compound semiconductor ♦ news digest

the festivities and recognized the contributions Applied has made to the country after 20 years of doing business in Taiwan.

“I am pleased that Applied Materials, a globally recognized company, is continuing to invest in Tainan and we will provide our full support to making the Centre a great success,” said Premier D.Y. Wu. “This is an exciting time for Taiwan’s technology industry as solar energy and flat panel displays emerge as major opportunities for our economic development in the 21st century. We celebrate Applied’s successful history in Taiwan and the extraordinary achievements made through the collaboration and commitment of our people.”

Industry Reader Comment

2010-03-16

Questions and Answers from Compound Semiconductor Professionals

If you wish to add your comments please send them to vinny@angelbc.co.uk

Answers are from:

TH: The compound semiconductor market is significant—many billions of dollars. It is used as a material for products ranging from lasers for DVD players and telecom networks to electronics for mobile phone handsets and base stations, to high-brightness LEDs for flat panel displays and lighting, to solar cells based on CdTe and other exotic materials, to night vision goggles for soldiers. It’s much more than an emerging sector. It has grown steadily over many years, and will continue for many more.

UZ: Well I think a major problem with industry and predictions in our time is the limited time frame. The only thing which really seems to matter is the quarterly report and ever increasing increases of revenue. Then comes a tough year caused by professional gambling on the finance market where the connection between a company’s performance and the corresponding share values has long been lost and everyone is talking of a decline. I don’t think that the view of a collective “compound semiconductor industry” is valid anymore. A couple of years ago, the only major business within compound semiconductors were GaAs RF transistors, small indicator LEDs and perhaps some laser diodes and fiber-optic transmitters/receivers. But now you have “compound semiconductors” everywhere: LED lighting, flat-screen displays, multimedia players, power electronics, solar cells

Will Compound Semiconductor remain a niche industry?

Tom Hausken, PhD Director, Photonics and Compound

Semiconductors Strategies Unlimited www.strategies-u.com

Uwe Zimmermann, PhD Thin Film Solar Cell Group

The Ångström Laboratory

The Compound Semiconductor industry has been regarded as an emerging sector for a number of years but there is a sense that this may change. What do you think has occurred to enable this market growth?

TH: I dispute that it is a niche, considering its size in the billions of dollars and the vital role it plays in many products. If you compare compound semiconductor sales to silicon, then yes, it will always be a much smaller segment. This is largely because silicon is so incredibly cost-effective for so many things. You use compound semiconductors for electronics only when you need greater performance, and this is usually for smaller volume applications where even silicon is expensive. For everything else, silicon is cheaper.

That said, products based on compound

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