01 Front Cover Final2.qxp 24/11/11 11:53 Page 1 Inverted epi Bolstering carrier capture in nitride quantum wells Material needs Rising bubbler sales entice multi-national materials company Pyramid potential Shaping LED creates a monolithic white source Light extraction Dielectric pillars draw more light Plasma etching Vendor view on III-V foundries optimising material Pure-play leads the removal way for GaAs ICs Sunny growth Future is bright for photovoltaics Research review Electron blocking layers have little impact in semi-polar green lasers An Angel Business Communications publication November/December 2011 Volume 17 Number 8 HIGHER PRODUCTIVITY // With almost 30 years of experience AIXTRON stands for proven engineering power and dedicated cus tomer support: Our equipment serves a diverse range of customers to manufacture highest LED volumes at lowest cost. BETTER PERFORMANCE // As the driving force in deposition equipment AIXTRON engineers power ful technology solutions: Our equipment is the best choice available to manufacture the brightest and most efficient LEDs. SMARTER RESOURCES // AIXTRON’s intelligent equipment concept enables optimized use of resources: The results are extremely low consumption of consumables, minimized maintenance requirements and optimized utilization of human resources. AIXTRON started in 1983 and is today a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry. With our advanced solutions customers worldwide build components for electronic as well as opto-electronic applications. As pace maker in our line of industry we are keeping always one step ahead. AIXTRON SE / KAISERSTRASSE 98 / 52134 HERZOGENRATH / GERMANY / [email protected] / WWW.AIXTRON.COM _AIX_ImageAZ_210x297_BEL_110110.indd 1 10.01.2011 15:03:57 Uhr 03 Comment Final2.qxp 24/11/11 16:30 Page 3 CONNECTING THE COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR COMMUNITY editorialview November/December 2011 Volume 17 Number 8 Editor-in-Chief David Ridsdale [email protected] +44 (0)1923 690200 Consultant Editor Richard Stevenson PhD [email protected] +44 (0)1291 629640 News Editor Dr. Su Westwater [email protected] Director of SOLAR & IC Publishing Jackie Cannon [email protected] +44 (0)1923 690205 Account Managers Robin Halder [email protected] +44 (0)2476 718109 Shehzad Munshi [email protected] +44 (0)1923 690215 It’s not what - it’s how USA Representatives Brun Media Tom Brun E: [email protected] Tel: 724 539-2404 Some arguments seem to go on forever. One of these that has already been debated over and Janice Jenkins E: [email protected] Tel: 724-929-3550 over again concerns the most profitable way to manufacture GaAs ICs. Some claim that making everything in-house is the best way to go, while others believe that it is better to outsource. And Director of Logistics Sharon Cowley [email protected] there is a third camp that will champion a hybrid strategy, which combines the best bits of the +44 (0)1923 690200 first two approaches. Design & Production Manager Mitchell Gaynor [email protected] +44 (0)1923 690214 Whatever side you are on, you can point to the successes of several companies that have adopted one of these methods. And what that tells us is this: It ain’t what you do, it’s the way Circulation Director Jan Smoothy [email protected] that you do it. +44 (0)1923 690200 Subscriptions Manager In this issue we take a close look at one of the firms that has underpinned the success of the Debbie Higham [email protected] +44 (0)1923 690220 outsourcing approach – WIN Semiconductors. This Taiwanese foundry, which I visited in early November, is the leading provider of GaAs ICs and could justifiably claim to be the TSMC of the Chief Operating Officer Stephen Whitehurst [email protected] GaAs world. +44 (0)2476 718970 Directors WIN has come a long way in a very short time. Founded in 1999, this GaAs foundry took until Bill Dunlop Uprichard – CEO Stephen Whitehurst – COO August 2006 to turn in its first monthly profit, but since then it has gone from strength to Jan Smoothy – CFO strength, ramping revenues at an annual growth rate of almost 50 percent. Jackie Cannon, Scott Adams, Sharon Cowley, Sukhi Bhadal Its success is partly down to the deep pockets of its patient investors, its broad portfolio of Published by Angel Business Communications Ltd, products and its competitive pricing, which partly stems from a relatively low wage bill. However, Hannay House, 39 Clarendon Road, Watford, Herts WD17 1JA, UK one should not underestimate the attractiveness of its manufacturing philosophy, which is to T: +44 (0)1923 690200 offer the world a pure-play foundry in GaAs. In other words, WIN only makes products for other F: +44 (0)1923 690201 companies, and there is never any conflict in the fab between internal producion and making Angel Business Communications Ltd products for others. Unit 6, Bow Court, Fletchworth Gate, Burnsall Road, Coventry CV5 6SP T: +44 (0)2476 718 970 This Taiwanese foundry is now heading into a new era: It’s currently laying the foundations for F: +44 (0)2476 718 971 GaN RF and power electronics products, and it is also developing a range of new services for Compound Semiconductor is published eight times a year on a controlled circulation basis. Non-qualifying individuals can its customers, such as copper bumping and plastic packaging. subscribe at: £105.00/€158 pa (UK & Europe), £138.00 pa (air mail), $198 pa (USA). Cover price £4.50. All information herein is believed to be correct at time of going to press. The publisher does not accept responsibility for any But more exciting than any of these ventures, it will soon make its debut on the stock exchange. errors and omissions. The views expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher. Every effort has With such a promising program of new initiatives in the pipeline, the company promises to offer been made to obtain copyright permission for the material contained in this publication. a good return to investors. Angel Business Communications Ltd will be happy to acknowledge any copyright oversights in a subsequent issue of the publication. Angel Business Communications Ltd © Copyright 2011. All rights reserved. Contents may not be However, the global economy is still in turmoil, with the problems of the eurozone denting reproduced in whole or part without the written consent of the publishers. The paper used within this magazine is confidence the world over, so it will be interesting to see how willing investors are to pump cash produced by chain of custody certified manufacturers, guaranteeing sustainable sourcing. into WIN in the current climate. The good news is that we’ll not have to wait that long to find out. US mailing information: Compound Semiconductor (ISSN 1096-598X) is published 8 times a year Jan/Feb, March, April/May, June, July, August/September, October, Richard Stevenson PhD November/December for a subscription of $198 by Angel Business Communications Ltd, Hannay House, Consultant Editor 39 Clarendon Road, Watford, Herts WD17 1JA, UK. Periodicals postage paid at Rahway, NJ. POSTMASTER: send address changes to: Compound Semiconductor, c/o Mercury International Ltd, 365 Blair Road, Avenel, NJ 07001 Printed by: Pensord Press. ISSN 1096-598X (Print) ISSN 2042-7328 (Online) © Copyright 2011. November/December 2011 www.compoundsemiconductor.net 3 Dedicated exclusively to compound semiconductor, silicon semiconductor and solar recruitment Silicon CSS-Jobs.net Semiconductor E: [email protected] W: www.css-jobs.net Solar Compound Semiconductor CSS Jobs Vertical ad.indd 1 21/11/2011 12:25 05 Contents Final2.qxp 24/11/11 14:57 Page 5 CONNECTING THE COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR COMMUNITY contents Volume 17 Number 8 industry & technology GaAs Foundries Richard Stevenson travelled to Taiwan to meet 14 the GaAs leading foundry WIN. There he learnt first hand the future plans of this pure play foundry not content with reseting on its laurels Inverted epitaxy Poor hole doping dampens light generation in 24 LEDs. One solution involves starting device growth with p-type layers The bubbler brigade A supplier of metal organic raw materials for 29 MOCVD precursors has launched a new line of products aimed squarely at addressing the burgeoning LED market Shaping LED’s future Current manufacturing methods for white LEDs 32 are reaching an efficiency plateau. A new approach involving nano-scale pyramids 14 promises to set a new benchmark for brightness Dielectric pillars LED output is hampered by poor light 39 extraction and innovative solutions are sought. One idea is to insert a patterened dielectric stack to help get the light out of the chip HBLED etching 24 32 More light for less money is the goal of LED 42 manufacturers. One company outlines how optimised plasma etching can provide a number of benefits Sunny future outlined A conference recently held in the UK looked at 46 the future for advanced photovoltaics and found that despite recent upheavel in the 42 46 market, the future is very bright for solar news 06 Euro focus on power efficiency Broadband mobility growth Financing for GaN concern Portable terahertz spectrometer 07 06 06 08 12 Breakthrough boosts beam angle Alpine Solar project go ahead 13 MOCVD reactor productivity Single wafer investment 10 12 13 November/December 2011 www.compoundsemiconductor.net 5 06-13 News2.qxp 24/11/11 14:37 Page 6 news review European project targets more efficiency for power electronics LOW ENERGY consumption and high resistance of GaN power transistors, output powers are the core requirements combined with considerably reduced in for modern power converter systems. and output capacitances. Power transistors are the elementary devices in electronic power converters The joint project has a total budget of transforming continuous and alternating € 5.6 million and is being funded by the current into the voltages used by systems.