News Article
Berlin to host compound semiconductor conference
Organised by the Fraunhofer Institute and the VDE Association for Electrical Technologies, Electronic & Information Technologies, the conference will address the future of compound semiconductors in micro electronics and optoelectronics.
On May 23, 2011, Andre Geim, the 2010 winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, opened the 2011 Compound Semiconductor Week with a plenary lecture on graphene.
Here, some 450 scientists and industry representatives will discuss current research findings in the field of compound semiconductors. An example of one of the key topics of the event is how to improve energy efficiency while increasing data rates in communications systems – often referred to as "Green IT".
The conference will take place in Berlin from May 22 to 26. The conference is organised by the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI, the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Solid State Physics IAF, and the VDE Association for Electrical Technologies, Electronic & Information Technologies.
"CSW is the most important international conference for the entire spectrum of compound semiconductors. Here, participants will get an overview of what will become possible in micro electronics and optoelectronics," Oliver Ambacher, ISCS 2011 Conference Chair and head of the Fraunhofer IAF, said.
While silicon is still the most important semiconductor material, today no mobile phone, PC or car would work without additional components used in compound semiconductor technology. Compound semiconductor, in contrast to the elemental semiconductor – like silicon -, consists of at least two different types of atoms.
Compound semiconductors are used for light generation with LEDs, photonics and communications engineering, as well as for maximum frequency electronics and power electronics. Since 2010, the CSW has combined the two most important conferences on compound semiconductors – the "International Symposium on Compound Semiconductors (ISCS)" and the "International Conference on Indium Phosphide and Related Materials (IPRM)".
"Berlin is the ideal location for hosting the CSW thanks to its broad-based research activities in this field," said Norbert Grote, Chairman of this year's IPRM and head of department at the Fraunhofer HHI. "Some 450 scientists from all over the world will come to Berlin to exchange their knowledge. This gives us the opportunity to further strengthen the location and to promote these issues."
Fraunhofer HHI and Fraunhofer IAF are both leading research institutes in the field of compound semiconductors. In Berlin, it is not only institutes and universities such as the Fraunhofer HHI, the Ferdinand Braun Institute, the Paul Drude Institut für Festkörperelektronik, the Institut für Kristallzüchtung, Humboldt- und Technische Universität, as well as the Helmholtz Zentrum, which are active in this field, but also companies like the u2t Photonics AG, a spin-off from Fraunhofer HHI. "When making a phone-call in the US, your chances of the optical components involved having been made in Berlin are pretty good," said Norbert Grote.
