news review
Combining logic and light on GaN-on-silicon chips
A NEW project using Aixtron systems to promote energy efficiency has been launched in Singapore. It combines the expertise in III-V semiconductors with silicon technology, to advance the commercialisation of LEDs, lasers and power semiconductors on large silicon wafers.
The research project Low Energy Electronics Systems (LEES) has started its work with a kick-off meeting. The program’s initiator is the Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre based in Singapore.
The LEES team consists of eminent research and science specialists and is targeting the development of cutting-edge technology to increase energy efficiency and advance high-tech industries that complement microelectronics.
Two Aixtron CRIUS 1 x 200 mm systems, will form the technological foundation basis for the LEES project work. They will be available for use in the project from the fourth quarter of 2012.
SMART is a collaborative project between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF). Its objective is to develop ways to integrate optical and electronic components on a
chip, cost-effectively, using the highly promising III-V-on-silicon technology. By 2016, the researchers aim to have developed novel material compounds, process technologies, and integrated circuits on 200 mm CMOS-compatible silicon wafers.
Eugene A. Fitzgerald from MIT’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering (DMSE) is the Lead-Principal
Investigator for the project with Soon F. Yoon from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department (EEE) at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), as Co- Lead.
“Given the increasing scarcity of energy resources, we are being challenged to provide integrated circuits that have more functionality and higher performance, and use less power,” says Fitzgerald. Therefore, research is also focusing on the search for solutions that improve energy efficiency by using the latest most efficient storage devices, such as ultra-capacitors and nanobatteries.
Michael Heuken, Vice President of Research and Development at Aixtron, was appointed as a member to the LEES scientific advisory board. “LEES combines the advantages of expertise in III-V semiconductors with the already established silicon technology,” he comments. “Our particular interest lies in the production of LEDs, lasers, and power semiconductors on large silicon wafers on an industrial scale.”
Researchers have high expectations, especially in regard to the integration of AlInGaN and AlInGaAsP based III-V semiconductors in silicon-based CMOS circuits and the progress that will be made in conjunction with this to save energy.
In the future, the new circuit designs will be used in multifunctional LED colour displays of mobile phones, televisions, and computers, as well as in the printing, power electronics, and LED lighting industries.
Global CS market to soar to $47.5 Billion by 2017 Global sales from compound
semiconductor components totalled nearly $25.5 billion in 2011 and should surpass $27 billion in 2012.
Total sales are expected to reach almost $47.5 billion in 2017 after increasing at a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.9 percent according to a report by
companiesandmarkets.com. The Americas are expected to have sales worth nearly $5.2 billion in 2012 and $8.8 billion in 2017, a CAGR of 11.4 percent. The EMEA region should have sales totalling nearly $8.5 billion in 2012 and nearly $16.4 billion in 2017, a CAGR of 14 percent.
One of the greatest values that compound semiconductors bring to the table is that of variety and customisation. It is not surprising then that compound semiconductors are the prime ingredients of some of the most complex semiconductor components ever synthesised and that this market is on the incline. The advantages that compound semiconductors offer are higher operating speed, lower power consumption, lower noise, higher operating temperature, light emission/detection, and superior photovoltaic attributes compared to silicon. What’s more, these attributes change from compound to compound, offering considerable design flexibility.
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www.compoundsemiconductor.net October 2012
On the flip side, the variety of compounds works unfavourably in terms of scale and consequent pricing. Considering that these materials are pitted against silicon, the most widely available material with the most refined and cost-efficient fabrication process, there is a real danger of the competition being rendered lop-sided in favour of silicon.
However, it is not entirely accurate to compare and confine compound semiconductors to the benchmarks set by silicon. These materials have a distinct character of their own and they spawn several use-cases of application that can be catered to only by them.
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