Enbridge and First Solar Agree on 60 MW Renewable Energy Expansion at Sarnia
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 9, 2009...Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, Canada and First Solar, Inc. of Tempe, Arizona USA have entered into an agreement to expand the Sarnia Solar Project from 20 megawatts of capacity to 80 megawatts (MW). The total system cost of of the project is expected to be CDN $300 million for the expansion. When completed in the second half of 2010, it is expected to be the largest photovoltaic solar energy facility in North America. Enbridge and First Solar announced in October an agreement for Enbridge to acquire the initial 20 MW solar energy project that First Solar developed at the Sarnia, Canada site. The 20 MW project achieved full commercial operation on December 7, 2009.
Subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, First Solar will construct the thin-film solar project for Enbridge under a fixed price engineering, procurement and construction contract. First Solar says that the 60 MW phase of the project is expected to begin construction in December and be completed by December 2010. With a 80 MW peak capacity, Enbridge expects the Sarnia Solar Project will generate enough power to meet the needs of over 12,800 homes. Under a long-term contract, First Solar will provide operations and maintenance services to Enbridge. The power output of the facility will be sold to the Ontario Power Authority pursuant to 20-year Power Purchase Agreements under the terms of the Ontario Government’s Renewable Energy Standard Offer Program. First Solar News Release December 9, 2009...Photonics Products Ltd., the authorized distributor of Sanyo laser diodes, reports that due to the recent merger between Sanyo and Panasonic, Sanyo will stop producing red and infrared laser diodes after September 30th 2010. The last time buy date for all affected product lines will be March 31st 2010.
Photonic Products has negotiated an agreement with Sanyo whereby it is able to guarantee order coverage for up to two years, providing final orders are placed by March 31st 2010. Photonic Products will also source and recommend suitable alternatives from leading manufacturers which will provide equivalent performance and reliability at a comparable price. During the transition period, the Sanyo's engineers will work with customers to evaluate and approve alternative laser diodes to prevent disruption to production schedules and minimize any inconvenience.
Sanyo will reportedly continue manufacturing 405nm blue-violet laser diodes, which are available in with up to 85mW optical output power and with the stability required for critically demanding industrial and medical applications. Photonic Products will continue to distribute Sanyo blue-violet laser diodes. Photonic Products Inc. News Release
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Huga Increases Blue LED Capacity With Six More Aixtron MOCVD Tools
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 8, 2009...Huga Co Ltd. of Taiwan has reportedly purchased six Aixtron MOCVD tools to boost its capacity of blue LEDs. Aixtron revealed that in the second quarter 2009 Huga Co., Ltd placed an order for six AIX 2800G4 HT MOCVD reactors in the 42x2 inch configuration. Aixtron will deliver the systems in the fourth quarter 2009, and they will be installed at Huga's production facility in the Taichung Science Park, Taiwan.
Sybil Yang, CEO, commented, "We already have thirteen Aixtron AIX 2800G4 HT mass production MOCVD systems in operation for the high volume manufacture of LED epiwafers. The No. 2 LED chip maker in Taiwan, Huga will place more orders for MOCVD systems in 2010 to increase the capacity to surpass competitors. "
Aixtron News Release Cree Acquires Semi-Insulating Silicon Carbide and Power Device Patent Portfolio from Daimler AG
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 7, 2009...Cree Inc., the Durham, North Carolina-based LED maker, has acquired a portfolio of patents and patent applications related to semi-insulating silicon carbide (SiC) material and power device technology from Daimler AG. Cree says that the portfolio consists of approximately 20 patent families, including issued patents in the United States, Germany, Japan, and China. U.S. Patent No. 5,856,231 (‘231) titled “Process for Producing High-Resistance Silicon Carbide”. Cree says that the 231 patent is an important piece of the portfolio that relates to the manufacturing of semi-insulating SiC using vanadium doping.
“We had licensed this impressive group of patents for many years and the full acquisition is a valuable addition to our already extensive intellectual property position,” said Dr. Cengiz Balkas, Cree vice president and general manager, power and RF.
Dr. Vijay Balakrishna, Cree product line manager, materials, added, “Cree is already the leader in high purity semi-insulating SiC and acquiring the ‘231 patent further bolsters our IP position, especially in semi-insulating SiC achieved through vanadium doping.” Cree News Release Semiconductor Research Corporation and Stanford University Demonstrate Top-Gated FETs and CMOS Inverters
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 7, 2009...Stanford University, Semiconductor Research Corporation (SRC), and Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company have developed what they claim is the first top-gated field effect transistor (FETs) and CMOS inverters. The FETs and CMOS inverters feature 20 nanometer (nm) contact holes using diblock copolymer lithography. The researchers assert that this advance could eventually enable production of smaller, faster, and cheaper devices.
Thus far, feature sizes beyond the 22nm node have not been achieved.
In recent years, researchers have begun to look at block copolymers because a thin film of it, under the right conditions, can self-assemble into regular arrays of holes on the order of 20nm or smaller in diameter. This tiny, self-assembled swiss cheese of block copolymer can act as a stencil for creating electrical contacts to very small semiconductor devices. Previous attempts at using self assembling block polymers have failed because the self-assembled holes were not aligned to existing features. However the SRC-sponsored work has produced functional devices and circuits employing diblock copolymer patterning for sub-22nm CMOS technologies on a full wafer scale.
“We believe this development will help to bring self-assembly closer to broad application in the semiconductor industry," commented H.-S. Philip Wong, a professor of Electrical Engineering at Stanford University.
The researchers hope to integrate the innovations into manufacturing processes in the next seven to ten years. The findings will be presented at IEEE’s 2009 International Electron Devices Meeting in Baltimore, Md., on December 9. Semiconductor Research Corporation News Release Solyndra Signs Framework Agreement with German Roofing Company
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 2, 2009...Solyndra, a maker of cylindrical copper indium gallium diselenide photovoltaic modules based in Fremont, California USA,
reports that it has signed a new long term framework agreement with alwitra GmbH & Co., a supplier of roofing systems, based in Trier, Germany. The solar panels for this agreement will reportedly be manufactured at Solyndra's facilities in Fremont and Milpitas, CA. Solyndra says it designed its cylindrical, thin film PV systems to generate more electricity annually from typical low-slope commercial rooftops, while providing lower installation costs than conventional flat panel PV technologies. Solyndra notes that when its system is installed together with a reflective roofing membrane, electricity produced from its PV systems is optimized and total installation cost is reduced.
"We are excited to announce this agreement with alwitra, one of the world's leading manufacturers of innovative roofing systems. With alwitra's global presence and their award-winning line of highly reflective Evalon roofing membranes, this agreement builds on the benefits of Solyndra PV installations on reflective commercial rooftops and will expand our footprint in the important roofing channel," said Chris Gronet, Solyndra CEO and founder.
"Our customers always demand the best, and therefore the optimal solution is the combination of Solyndra's innovative PV system with our tried-and-tested, highly reflective white EVALON® roofing membrane," commented Joachim Gussner, alwitra's president.
Solyndra News Release Nitronex and Modelithics to Develop Enhanced Non-Linear GaN Device Models
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 2, 2009...Nitronex and Modelithics announced that they are collaborating to create non-linear models for Nitronex's high-power gallium nitride devices.
Nitronex says that the collaboration will combine Modelithics team’s 35+ years of modeling experience with its GaN power devices. Nitronex contends that the collaboration will allow power amplifier designers to achieve best-in-class performance with faster time to market. Initial models will focus on Nitronex’s new thermally improved products aimed at broadband and high efficiency amplifiers for the military communications, electronic warfare, and radar applications, Nitronex indicated.
Modelithics President and CEO Larry Dunleavy commented, “We are very pleased to add Nitronex as a Strategic Modelithics Vendor Partner and look forward to a productive working relationship benefitting designers of efficient, higher power, and broader band GaN PA Designs.”
“We are excited to be partnering with Modelithics for non-linear models of our thermally- enhanced power products” said Ray Crampton, Director of Marketing for Nitronex. “This strategic relationship with Modelithics reaffirms Nitronex’s commitment to provide best-in-class tools to designers developing high efficiency, high power and broadband power amplifiers for today’s demanding applications.”
Modelithics will make the models will be available as a free download from its website for Agilent Technologies Advanced Design System (ADS) and AWR Microwave Office (MWO) software at http://www.modelithics.com/mvp/NIT/ . The models will also be included in Modelithics® Select free shareware library, available for ADS and MWO, at www.modelithics.com.
Nitronex News Release
Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica orders Aixtron 4-inch Black Magic Tool
CompoundSemi News StaffDecember 2, 2009...During the third quarter of 2009, Spanish Institute, Centro Nacional de Microelectrónica (CNM), based in Barcelona, Spain reportedly ordered Aixtron's Black Magic CNT system in the 4 inch wafer configuration. The Aixtron support team is expected to perform the system installation during the fourth quarter of 2009. The institute indicated that the Black Magic tool will be used to produce CNT for various devices in development including biosensors, gas sensors, NEMS, FET circuitry, AFM probes, energy harvesting devices, low resistivity interconnections/contacts and thermal management materials.
Dr. Philippe Godignon, Grupo de Aplicaciones Biomédicas (GAB), Centro de Investigación Nacional en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), commented,
"The Black Magic tool will complete our micro-nanotechnology facilities installed in our 2,500 m2 clean room, alongside state-of-the-art equipment such as e-beam, FIB, AFMs, nanoimprints, and CVD furnaces as well as a full CMOS/VDMOS fabrication line which are currently used to develop next generation micro/nano devices in the fields of biomedicine, environment, food, security, energy and transportation applications.” Aixtron News Release Our news features are reported
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