news review
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Peregrine ships half a billion
Deep SiGe vias
Peregrine Semiconductor Corporation has designers must also take into account Tower Semiconductor and its subsidiary,
announced it has recently shipped its emerging standards and regulations Jazz Semiconductor have announced the
halfbillionth UltraCMOS RFIC, a milestone regarding waste, hazardous substances and availability of Deep-Silicon-Via (DSV)
which highlights the successful adoption recycling. This is especially the case with technology available in its 0.18-micron
and proliferation of the Company’s handheld electronics, where extremely high SiGe BiCMOS. The new offering
disruptive UltraCMOS silicon-on-sapphire global volumes are creating significant provides a way to create a low-
technology. Peregrine’s UltraCMOS disposal issues in the earth’s landfills. The inductance ground required to reduce
technology is a patented variation of silicon- green technology movement has generated power consumption of power amplifiers
on-insulator (SOI) process that combines resolutions around the world aimed at (PAs). Unlike older Through Wafer Vias
industry-standard silicon CMOS circuitry banning or limiting hazardous substances used primarily with smaller wafer sizes in
with a highly insulating sapphire substrate, found in consumer electronics. In particular, GaAs-based technology, the DSV is
delivering the industry’s highest RF gallium arsenide (GaAs) has been classified optimized for silicon 8-inch wafer.
performance in areas such as linearity, in the U.S., EU and Japan as a toxic
isolation, ESD tolerance, speed and switch compound and dangerous for the The DSV technology developed by Jazz
settling time. environment. utilizes existing equipment in its silicon
CMOS wafer fabs and therefore can be
More importantly, UltraCMOS-based RFICs “With current worldwide sales of scaled efficiently to high volumes without
offer an environmentally friendly option to approximately 1.3 billion units per year, requiring complex thin wafer handling
arsenic-based GaAs ICs which have cellular handsets have become not only and processing. According to Strategy
historically been widely used in RF and technology, business and lifestyle drivers Analytics, power amplifiers in front-end
wireless systems. With the global move but also a leading contributor to eWaste,” modules of cell phones are expected to
toward ‘green engineering’ and reduction of stated Jim Cable, president and CEO of grow from 1.6 Billion units in 2009 to 2.5
hazardous substances (RoHS), UltraCMOS Peregrine Semiconductor Corp. Billion units in 2012.
SOS devices are poised to offer engineers
and manufacturers alike a simple, “We believe that by providing a performance “We continue to invest in foundry
responsible solution for the next-generation advantage with our UltraCMOS technology technology for the front-end module by
designs demanded by the environmentally and by offering systems designers an enabling silicon solutions of components
conscious consumer. alternative to arsenic-based RFICs, we are that have traditionally been built in GaAs.
doing our part to help our customers and This new DSV technology is the latest
For years, engineers designing for personal the environment,” he added. Peregrine, offering in our Silicon Radio Platform that
communications devices such as cellular which has offices and a sales support includes SiGe power amplifiers and SOI-
phones and mobile digital assistants sought network around the world, is also actively based silicon switch technology,” said
primarily to increase system performance developing corporate programs toward the Dr. Marco Racanelli, Senior VP and GM,
while reducing size and power consumption. awareness of eWaste and electronics RF and High Performance Analog
Today, however, electronics component recycling. Business Group at Tower and Jazz.
IMEC introduces GaAs/Ge solar cell
IMEC announced a mechanically stacked This cell is a demonstrator of IMEC’s
GaAs/Ge multijunction solar cell. This is the technology to produce mechanically
first demonstrator of IMEC’s technology to stacked, high-efficiency InGaP/GaAs/Ge
produce mechanically stacked multijunction triple-junction solar cells. This includes
solar cells, aiming at efficiencies above manufacturing world-class thin-film III-V cells
40%. At the top of the stack is a one-side and Ge bottom cells, and developing a
contacted GaAs top cell that is only 4µm technology to mechanically stack them. The
thick and is transparent for infrared light. Its expected conversion efficiencies are 1-2%
efficiency is 23.4%, which is close to the higher than those obtained today with
efficiency of standard GaAs cells. IMEC monolithic triple-junction solar cells (> 40%
transferred this GaAs top cell onto a Ge with concentrated illumination). The cells more complex to handle and interconnect.
bottom cell, creating a mechanical stack. In show an enhanced spectral robustness. But they definitely offer a way to increase
that stack, the Ge bottom cell is separately Stacked solar cells combine cells made the conversion efficiency and energy yield of
contacted. It has a potential efficiency of 3- from different materials to capture and high-efficiency solar cells. And they also
3.5%, which is higher than Ge bottom cells converse a larger part of the light spectrum enable an efficient way to try and use new
in state-of-the-art monolithically stacked than is possible with a single material. combinations of materials. For this
InGaP/(In)GaAs/Ge cells. IMEC, expects to technology, we profit from IMEC’s expertise
show a first working triple-junction cell Dr. Jef Poortmans, IMEC’s Photovoltaics in 3D stacking, growing III-V layers, and
beginning of 2010. Program Director: “Mechanical stacks are solar cell processing.”
8
www.compoundsemiconductor.net October 2009
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