In brief: JDSU, Vishay and Avago Technologies
JDSU continues turnaround
Optical component and laser diode manufacturer JDSU posted total sales of $366.3 million and a net profit of $23.2 million for the financial quarter that ended on December 31 - although the profit figure included a gain of $28.2 million made on the sale of an investment.
The two JDSU divisions that are involved in compound semiconductor chips - optical communications and commercial lasers - contributed sales of $132.7 million and $25.1 million respectively.
The optical communications division, which includes transponders, amplifiers and tunable laser modules, made a tiny net loss of $0.1 million on the quarter, compared with a loss of $10.2 million during the same period of the previous year.
And the commercial lasers wing, which includes high-power laser diodes and fiber lasers that are pumped with single diode emitters, made a net profit of $2.2 million, compared with a net loss of $0.8 million one year ago.
Vishay launches InGaN chips
Vishay Intertechnology, one of the world s biggest makers of a wide range of discrete semiconductors, has launched a new line of InGaN-on-sapphire white LEDs.
The surface-mounted devices are said to offer a light output of up to 355 mcd for a very low price, and are aimed at generic illumination applications such as car dashboard lights and display backlighting.
In April 2004, Vishay signed a licensing deal with Germany-based LED chip developer Osram Opto Semiconductors that covered white LED technology (see related story).
Then in 2005, it acquired a III-V wafer fab in Israel previously occupied by InP optoelectronics specialist CyOptics.
Avago gets flash with green LED
Avago Technologies is targeting designers of digital cameras with a new packaged green LED.
According to Avago, the green flash will help with the auto focusing function of digital cameras when they are used in low-light conditions.
Compared with any other colors used in the flash module, green will double the camera sensitivity, says Avago. That s because more photodiodes in each of the detector s pixels are allocated to green wavelengths.
The InGaN-based devices have a central wavelength of 530 nm and emit in narrow radiation pattern, which is said to be ideal for cameras that require long-distance illumination.
