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Soitec announced the launch of a new industrial installation allowing wafer rinse water to be partially reused in the production of ultra-pure water for cleanrooms at its French manufacturing facilities.
Thanks to this innovation, the first of its kind in Europe at this scale, Soitec intends to increase significantly the proportion water that can be reused in its industrial processes. The wastewater reuse rate at its historic site in Bernin (Isère) is thereby expected to rise from 19% in 2023 to over 35% in 2024.
This solution, developed by Soitec in Bernin over three years, represents an important milestone in Soitec’s continuous improvement of resource management, one of the key pillars of its sustainable development strategy.
Cyril Menon, Soitec Chief Operations Officer: “This manufacturing process innovation is an illustration of Soitec’s commitment over several years to limit the intake of fresh water, a critical resource for semiconductor materials production. It is a significant milestone that we have reached. The introduction of this new process demonstrates that we can produce more with less, contributing to a more sustainable future.”
Soitec puts efficient management of natural resources at the heart of its commitment to sustainable development. While water is essential for the semiconductor industry, Soitec is well aware that it is a rare and precious resource that must be used responsibly and equitably by all.
From 2015 onwards, Soitec committed itself to a series of action plans to mitigate its impact on water resources. Soitec reduced its overall water consumption per unit produced by 30% between 2021 and 2023, and is targeting a further 30% reduction by 2030.
Original – Soitec
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Renesas Electronics Corporation and Transphorm, Inc. announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which a subsidiary of Renesas will acquire all outstanding shares of Transphorm’s common stock for $5.10 per share in cash, representing a premium of approximately 35% to Transphorm’s closing price on January 10, 2024, a premium of approximately 56% to the volume weighted average price over the last twelve months and a premium of approximately 78% to the volume weighted average price over the last six months.
The transaction values Transphorm at approximately $339 million. The acquisition will provide Renesas with in-house GaN technology, a key next-generation material for power semiconductors, expanding its reach into fast-growing markets such as EVs, computing (data centers, AI, infrastructure), renewable energy, industrial power conversion and fast chargers/adapters.
Demand for highly efficient power systems is increasing as building blocks for carbon neutrality. To address this trend, an industry-wide transition toward wide bandgap (“WBG”) materials, represented by silicon carbide (“SiC”) and GaN, is also being seen. These advanced materials allow a broader range of voltage and switching frequency than conventional silicon-based devices. To build on this momentum, Renesas has announced the establishment of an in-house SiC production line, supported by a 10 year SiC wafer supply agreement.
Renesas now aims to further expand its WBG portfolio with Transphorm’s expertise in GaN, an emerging material that enables higher switching frequency, lower power losses, and smaller form factors. These benefits empower customers’ systems with greater efficiency, smaller and lighter composition, and lower overall cost.
As such, demand for GaN is predicted to grow by more than 50 percent annually, according to an industry study. Renesas will implement Transphorm’s auto-qualified GaN technology to develop new enhanced power solution offerings, such as X-in-1 powertrain solutions for EVs, along with computing, energy, industrial and consumer applications.
“Transphorm is a company uniquely led by a seasoned team rooted in GaN power and with origins from the University of California at Santa Barbara,” said Hidetoshi Shibata, CEO of Renesas. “The addition of Transphorm’s GaN technology builds on our momentum in IGBT and SiC. It will fuel and expand our power portfolio as a key pillar of growth, offering our customers the full ability to choose their optimal power solutions.”
“Combined with Renesas’ world-wide footprint, breadth of solution offerings and customer relationships, we are excited to pave the way for industry-wide adoption of WBG materials and set the stage for significant growth.
This transaction will also allow us to offer further expanded services to our customers and deliver significant immediate cash value to our stockholders,” said Dr. Primit Parikh, Co-founder, President and CEO of Transphorm and Dr. Umesh Mishra, Co-founder and CTO of Transphorm. “Additionally, it will provide a strong platform for our exceptional team to further Transphorm’s leading GaN technology and products.”
The board of directors of Transphorm has unanimously approved the definitive agreement with respect to the transaction and recommended that Transphorm stockholders adopt such definitive agreement and approve the merger. Concurrently with the execution of the definitive agreement, KKR Phorm Investors L.P., which holds approximately 38.6% of Transphorm’s outstanding common stock, has entered into a customary voting agreement with Renesas to vote in favor of the transaction.
The transaction is expected to close in the second half of calendar year 2024, subject to Transphorm stockholder approval, required regulatory clearances and the satisfaction of other customary closing conditions.
Original – Renesas Electronics
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Florian Martens will take over as global Head of Communications & Public Policy at Infineon Technologies AG on 1 March 2024. As Executive Vice President and Chief Communications Officer, he will report to Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon. Florian Martens succeeds Bernd Hops, who has left Infineon at his own request effective 30 September 2023.
“On its ambitious growth path, Infineon needs to communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. With Florian Martens, we have found an internationally recognized communications professional for this strategic management task. We are very pleased to welcome him to our team with his extensive experience and expertise,” says Jochen Hanebeck, CEO of Infineon Technologies AG.
Florian Martens joins from Siemens AG, where he is responsible for global Media Relations, Executive Communications and Thought Leadership activities since June 2020. Together with his team, he contributed significantly to Siemens’ new external positioning as a leading global technology company.
“Semiconductors are the hearts and brains of our digital world. There is no more exciting and relevant industry for the digital and green transformation. Infineon is a global champion in this key industry and I am delighted to be part of this team going forward. At the same time, I would like to thank all my colleagues for a great time at Siemens,” says Florian Martens.
Before joining Siemens, Florian Martens spent 15 years at Daimler AG, most recently as Head of Global Communications at Daimler Truck AG, the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturer. At Daimler, he held various management positions in Germany and abroad, including in Corporate Communications and Product Strategy at Mercedes-Benz Passenger Cars. He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Wisconsin (Madison USA) and a Masters of Business Administration from the Technical University of Munich.
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Infineon Technologies AG has formalized an agreement with silicon carbide (SiC) supplier SK Siltron CSS. Under the agreement, SK Siltron CSS will provide Infineon with competitive and high-quality 150-millimeter SiC wafers, supporting the production of SiC semiconductors. In a subsequent phase, SK Siltron CSS will play an important role in assisting Infineon’s transition to a 200-millimeter wafer diameter.
“For Infineon, supply chain resiliency is about implementing a multi-supplier strategy and thriving in times of adversity to create new growth opportunities and drive decarbonization,” said Angelique van der Burg, Chief Procurement Officer at Infineon. “We are excited to partner with SK Siltron CSS to serve the growing SiC demand of our broad customer base with new energy-efficient and top-quality products, matching the highest standards in the SiC market.”
“With decades of experience in silicon carbide materials and manufacturing, we bring unparalleled knowledge to our sustainably manufactured compound semiconductor solutions. This wealth of experience is a cornerstone in our partnership with Infineon,” said Jianwei Dong, Ph.D., CEO of SK Siltron CSS. “This long-term supply agreement marks the synergy of our extensive expertise and Infineon’s vision to make life easier, safer and greener for generations to come.”
Original – Infineon Technologies
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Navitas Semiconductor announced the appointment of Janet Chou as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, effective upon the filing of Navitas’ 2023 annual report on Form 10‑K expected at the end of February.
Chou will report to Gene Sheridan, President and CEO, and will replace Ron Shelton, Senior Vice President, CFO and Treasurer, who announced his intention to pursue other opportunities effective March 15, 2024. Following the Form 10-K filing, Shelton will provide advice and assistance to Sheridan and transition assistance and support to Chou.
“Under Ron’s financial leadership, we have executed a significant and successful capital raise, built a strong investor and analyst base, and completed three strategic acquisitions—all while delivering predictable and impressive financial results,” said Sheridan. “While I wish Ron all the best in his next career move, I am also very excited to welcome Janet Chou as our new CFO. I am confident her deep experience in financial leadership at global, multi-$B public semiconductor leaders will be invaluable as we scale Navitas to new levels in coming years.”
Chou was previously Vice President and CFO of Global Operations for Western Digital Corporation, a $12 billion Nasdaq-listed developer, manufacturer, and provider of data storage devices and solutions. She was previously CFO of JCET Group Co., Ltd., a $5 billion global semiconductor company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Before that Chou progressed through a series of senior financial management roles at NXP Semiconductors N.V., a $13 billion global semiconductor manufacturer, including VP and CFO for Greater China, and VP and CFO of the Portable & Computing Business Unit.
Chou is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas, San Antonio, and an MBA from Santa Clara University.
Original – Navitas Semiconductor
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Okmetic’s headquarters and production plant where most of silicon wafers are manufactured are located in Vantaa, Finland, while it is globally close to the customers. To better respond to local customers, the company is dedicated to improve its sales and customer support organization.
During the year of 2023, Okmetic has established sales offices in both France and Taiwan to better serve the customers in these areas. This is one of commitments to take business operations to the next level.
Since then on, company’s worldwide sales and service network is able to deliver quick expert responses from Finland, Germany, France, the United States, Japan, Taiwan and China. In addition, Okmetic’s network of agents is at full service in Korea, Malaysia and Singapore.
Original – Okmetic
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STMicroelectronics announced its new organization, effective February 5th, 2024.
“We are re-organizing our Product Groups to further accelerate our time-to-market and speed of product development innovation and efficiency. This will enable us to increase value extraction from our broad and unique product and technology portfolio. In addition, we are getting even closer to our customers with an application marketing organization by end market which will boost our ability to complement our product offering with complete system solutions” said Jean-Marc Chery, President and CEO of STMicroelectronics. “This is an important step in the development of our established strategy, in line with our value proposition to all stakeholders and with the business and financial ambitions we set back in 2022”.
Moving from three to two Product Groups to further enhance product development innovation and efficiency, and time-to-market
The two new Product Groups will be:
- Analog, Power & Discrete, MEMS and Sensors (APMS), led by Marco Cassis, ST President and member of the Executive Committee; and
- Microcontrollers, Digital ICs and RF products (MDRF), led by Remi El-Ouazzane, ST President and member of the Executive Committee.
The APMS Product Group will include all ST analog products, including Smart Power solutions for automotive; all ST Power & Discrete product lines including Silicon Carbide products; MEMS and Sensors.
APMS will include two Reportable Segments: Analog products, MEMS and Sensors (AM&S); Power and discrete products (P&D).The MDRF Product Group will include all ST digital ICs and microcontrollers, including automotive microcontrollers; RF, ADAS, Infotainment ICs. MDRF will include two Reportable Segments: Microcontrollers (MCU); Digital ICs and RF Products (D&RF).
Concurrent with this new organization Marco Monti, ST President of the former Automotive and Discrete Product Group, will leave the Company.
To complement the existing Sales & Marketing organization, a new application marketing organization by end market will be implemented across all ST Regions. This will provide ST customers with end-to-end system solutions based on the Company’s product and technology portfolio.
The company is implementing an application marketing organization by end market across all ST Regions, as part of its Sales & Marketing organization led by Jerome Roux, ST President and member of the Executive Committee. The application marketing organization will cover the following four end markets:
- Automotive
- Industrial Power and Energy
- Industrial Automation, IoT and AI
- Personal Electronics, Communication Equipment and Computer Peripherals.
The current regional Sales & Marketing organization remains unchanged.
Original – STMicroelectronics
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EPC introduces three evaluation boards – EPC9179, EPC9181, and EPC9180 – featuring pulse current laser drivers of 75 A, 125 A, and 231 A , showcasing EPC’s AEC-Q101 GaN FETs. These FETs; EPC2252, EPC2204A, and EPC2218A are 30% smaller and more cost-effective than their predecessors. Designed for both long and short-range automotive lidar systems, these boards expedite solution evaluation with varied input and output options.
All boards share identical functionality, differing only in peak current and pulse width. Utilizing a resonant discharge power stage, they employ a ground-referenced GaN FET driven by LMG1020 gate driver. The GaN FET’s ultrafast switching enables rapid discharge of a charged capacitor through the load’s stray inductance, enabling peak discharge currents of tens to hundreds of amps within nanoseconds.
The printed circuit board is designed to minimize power loops and common source inductance while offering mounting flexibility for laser diodes or alternative loads. To enhance user-friendliness, all boards ship with EPC9989 interposer PCBs, featuring various footprints to accommodate a variety of laser diodes or other loads. Customers can choose one that meets their needs to evaluate the GaN solutions.
The EPC9179/81/80 boards are designed to be triggered from 3.3V logic or differential logic signals such as LVDS. For single-ended inputs, the boards can operate with input voltages down to 2.5 V or 1.8 V with a simple modification. Designing an automotive lidar system is complex, and finding a reliable solution is challenging. The purpose of these evaluation boards is to simplify the evaluation of powerful GaN-based lidar drivers that switch faster and deliver higher pulse current than other semiconductor solutions. For technical details, EPC offers full schematics, bill of materials (BOM), PCB layout files, and a quick start guide on EPC’s website.
“To meet the growing demand for automotive lidar, these cost-effective boards, featuring our latest AEC products, streamline evaluation, reducing time-to-market with exceptional switching performance,” said Alex Lidow, CEO, and co-founder of EPC.
Original – EPC
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Allegro MicroSystems, Inc. announced the launch of the second product in its High Voltage Power portfolio. Allegro’s AHV85111 isolated gate-driver IC adds critical safety features while simplifying the design of high-power energy conversion systems for e-Mobility and clean energy applications, including OBC/DCDC, solar inverter and datacenter power supply.
“Allegro continues to build upon the technology from our acquisitions in order to expand our High Voltage Power portfolio aimed at helping designers achieve their efficiency and power density needs in clean energy and e-Mobility systems,” said Vijay Mangtani, Vice President and General Manager for High Voltage Power at Allegro. “The bipolar-output of our latest device improves noise immunity and significantly simplifies high-frequency power-converter designs.”
Building upon Allegro’s existing power-thru technology, the AHV85111 was designed to meet designer demands for a simple, streamlined and safe solution. The AHV85111 gate driver adds bipolar-output, a critical feature that significantly improves time to market by eliminating the need to design a complicated negative isolated DC power supply and removing unnecessary external components.
Allegro’s newest power-thru solution also adds crucial safety features that were designed to protect against high operating temperatures in electric powertrain systems, as well as reactions to noisy environments that may be present in microinverters in solar applications, power supply in datacenter applications or on-board chargers for electric vehicles.
The AHV85111 gate driver packs all the benefits of Allegro’s power-thru technology, including 10x lower common-mode capacitance, a 50% smaller footprint, 10x noise reduction and a 50% efficiency improvement compared to competitor offerings, while also providing overtemperature protection that further improves the robustness of system.
Original – Allegro MicroSystems
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Aehr Test Systems announced financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2024 ended November 30, 2023.
Fiscal Second Quarter Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $21.4 million, up 45% from $14.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $6.1 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, up 63% from GAAP net income of $3.7 million, or $0.13 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, was $6.7 million, or $0.23 per diluted share, up 49% compared to non-GAAP net income of $4.5 million, or $0.16 per diluted share, in the second quarter of fiscal 2023.
- Bookings were $2.2 million for the quarter.
- Backlog as of November 30, 2023, was $3.0 million.
- Total cash and cash equivalents as of November 30, 2023 were $50.5 million, compared to $51.0 million at August 31, 2023.
Fiscal First Six Months Financial Results:
- Net revenue was $42.1 million, up 65% from $25.5 million in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- GAAP net income was $10.8 million, or $0.36 per diluted share, up 149% compared to GAAP net income of $4.3 million, or $0.15 per diluted share, in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- Non-GAAP net income was $11.9 million, or $0.40 per diluted share, which excludes the impact of stock-based compensation, up 105% compared to non-GAAP net income of $5.8 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, in the first six months of fiscal 2023.
- Cash provided by operations was $3.4 million for the first six months of fiscal 2024.
Gayn Erickson, President and CEO of Aehr Test Systems, commented:
“We had another solid quarter with strong year-over-year growth in revenue and net income as we continue to see increased demand for our wafer level test and burn-in products. Revenue for the quarter was $21.4 million, an increase of 45% year over year, and we generated non-GAAP net income of $6.7 million, slightly over 31% net profit. For the first half of the fiscal year, we grew revenue 65% over the same period last year.
“In the last sixty days, we have seen how the slowing of the growth rate of the electric vehicle market has had a negative impact on the timing of several current and new customer orders and capacity increases for silicon carbide devices used in them. For clarity, we do not see the silicon carbide market decreasing, only a temporary slowing of the growth rate. We are also experiencing the impact of shifts in our customers’ product mix, which specifically includes an increase in WaferPakTM full wafer contactors from our lead silicon carbide customer. The net of this is that we now expect a delay in the timing of new orders from current and new customers that will most likely impact this fiscal year’s revenue.
“Given the latest forecasts from our customers and the uncertainty on the timing of their orders, we believe it makes sense to take a more conservative approach to our fiscal year forecast and have reduced our growth estimates for fiscal 2024 revenue. We are reducing our revenue expectations of at least $100 million this fiscal year by 15% to 25% to a range of $75 million to $85 million dollars. This is still a growth rate of 15% to 30% year over year.
“Despite this uncertainty in the timing of orders, we remain confident about the future demand for our unique semiconductor test solutions and the markets they address. We have not reduced our growth expectations for the years ahead, where we continue to see tremendous opportunity. We continue to hear from our current customers as well as companies we are engaged in evaluations with that wafer level burn-in is critical to their product roadmaps to address multiple large and growing markets, including battery and hybrid electric vehicles, industrial and solar power conversion, data and telecommunications infrastructure, and the new and coming optical I/O and co-packaged optics semiconductor markets.
“Last month, we announced our first order for a FOXTM wafer level test and burn-in system to be used for gallium nitride (GaN) applications. This customer is a leading global supplier of semiconductor devices used in electric vehicles and power infrastructure and adds another major customer to the list of companies using Aehr’s FOX products for wafer level test and burn-in of wide bandgap compound semiconductors. We were able to ship this system within a few weeks to meet their needs. We are now working with two of the market leaders in gallium nitride, which positions us front and center in a market that we believe is another potential growth driver for our wafer level solutions.
“We continue to make great progress with our previously announced benchmarks and engagements with prospective new customers, including the significant automotive qualification of wafer level burn-in we have been doing with one of the market leaders in silicon carbide (SiC). We believe we have a large opportunity with this potential new customer and feel confident they will move forward with our FOX-XP multi-wafer solution for their high-volume needs, but the timing is taking longer than anticipated. We remain confident that we will receive initial purchase orders from them in fiscal 2024; however, it is not clear whether they will have the infrastructure ready to take shipments from us within our fiscal year that ends on May 31st.
“We have made significant progress in expanding our customer base for SiC and GaN wafer level burn-in for a wide variety of applications. We currently have a total of seven customers purchasing our solutions for SiC and GaN devices and are also actively engaged with more than two dozen SiC and GaN companies to address their needs for wafer level test and burn-in of these devices. Importantly, 10 of these additional companies have already engaged with Aehr for on-wafer benchmarks. We have never lost a full wafer level burn-in evaluation since introducing our FOX-NP and XP configured with the SiC and GaN nitride test resources, and we believe we will have over 12 SiC/GaN customers buying our wafer level test and burn-in solutions by the end of calendar 2024.
“In anticipation of both our current and new customers’ forecasted needs, Aehr has put in place the inventory, infrastructure, and processes to increase our manufacturing and installation capacity as well as significantly lower our lead times to meet our customers’ future capacity needs.
“While we have seen delays in orders from our automotive customers, we are seeing a pick-up in opportunities for SiC wafer level burn-in for applications outside of the electric vehicle market, including industrial, solar, and commuter electric trains as the efficiency and value of SiC is being recognized for these additional markets. While the largest market opportunity for SiC is still electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, industrial and other power conversion market segments represent significant additional opportunities for SiC and for Aehr’s products. William Blair forecasts that the total silicon carbide market is growing at a CAGR of greater than 40% to $8.5 billion in 2025, and over 25% of that will be in industrial and energy power conversion applications.
“We are also excited about the potential for the new silicon photonic optical I/O or co-packaged optics market and are expecting to ship our first FOX production system in our third fiscal quarter. This FOX-XP system with new high-power WaferPaks is configured to enable cost-effective production test of up to 3,500 watts of power per wafer and up to nine full wafers in parallel. It also enables our customers to easily dock to our new FOX WaferPak Auto Aligner for hands free operation of 6” to 12” wafers using industry standard wafer cassettes and FOUPs including robotic and overhead transport of wafers in FOUPs. This new FOX-XP configuration allows for the testing of as many as 8,000 high-power optical devices in parallel on each of nine wafers before they are singulated and placed into a photonic application such as fiberoptic transceiver modules or for placement in co-packaged optics for optical chip-to-chip communication, as has been announced on product roadmaps by companies including Nvidia, Intel, AMD, TSMC, and GlobalFoundries.
“As we look ahead, we expect continued strong demand for our wafer level burn-in solutions for the markets we currently address, as well as increased demand from the new market opportunities we are seeing. Even with our more conservative guidance, we expect solid year-over-year revenue growth and believe we are poised for continued strong growth for years to come.”
Original – Aehr Test Systems
