill net set by a Fukushima fisherman off the coast of Rausu, Hokkaido, at a depth of 750 to 1,200 meters. Its jelly-like, pink-colored flesh has lots of flaps that formed when it was pulled up from deep waters.

MEMS Sensors Help Safeguard Passengers

Microelectromechanical-systems (MEMS) technology uses micro fabrication techniques to combine microelectronics capabilities with the mechanical properties of microsensors. Increasingly, MEMS gyroscopes and accelerometers are used in a large number of devices for both consumer and industrial applications.

Researchers Control Light With Electric Fields

Researchers from North Carolina State University have discovered a technique for controlling light with electric fields, using the atomically thin semiconductors MoS2, WS2 and WSe2, known as transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers.

They think that this new technique could change our ‘way of watching’. For instance, it may shape a light into arbitrary patterns, which may find applications in goggle-free virtual reality lenses and projectors, the animation movie industry or camouflage.

The team has developed a technique that can change the refractive index for visible light in these 2D semiconductor materials by 60 percent – two orders of magnitude better than previous results - at speeds of billions of times per second.

A Sumptuous Semiconductor ETF

A small number of US-listed exchange traded funds hit record highs last week, but underscoring the strength in the technology sector, 10 of ETFs hitting all-time highs were tech funds. And proving that semiconductor stocks are playing an important part in technology's 2017 surge, three of the tech ETFs that hit record highs were chip funds.

One of those chip ETFs that just joined the record-high club tracks the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index, one of the most widely followed gauges of chip stocks. That proved to be good news for the Direxion Daily Semiconductor Bull 3X Shares

Persistent Photoconductivity Used to Control Semiconductor Cells

Use of light to alter the conductivity of semiconductor material could provide a new way to control cell behavior on semiconductors used for bioelectronics. The approach draws on persistent photoconductivity, a phenomenon that causes some materials to become much more conductive when light is shined on them. When conductivity in these materials is elevated, the charge at the surface of the material increases. The escalation in surface charge can be used to direct cells to adhere to the material’s surface.

Silicon Carbide Footprint Growing in Power Electronics

Silicon carbide (SiC) offerings—and their advantages like higher efficiency, greater power density, smaller footprint and lower cost—were all the rage at this year's PCIM show held May 16th to 18th in Nuremberg, Germany.

ON Semi, for instance, came to the show with two SiC diodes: the 650 V FFSP3065A and the 1200 V FFSP20120A. Then, there was Infineon, which unveiled the Easy 1B SiC module during the PCIM 2016 show; the company announced that it's now starting the volume production of the Easy 1B modules.

ON Semiconductor Names Digi-Key 2016 Global High Service Distributor

THIEF RIVER FALLS, Minn., May 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Digi-Key Electronics, a global electronic components distributor, was awarded ON Semiconductor's "2016 Distributor of the Year, Global High Service Distributor" Award at the 2017 EDS Banquet in Las Vegas, NV. The award was presented by Jeff Thomson, VP Global Channel Sales at ON Semi and given to David Stein, VP, Global Semiconductor of Digi-Key.

ON Semiconductor drives energy efficient innovations, empowering customers to reduce global energy use. The company offers a comprehensive portfolio of energy efficient power and signal management, logic, discrete and custom solutions to help design engineers solve their unique design challenges in automotive, communications, computing, consumer, industrial, LED lighting, medical, military/aerospace and power supply applications.

Apple is going all-in on OLED displays

One of the big changes on the iPhone 8 that every rumor agrees on is the display. Apple will finally be making the jump from LCD to sharper and more battery-efficient OLED panels for its new flagship iPhone later this year, which makes total sense.

But rumors also suggest that the iPhone 7s and 7s Plus, expected to be incremental upgrades unveiled in September, will stick with LCD. Since the iPhone 8 will likely cost upwards of $1,000, that means most iPhone users will still be stuck on LCD screens in 2017.

Motion activated under-bed LED lighting is the latest craze on Amazon

Fads come and go on Amazon, but sometimes you come across a craze that really is worth the hype. It might not seem like it, but under-bed lighting is a perfect example. We first told you about it two weeks ago, and it’s been one of the most popular items on the site ever since. Thousands of people have gotten in on the action, and now it’s time for you to join them. So what’s all the fuss about? It’s actually pretty simple. These little LED light strips attach to the underneath of your bed and when the room is dark, motion lights them up. This way, when you get out of bed at night, the lights cast a warm glow on the floor so you can see where you’re going without disturbing your partner. Yeah, it looks pretty awesome too, just as an added bonus.

Osram Shows Third Generation Plant Growing LED

At this year's Lightfair in Philadelphia (USA), Osram Opto Semiconductors showed a new high power LED prototype designed to promote plant growth.

The Oslon Square Hyper Red is a third-generation 2 W LED designed to cut the cost of plant lighting systems by featuring improved emission characteristics, higher optical output, and better corrosion resistance.

Microsoft reveals holographic display so small it can give ANY pair of glasses augmented reality capabilities

Forget strapping on a bulky headset to experience augmented reality – Microsoft has revealed a new system that looks like thick-framed eye glasses.

The 'crude prototype' provides an 80-degree horizontal field of view and uses near-eye holographic displays to overlay reality with digital holograms.

In addition to showing users an augmented world, the eye glasses have also demonstrated a vision correction capability for both near- and far-sightedness, as well other vision problems like astigmatism.

As LED Lighting Gets Standardized, What Are the New and Different Applications?

Last week, a dozen Groom Energy team members took our 10th annual tour of Lightfair. For two days last week, the team scattered across the exhibit hall, navigating around 30,000 other LED lighting enthusiasts, searching for what was new, cool and different.

Manufacturers, designers and customers are LED veterans. Unlike 2010, when Lightfair transformed into LEDfair, and new technology was everywhere, today’s innovations seem incremental. For our technically oriented team, the show is now less about discovering that one new, radically interesting thing, and more about visiting our existing, preferred suppliers and socializing with other lighting professionals.

Highly Efficient AC To DC Uses Transphorm GaN Fets

Transphorm, a maker of JEDEC-qualified 650V GaN semiconductors, has announced that Bel Power Solutions’ high efficiency TET3000-12-069RA power supply marks another GaN industry milestone.

Bel Power’s AC to DC front-end TET3000 uses a GaN-based bridgeless totem-pole power factor correction (PFC) topology to achieve greater than 96 percent efficiency.

Alain Chapuis, CTO, Bel Power Solutions said: “After considerable R&D weighing various semiconductor materials and power system designs, Transphorm’s GaN within a totem-pole PFC configuration proved the most reliable, highest performing solution possible today. In turn, our customers gain access to a next generation power supply that stands to outperform incumbent solutions while delivering a greater ROI.”

Batteries that charge as quickly as a kettle boils could hit shelves in 2018

Smartphone batteries that charge in five minutes could be available next year, according to a firm developing the technology.

The FlashBattery is designed to charge from empty to full capacity in around the time it takes to boil a kettle, or about one hundred times faster than the average smartphone.

The Israeli firm behind the battery first unveiled its technology in 2014, before showcasing a more slim-lined version at the Consumer Electronics Show tech show in Las Vegas eight months later in early 2015.

Samsung to unveil a stretchable display soon

Samsung is expected to showcase the world's first "stretchable" display panel at a U.S. tech fair this week, according to news reports from South Korea.

The South Korean tech giant will showcase a 9.1-inch (23cm) panel at the Society for Information Display 2017 in Los Angeles, which will be held from May 23 to 25, reports the Korea

"While current flexible OLED is able to [bend] on only one side, this stretchable OLED can be transformed — whether curved, bended or rolled — in both sides, above and below," a Samsung spokesperson told the Korea Herald.

But the company's spokesperson said that the tech is still in the early stages of research and development, so it's unsure when we'll see stretchable phones.

Garmin expands AR into aircrafts with head-up display

Incorporating modern optical design within a single display unit, the system projects a crisp, clear view of pertinent flight information while also offering superior integration with Garmin Integrated Flight Decks for a near-seamless transition between the GHD and primary flight display (PFD).

The self-contained projection system has a large 30-degree by 24-degree field-of-view and is driven by the Garmin Integrated Flight Deck, sharing a familiar presentation of critical flight information and symbology to provide optimal situational awareness throughout every phase of flight. Information is displayed in an easy to read format and delivers supreme clarity and brightness in all lighting conditions. Whether in clouds, day or night, the GHD incorporates intelligent dimming, which automatically adapts to ambient light and allows pilots to focus on flying the aircraft. Further reducing pilot workload, the GHD offers declutter mode so pilots can optimize the display to suit their needs. The GHD boasts a simplistic control interface and offers similarities in tactile operation with the Garmin Integrated Flight Deck for an even more seamless transition throughout the cockpit.

Chip equipment startup at SUNY Poly gains traction

A semiconductor manufacturing startup based at SUNY Polytechnic Institute in Albany is thriving despite all of the upheaval lately at the school.

Neutral Physics Corp., a joint venture between Exogenesis Corp. and Sematech, the computer chip manufacturing consortium based at SUNY Poly, had its new atom beam "tool" delivered to one of SUNY Poly's chip manufacturing clean rooms just this week to begin "alpha" testing.

Exogenesis, which is based outside Boston, announced the novel technology development venture with Sematech back in 2015, although it has received little attention since.

Both Exogenesis and Sematech are shareholders in the company, which is making an atomic particle accelerator that produces atomic-scale etchings onto the silicon wafers used to make computer chips.

Although Sematech recently dismissed its CEO and has scaled back its operations in recent years, Exogenesis CEO Richard Svrluga told the Times Union that his company's partnership with Sematech and SUNY Poly has been extremely beneficial.

The startup just named a new CEO this month - former IBM executive R. "Jaga" Jagannathan - and recent had a "successful" round of Series A financing from outside investors, Svrluga said.

Why the NAND flash shortage exists and what to do about it

Too many casual observers of the semiconductor industry think of Moore's law as a basic fact of nature, like Newton's law of universal gravitation or the three laws of thermodynamics. Actually, Gordon Moore simply observed the current rate at which semiconductor makers could shrink transistors and predicted it would continue.

What chip makers actually charge for their wares is driven at least as much by the law of supply and demand as it is by any advancement in chip density. Making chips requires not just deep technical skills, but deep pockets. A dynamic RAM or NAND fab costs billions of dollars and takes several years from the time of investment to actual chip production.

Microsemi planning Bend plant closure

Microsemi Corp., which designs and makes silicon microchips in Bend, plans to close the production side of its facility at 405 SW Columbia Drive during the next two years, according to a notice the company sent to an electronics distributor.

The closing could mean the loss of dozens of jobs, as well as a semiconductor manufacturing center.

Microsemi has not talked publicly about its plans, and a spokeswoman did not respond to The Bulletin’s multiple requests for comment. Microsemi has notified its customers, however, about products that will be discontinued and impending changes to the engineering process as a result of the closing. The notices went to Minnesota electronics distributor Digi-Key, which will forward them to anyone who has bought Microsemi products, said Kayla Krosschall, marketing specialist at Digi-Key. Digi-Key customers are mostly electrical engineers, she said.

Microsemi stated in a March 1 product discontinuation notice to Digi-Key: “Bend wafer fab will be closing over the next 24 months.”

The 2 Best Dividend Stocks in the Semiconductor Industry

Rather than picking winning consumer tech stocks, investing in the companies that supply or power the technology sector has recently been a popular way to tap into the tech industry's growth.

Many investors have turned to buying a broad basket of semiconductor companies -- or a semiconductor ETF, for that matter -- to do just this. However, as in all industries, the semiconductor market has its winners and losers.

Keeping that in mind, let's review what makes Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA) the best dividend-paying stocks to own in the semiconductor space.

Intel

The world's largest semiconductor company, Intel has established its business empire by building dominant franchises supplying processing power to the PC and server industries. The company controls an estimated 99% and 87% of the two multibillion-dollar hardware markets. This market dominance, in turn, affords Intel massive pricing power, as evidenced by its 60.9% gross margin during its fiscal 2016.

The past several years haven't been the best in Intel's vaunted corporate history. The company completely missed the smartphone revolution because of its longtime product-development strategy, which centered on maximizing processing power without regard for power usage.

Western Digital to force Toshiba into arbitration over semiconductor unit sale

Western Digital has demanded that its NAND flash semiconductor unit partner Toshiba go to arbitration in a bid to prevent it from selling its 50 per cent stake in the business to the highest bidder.

The move comes after Toshiba sent formal legal warnings to Western Digital, urging it to back off, just weeks after Western Digital threatened to take action to block the sale by Toshiba.

Western Digital, in turn, claims that the legal transfer of Toshiba's interests in its joint-venture to a subsidiary, Toshiba Memory, as part of the sale process violates the "anti-transfer provisions of the joint venture agreements", as it was done without the consent of Western Digital-owned SanDisk.

The Japanese company put its prize asset on the block after its US nuclear power business, Westinghouse, was put into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection following a series of disastrous business decisions.

A Sumptuous Semiconductor ETF

SOXL

SOXL, which attempts to deliver triple the daily performance of the PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index, also hit an all-time high. The PHLX SOX Semiconductor Sector Index holds just 30 stocks and its lineup is dominated by the likes of Nvidia Corp.

China-led electric car boom shakes up metals market as cobalt sees 150% surge

Demand for cobalt has soared in the past year as investors expect inexorable growth in the global electric vehicle industry to generate a supply squeeze this year following several years of surplus production.

As recently as 2005, electric vehicles globally could be counted in the mere hundreds yet already by 2015 the number had swollen to 1.26 million, according to a report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) published in 2016.

And that's just the very beginning, with the supranational Electric Vehicles Initiative calling for an electric car fleet of 20 million by 2020 and the Paris Declaration on Electro-Mobility and Climate Change and Call to Action setting a global deployment target of 100 million electric cars and 400 million electric 2- and 3-wheelers by 2030.

FormFactor, Inc. Kicks Off 2017 on a High Note

The trend toward connectivity is helping to drive volume growth in the semiconductor industry. In turn, companies that supply products to semiconductor manufacturers are also witnessing growing demand. That includesFormFactor (NASDAQ: FORM), a leading provider ofprobe cards that are used to test semiconductor chips and wafers.

Prosperity Partnership to host reception for semiconductor industry

The Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership will host the Saratoga Reception as part of ASMC 2017, a technical conference for the semiconductor industry. The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Wednesday, May 17, at the Canfield Casino in Saratoga Springs.

ASMC 2017 is being held from May 15 to 18, with sessions at the Saratoga City Center.

Dr. Thomas Caulfield, senior vice president and general manager of GLOBALFOUNDRIES’ Fab 8 facility in Malta, will deliver remarks at the Saratoga Reception. He will be joined by Israel Ne’eman of Applied Materials, Saratoga County Board of Supervisors Chairman Edward Kinowski and Saratoga County Prosperity Partnership President Marty Vanags.

“We are delighted to have been chosen by SEMI to host the Saratoga Reception at the prestigious ASMC 2017 conference. ASMC’s goal of bringing together industry professionals and academia to advance semiconductor manufacturing is in line with the Saratoga Partnership’s strategy to leverage the investment of GLOBALFOUNDRIES to attract new advanced manufacturing businesses, suppliers, and allied industries to the region,” Vanags said. “Hosting the reception gives the Saratoga Partnership unique access to meet individually with top executives and companies to discuss opportunities to grow and expand in Saratoga County, and we plan to take full advantage.”

China poses a threat to US dominance in semiconductor industry

US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross sees the US semiconductor industry as still dominant globally but said he is worried that it will be threatened by China’s planned investment binge to build up its own chip making industry.

Ross said in an interview this week that his agency is considering a national security review of semiconductors under a 1962 trade law because of their “huge defence implications” including their use in military hardware and proliferation in devices throughout the economy.

He has launched similar “Section 232” reviews of the US steel and aluminium sectors, where a flood of imports especially from China has depressed prices, threatening the industries’ long-term health.

The probes could lead to broad import restrictions on the metals, and the Trump administration could potentially take similar actions based on the findings of a semiconductor investigation. “Semiconductors are one of our shining industries, but they have gone from substantial surplus to the beginnings of a deficit,” Ross said. “China has a US$150 billion programME to take that much further between now and 2025. That is scary.”

Worldwide semiconductor revenues grow 2.6% in 2016, says Gartner

Worldwide semiconductor revenues totaled US$343.5 billion in 2016, a 2.6% increase from 2015 revenues of US$334.9 billion, according to final results calculated by Gartner.

The world's top-25 semiconductor vendors' combined revenues increased 10.5%, a significantly better performance than the overall industry's growth; however, most of this growth resulted from merger and acquisition (M&A) activity, Gartner indicated.

"The semiconductor industry rebounded in 2016, with a weak start to the year, characterized by an inventory correction, giving way to strengthening demand and an improving pricing environment in the second half," said James Hines, research director at Gartner. "Worldwide semiconductor revenue growth was supported by increasing production in many electronic equipment segments, improving NAND flash memory pricing and relatively benign currency movements."

Intel retained its No. 1 position as the largest semiconductor manufacturer and grew its semiconductor revenues 4.6% in 2016, Gartner said. Samsung Electronics continued to maintain the No. 2 spot with an 11.7% market share

Taiwan's Semiconductor Industry to Continue Outperform the Global Average in 2017

Bolstered by the increased demand for smartphone ICs in the second quarter of 2016, Taiwan's semiconductor industry as a whole managed to witness a stronger year-on-year growth in 2016, higher than the global average, according to Taipei-based IT research institute MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute).

In 2017, the Taiwanese industry is anticipated to continue to grow steadily owing mainly in part to the growth in the fabless IC sector as result of the increasing smartphone orders and the sustained momentum in the foundry industry as result of advanced process technologies.

As for the global semiconductor market, as the PC market decline is slowing down and automotive electronics demand is taking off, the market will be able to resume single-digit growth in 2017.

One Semiconductor Laser, Two Frequency Combs

Scientists at ETH Zurich, Switzerland, have devised a way to generate a highly stable pair of offset frequency combs from a single, compact, free-running semiconductor disk laser (Science, doi: 10.1126/science.aam7424). The team’s setup uses a birefringent crystal within the laser cavity to split the beam—with the frequency comb offset tunable simply by varying the crystal thickness. The approach, according to the team, “drastically reduces the complexity for dual-comb spectroscopy,” and could make that emerging technique practical for a wider range of industrial settings and applications.

Mega trends in automotive boosting demand for semiconductors

The mega trends set to disrupt the automotive industry: electrification, connectivity, mobility and automation, are set to create considerable value chain element growth. The semiconductor industry, in particular, will see demand increase from around $30 billion in 2015 to $42 billion by 2020. China, will continue to sees its share of the total market increase in the mean time.

The automotive industry is set to continue to see the sale of new units rise, as car ownership becomes more affordable across Asia. The industry is facing a number of mega trends however; as the globe moves towards a sustainable economy, electrification is set to pick up; while digitalisation is opening up connective car opportunities; mobility considerations, such as car sharing and carpooling too are being created through technological advance and new business models; finally, automation, is set to radically transform the roads, reducing accidents and creating new ownership models.

As the mega trends begin to set in, the wider value chain that supports many of the innovations, is likely to see considerable boosts in revenues. In a new report from McKinsey & Company, titled ‘Mobility trends: What’s ahead for automotive semiconductors’, the consultancy firm explores the effects the mega trends will have on semiconductor sales.

Wednesday 31 May 2017

Friday 26 May 2017

Thursday 25 May 2017

Wednesday 24 May 2017

Tuesday 23 May 2017

Monday 22 May 2017

Saturday 20 May 2017

Friday 19 May 2017

Thursday 18 May 2017