Foundry

CVD Graphene for Electronic Applications: 2021 Status and Outlook

Given the exciting properties, graphene has always been linked as a revolutionary material for the electronics industry. CVD graphene is cited as the ideal solution in providing a perfect single layer produced in a low cost continuous R2R process, but the manufacturing and commercial reality have proved very different. After a long period of research, and with players regularly exiting and entering the field, we are only now starting to see this technology mature and the dawn of the commercial reality.

Black Semiconductor

Black Semiconductor is a spin-out company from the research institute AMO commercializing graphene-enabled optoelectronics. IDTechEx spoke with Dr Daniel Schall (CEO).

Desktop Metal to buy EnvisionTEC for $300 Million

Desktop Metal Inc announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire EnvisionTEC for total consideration of $300 million, consisting of a combination of cash and newly issued Desktop Metal stock.

Plessey Semiconductors

Plessey is a UK-based working on MicroLEDs based on GaN-on-silicon technology. Plessey operates 150 mm and 200 mm wafer processing facilities to undertake design, test and assembly of products. The company provides illuminators for display engines (Digital Micro-mirror Device DMD and LCOS) and full-field emissive microLED displays that combine very high density RGB pixel arrays with high-performance in-house developed CMOS backplanes to produce high brightness, low power and high frame rate image sources for head mounted displays (HMDs), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) systems.

HongKong Beida Jade Bird Display Ltd.

Jade Bird Display (JBD) is a start-up founded in 2015 and headquartered in Hong Kong. Its core technology is the monochromatic micro-displays, enabled by wafer-level mass manufacturable approach of monolithic hybrid integration of µLED arrays on Si ICs.

PragmatIC Appoints Erik Langaker as Chair of the Board

PragmatIC has appointed Erik Langaker as independent Chair to complement its existing strong Board of Directors. This appointment comes alongside additional funding of over £13 million to support ongoing production ramp-up, accelerate manufacturing optimisation and drive continued product innovation.

9 Materials Science Start-Ups Changing Metal Additive Manufacturing

The metal additive manufacturing market will be negatively impacted by the 2020 pandemic. Despite this short-to-mid-term setback, the industry is forecast to rise and exceed $10Bn within the next 10-years. The emerging and established printer players grab nearly all of the headlines, but most of this forecast annual revenue will be in material sales in which there is great untapped potential.

Scantinel

IDTechEx Analyst Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh interviews Scantinel Business Development Manager Norbert Recke

Graphenea

IDTechEx Analyst Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh interviews Graphenea CEO Jesus de la Fuente

Battery Breakthrough Boosts Electric Flight, Long-Range Electric Cars

In the pursuit of a rechargeable battery that can power electric vehicles for hundreds of miles on a single charge, scientists have endeavored to replace the graphite anodes currently used in EV batteries with lithium metal anodes.

TriEye

TriEye is an Israeli company that has developed an affordable method of SWIR imaging based on detecting plasmonic resonances with a silicon CMOS device.

DpiX

dpiX is both a manufacturer of x-ray image detectors and a foundry for (primarily) backplanes. It has a Gen 4.5 line spanning 239,000 sq ft, which is the largest outside Asia. It has recently extended its capability to make flexible image sensors using amorphous silicon on flexible polyimide substrates.

Wolfspeed

Wolfspeed are specialists in GaN on SiC technology across various market verticals. With the increasing market for 5G installations, Wolfspeed are likely to see a big increase in the market for GaN devices.

Elkem Silicones

Elkem provide materials for various components within electric vehicles and their batteries. Elkem Silicones see their silicone products as essential for effective thermal management in future electric vehicles in addition to the ones already on the road.

Automotive Lidar Market: Battlefield of a Hundred Technology Suppliers

The lidar market is very dynamic and some players are making excellent progress towards launching automotive-grade products. Analysts at IDTechEx are tracking more than one hundred companies that develop 3D lidar modules, this article presents insights from their report "Lidar 2020-2030".

PragmatIC

PragmatIC manufacture flexible integrated circuits (termed FlexICs) which are targeted first at RFID tags and also other applications that require constrained complexity. Their main selling point is their low cost (< $0.01, depending on complexity and volume), making them an attractive alternative to silicon. PragmatIC have also developed a revolutionary approach to fabrication that, when compared to conventional silicon ICs, requires much less capital expenditure and a design-to-production cycle-time of less than one week.