CS Industry Award Winners 2018
A packed CS International conference in Brussels saw the winners of the annual CS Industry Awards receive their trophies.
The high conference attendance reflects rising sales of compound semiconductor chips driven by an uptake in solid-state lighting; rising revenues for smartphones; a build-out of capacity in optical networks; and greater use of energy-saving SiC and GaN devices in power electronics.
Now in their sixth year, the CS Industry Awards showcase the success of companies within the compound semiconductor industry − whether they supply materials, equipment or software, make chips or package devices.
Voted for by the industry, through the Compound Semiconductor print and online portals, the CS Industry Awards, honoured five companies on the night.
Presentations were made by Dr Richard Stevenson, Editor of Compound Semiconductor.
The evening began with the Substrates and Materials Award. Great substrates and high-quality materials are key ingredients for making state-of-the-art devices. This award aims to showcase breakthroughs in this field, such as increases in the size or crystal quality of substrates, the unveiling of new materials, and the introduction of precursors with greater levels of purity. The winner was Dresden based Allos Semiconductors for its 1400 V GaN-on-silicon epiwafers and the award was accepted by Burkhard Slischk, CEO.
Measurements of substrates, epiwafers and devices are essential to compound semiconductor manufacturing to unveil problems with processes, ensure high yields and enable the delivery of products complying with specifications. The Metrology Award is contested by companies that offer specialist measurement services and this year was awarded to US based KLA Tencor for the Zeta Optical Profiler. On the night, Anoop Somanchi, product marketing manager collected the trophy on behalf of the company.
The High-volume Manufacturing Award highlights the biggest successes in high-volume manufacture, including the tools and fabs delivering very high throughput with high yields, and milestones in product manufacture. This year, the winner was Finish company Beneq Oy for the Beneq 2. Mikko Söderlund Head of Industrial Solutions accepted the award.
The Innovation Award celebrates the success of researchers that are inventing new types of device, or companies taking existing devices to new performance levels. This year the award went to US company Veeco Instruments for their GENxcel R&D MBE System. Matt Marek, director of marketing collected the award.
The Device Design and Packaging Award goes to the company contributing to the manufacture of commercial, packaged chips delivering ground-breaking performance. This year the winner was Wolfspeed for its SiC Modules for high voltage applications.
Further details of the CS Industry Awards can be found at https://csawards.net/winners
CS International is an annual conference with over 35 presentations which detail breakthroughs in device technology; offers insights into the current status of compound semiconductor devices; and provides details of advances in tools and processes that will help to drive up fab yields and through-puts.
Congratulations to all the shortlisted companies and to the winners of 2018.
