May 2nd, 2012
Very interesting and informative article by SEMI’s Paula Doe that looks at factors under consideration by LED manufacturers that will help to reduce costs, optimize production and increase throughput. “LED utilization rates are picking up again, with utilization in Taiwan now back up to 70 to 90 percent of capacity. Companies expect to be back to close to 100 percent in a month or two”, writes Doe, referencing figures provide by Yole Développement’s senior analyst Eric Virey.
Market economics being market economics, the number of new entrants to the LED market, bolstered by the proliferation of LED use in applications such as TV backlight and general lighting (for example, commercial, architectural and domestic lighting) has seen a rapid expansion of the LED market. As the demand for LEDs increases and manufacturing ramps to meet this demand, we have seen the entry of ‘budget’ manufacturers, which in turn is seeing the market become somewhat commoditized. This increased competition has led to lower unit price and squeezed margins, ergo manufacturers are now looking to pull back some of that margin by reducing costs and optimizing their processes.
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March 14th, 2012
In a celebratory event held March 15, SAFC Hitech officially opened the latest addition to its global manufacturing footprint, a 270,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan that provides significant capacity increases for the high-volume manufacturing of high-quality TMG, TEG and TMI precursors for HBLED applications. The site will also produce ALD and CVD precursors for the silicon semiconductor market and offer regional transfilling capability and technical service and support.
The opening of the new Kaohsiung facility reinforces Taiwan as a vital strategic regional hub from which to leverage SAFC Hitech’s existing proprietary knowledge and capabilities as a leading provider of ultra-high purity metalorganic and silicon precursors for thin film deposition production processes. The opening of the new facility follows the March 2010 production expansion for TMG at SAFC Hitech’s Bromborough, UK manufacturing site.
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October 12th, 2011
With the Autumn/Fall leaves starting to fall, at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, Issue IV 2011 of the quarterly and rather magnificent EuroAsia Semiconductor is published.
The current issue features a cover and in-depth lead article from Geoff Irvine and Xiaohong Chen. The topics discussed include developments in the semiconductor market that reinforce the importance of strategic and highly collaborative partnerships to meet challenges around the introduction of new materials for future technology. The article also looks at the future memory developments and what we might see in coming iterations of semiconductor devices.
So, make some warm cocoa, hunker down and read the online version by clicking here.
September 23rd, 2011
In this article published this month in Wiley’s peer review journal, Angewandte Chemie International Edition, a team made up of Dr. J. Bacsa, Prof. A. C. Jones and Dr. A. Steiner of the Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool; Dr. F. Hanke and Dr. G. R. Darling of the Surface Science Research Centre, University of Liverpool, Sarah Hindley and Raj Odedra of SAFC Hitech examine Dimethylzinc and diethylzinc compounds, which were amoung the first organometallic compounds ever synthesised by Frankland in the mid-ninteenth century.
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September 14th, 2011
In the September 2011 issue of the UK’s Speciality Chemicals magazine, SAFC Hitech’s Geoff Irvine and Xioahong Chen talk about the electronic chemicals market, and how materials innovation continues to enable to microelectronics market overcome new challenges, such as the migration to new materials within the semi space.
The article also focuses in on the importance of supply chain integrity, which was brought into sharp focus by the tragic events in Japan in March, when the earthquake and tsunami severely impacted the Japanese electronics supply chain. Finally, the article looks at strategic partnership0s and investments, and in particular where SAFC Hitech has worked to bring additional capacity online to service current and future needs in key areas.
You can read the full article on pages 12 and 13 of Speciality Chemicals here.
