Group items tagged

The solar industry and semiconductor industry are intimately connected. Both industries rely on silicon and both use much of the same processing technology and supply chain to produce their products. Nowhere has this connection been on better display than last week at the Moscone Center in San Francisco California, where the Intersolar North America made its debut in conjunction with SEMICON West 2008. The show provided an opportunity for those in the two industries to connect and allowed those companies that work in both spaces to showcase their collective efforts. According to Chris O'Brien, Head of Market Development and Government Relations for North America for Oerlikon Solar, holding the two conferences together gave companies greater exposure and showed the promise of the U.S. solar market. In recent months a number of traditional semiconductor companies including Intel and National Semiconductor have made announcements that they are making plans to enter the solar industry in one way or another. Intel spun off it's solar research area into a new solar company called SpectraWatt. National Semiconductor announced that it will be introducing it's first solar product, SolarMagic, that could raise the efficiency of residential and industrial solar systems. Kevin Kayser, Senior Marketing Manager at National said that he product will be targeted at installers and integrators and much planning went into the company's decision to enter the solar space. "Photovoltaics currently has less than 1% of the energy market, but we think it has potentially one of the fastest growth rates of any alternative energy source. Now certainly we're looking at wind, we're looking geothermal, we're looking at other sources, but from an electronics point of view we saw that we had the most immediate potential impact in solar photovoltaics," Kayser said.

"Everything that is important to this world will be solved by semiconductor technology." That was the claim of National Semiconductor CEO and Chairman Brian Halla at the EcoChip forum hosted at chip-maker Actel's Silicon Valley campus Monday. It's a tall order, of course, not least of all for an industry expecting to see its annual sales plummet by 5.6 percent to $246.7 billion in 2009 compared to 2008. For the fourth quarter alone, the Semiconductor Industry Association anticipates sales will drop 5.9 percent from the previous quarter.

Underscoring the degree of innovation occurring in semiconductor packaging, four of the eight finalists in the SEMI Best of West awards were new packaging technologies - three of these serve in 3-D IC applications.

Rohm and Haas Company has reported second quarter 2008 sales of $2,567 million, a 17% increase over the same period in 2007, with Electronic Materials and the chemical businesses outside North America delivering strong growth. The Electronic Materials Group comprises two reportable segments which provide materials for use in applications such as telecommunications, consumer electronics and household appliances. Sales for the Electronic Materials Group were $536 million in the second quarter of 2008, up 34% over the same period in 2007, reflecting the impact of acquisitions in Display Technologies as well as solid organic growth of Electronic Technologies. The Electronic Technologies segment is comprised of the company's Semiconductor Technologies, Circuit Board Technologies and Packaging and Finishing Technologies business units. Sales for the segment of $460 million were up 16% versus the second quarter of 2007, driven by strong growth in Asia for all business units. Sales in the second quarter excluding precious metals pass-through sales were up 15%. Semiconductor Technologies sales grew 13%, reflecting strong demand and favorable currencies, particularly in the Asia Pacific Region. Circuit Board Technologies sales increased 20% as compared to the same period last year, with solid growth in the Asia Pacific Region more than offsetting declines in North America. Packaging and Finishing Technologies sales rose 20% versus last year, primarily driven by strong growth in precious metal sales and in process sales. Adjusted pre-tax earnings for this segment of $107 million were up 11% from the second quarter of 2007, reflecting increased demand and favorable currencies, partially offset by higher metal costs and increased costs related to expansion efforts, including the new Asia Technical Center in Taiwan.\n\n\n

Growth in Asia is illustrated from this reporting at multiple levels of business - Opportunities are available for copper in a multitude of applications.

Driven by the need for increased speed, portability and wiring density, the interconnect pitch on semiconductor packages, and the corresponding high density interconnect (HDI) substrates, continue to shrink. The combination of filled blind microvias and build-up technology provides a means to achieve the required wiring densities. With the rapid growth of this technology, the use of electrodeposited copper for filling blind microvias has become a widely adopted process for manufacture of both HDI printed circuit boards (PCBs) and also semiconductor package substrates.

Kulicke & Soffa Industries Inc (K&S) has announced that the company has entered into definitive agreements to acquire substantially all of the assets of Orthodyne Electronics Corporation, a supplier of wedge bonders, and sell the K&S wire business unit to WC Heraeus GmbH, a precious metals and technology group. Under the terms of the Orthodyne agreement, K&S will fund the acquisition of Orthodyne with approximately 7.1 million shares of K&S common stock, plus $80 million in cash. If the transaction is not consummated by October 31, 2008, the purchase price will be approximately 19.6 million shares of K&S common stock and no cash. The deal includes possible earn-out consideration up to an additional $40 million in cash if certain financial objectives are met by Orthodyne over the next three years. The closing of the transaction, which is expected within approximately 60 days, is subject to certain working capital adjustments and closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. "The acquisition of Orthodyne is in line with our stated strategy and positions K&S to capitalize on our strengths in equipment manufacturing and further cement our position as the leading supplier of interconnect solutions," commented Scott Kulicke, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of K&S. "Orthodyne is a fast growing, profitable market leader and provides us with deeper penetration into the discrete side of the semiconductor market, particularly in the attractive power management and hybrid module markets."

Sony Corp will invest $369 million (40 billion yen) to power up its lithium-ion battery production operations, adding new facilities and augmenting existing lines. The infusion, which Sony said is the first phase of investment in lithium-ion batteries the company is undertaking as part of efforts to reinforce core areas of its component and semiconductor business over the next three years, will be used to construct new production facilities and to enhance existing lines at Sony's lithium-ion battery production sites in Japan, the Motomiya Technology Center and Tochigi Technology Center of Sony Energy Device Corp. Sony said it is making the investment in response to the growing demand for lithium-ion batteries and that the new production facilities will focus on electrodes, battery cell production lines, and charge and discharge equipment, among other technologies. Sony further reminded its expanding lithium-ion battery production in Singapore and China, and said that in total its monthly production capacity will increase from the current level of 41 million cells per month to 74 million cells in 2010. Sony's $369 million investment will start in its current fiscal year and continue through the second half of its fiscal year 2010. Sony's fiscal Q1 2008 concluded in June. Meanwhile, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co recently committed $923 million (100 billion yen) to build a plant in Osaka, Japan, that is expected to bring its cell production to about 75 million a month from its current 25 million cells per month. Sanyo Electric Co has also reportedly announced plans to invest, promising $1.15 billion (125 billion yen) to develop its rechargeable-batteries business over the next three years. That investment is expected to increase cell output to 90 million per month from Sanyo's current 70 million cells per month. All three of the Japan-based companies last year suffered from loses brought on by their battery operations. Sony-made lithium-

Sony Corp will invest about 40 billion yen (US$372 million) to boost its output capacity of lithium-ion batteries amid growing global demand, the company said. On top of plans to increase production in Singapore and China, the Japanese consumer electronics firm said it will build new facilities and enhance existing lines in Japan, hoping to expand output capacity to 74 million cells per month in 2010 from the current 41 million cells. "This is the first phase of investment in lithium ion batteries Sony is undertaking as part of efforts to reinforce core areas of its component and semiconductor business over the next three years," the company said in a statement.

Architects of the next generation of computers are developing a variety of nanostructures to meet the demand for increasingly smaller features for semiconductors, microprocessors, and other components.

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy issued a report yesterday touting the role that semiconductor-based technologies have played in making the U.S. economy more efficient. At the same time, the International Energy Agency issued its own report calling on governments around the world to be more aggressive with efficiency standards for ICT and consumer electronics, which are expected to demand twice as much power by 2022 and three times as much by 2030 - creating a need for another 280 gigawatts of power generation (i.e. like adding another Japan to the world, or more than 230 nuclear reactors). "This will jeopardize efforts to increase energy security and reduce the emission of greenhouse gases," according to an IEA news brief.

Data released by the Japan Copper and Brass Association showed that copper semis output rose to 72,328t in May 2011, a 2.4% m-o-m and 0.1% y-o-y increase. Production was supported by strong demand from energy efficient air conditioner makers, who raised production ahead of the peak demand season. This compensated for weak demand from the semiconductor and automotive sectors.

"Silicene is the thinnest form of silicon. It is metallic, has graphene-like mobile carriers and can behave like a semiconductor. The wonder material could lead to even smaller electronics but challenges remain in this review published in the Science and Technology of Advanced Materials"

The Japan Copper and Brass Association released an estimate of the total domestic fabrication of copper and copper alloy products in November, which showed that production fell by 10.4% y-o-y to 65,940t. Copper strip production amounted to 18,240t, down by 18% in November and has experienced year-on-year declines for twelve consecutive months. The segment was negatively impacted by weak demand from the semiconductor and electronic industries since autumn 2011. Conversely, brass strip output rose by 3.3% y-o-y to reach 9,895t in November supported by a rebounding automotive sector. Copper tube output in November amounted to 9,895t, down by 20% y-o-y, due to base year effects caused by a rise in production after the hot summer in 2010 (the November level is higher than the same month of 2009). Brass bar output contracted by 5.3% y-o-y in November to reach 14,993t attributed to weak end-use demand from the Japanese construction and electrical sectors, especially in the latter half of this year.