In brief: Bookham, quantum-dot solar, LED lighting
Couder takes charge at Bookham
Bookham will get a permanent president and CEO on August 13, after a six month wait, when Alain Couder takes over from Peter Bordui.
Couder, who will be based at the optical component maker s San Jose headquarters, has served CEO/president roles at three companies previously, including Packard Bell NEC, and held two chief operating officer roles, including one at Agilent.
“I am joining Bookham at a time when, having achieved significant technological success, the company is poised to achieve profitable growth in a market eager for ever increasing bandwidth,” Couder said.
Bordui, who has been filling in since Giorgio Anania left in February, will remain chairman of Bookham s board.
InAs quantum dots power PV prototype
Researchers at the University of Tsukuba, Japan, have made a working quantum dot photovoltaic cell, with a conversion efficiency of 7 percent.
According to a report on Nikkei.net, Yoshitaka Okada and colleagues created their prototype from stacks of InAs dots, with the final cell measuring millimeters in size.
Clearly, efficiency improvements are needed and Okada's group is also hoping to improve its cell s robustness, although they still estimate the technology will be commercially practical by 2020.
Analysts predict long wait for residential LED lighting
Despite the technology's massive potential, residential and consumer application of solid-state lighting will not become significant until after 2014, says Strategy Analytics.
In its “Solid State Lighting Market 2006-2011” report, the analyst company says that the 4 percent annual growth rate in the LED market over the time covered by the report will rely on niche applications, such as architectural lighting.
Compact fluorescent light bulbs play an inhibiting role on residential LED lighting uptake, whilst technical issues still pose serious problems, Strategy Analytics adds.
“In addition to the commercial challenges, there are also technical challenges that need to be overcome,” said Asif Anwar, director of the company's compound semiconductor technologies program.
“One such obstacle is the ability to guarantee consistent quality of the white light over the life of the lamp.”
