Startup Funding: July 2023


Investors pumped more than $2.8 billion into 123 companies July. It was a particularly strong month for photonics companies, with a photonic integrated circuit foundry raising more than $100 million. Startups this month also are using photonic technology in innovative ways. This includes an all-optical RISC processor, biomarker identification, faster fully homomorphic encryption, and more AI... » read more

Power Semiconductors: A Deep Dive Into Materials, Manufacturing & Business


Whether you’re the owner of the average smartphone, commuting on trains, or driving around in a Tesla, you use power semiconductor devices every day. In a technology-dependent world, these devices are everywhere, and demand for more types of chips using different materials is growing. In the past, most engineers paid little attention to power semiconductors. They were deemed commodity, off... » read more

Manufacturing Bits: Jan. 3


Gallium oxide chips Looking to commercialize a promising ultra wide-bandgap technology in the market, Novel Crystal Technology (NCT) has developed a Schottky barrier diode based on a material called gallium oxide. NCT devised an ampere-class 1,200-V diode based on gallium oxide. A diode is a device that passes electricity in one direction and blocks it in the opposite direction. Still in R&... » read more

Gearing Up For Next-Gen Power Semis


After years in R&D, several vendors are moving closer to shipping power semiconductors and other products based on next-generation wide-bandgap technologies. These devices leverage the properties of new materials, such as aluminum nitride, diamond, and gallium oxide, and they are also utilized in different structures, such as vertical gallium-nitride power devices. But while many of thes... » read more