ROHM Develops 5th Generation SiC MOSFETs
ROHM Semiconductor announced its fifth‑generation EcoSiC silicon‑carbide MOSFETs, delivering roughly 30% lower on‑resistance at 175 °C compared with the prior generation. The devices target high‑efficiency power conversion in electric‑vehicle traction inverters, onboard chargers, AI‑server power supplies, and data‑center equipment. ROHM will begin shipping samples of discrete and module formats in July 2026 and plans to broaden voltage and packaging options. The launch builds on ROHM’s decade‑long leadership in mass‑producing SiC devices for automotive reliability standards.
CSconnected Supporting £436m for Welsh Economy and 3140 Jobs
The CSconnected compound semiconductor cluster in South Wales generated about $554 million in gross value‑added (GVA) and supported 3,140 jobs in 2025, a 19% and 14% year‑on‑year rise respectively. Direct employment reached 1,914 with an additional 1,226 indirect positions, while exports...
AXT Announces Public Offering
AXT Inc., a Fremont‑based producer of gallium arsenide, indium phosphide and germanium substrates, announced a public offering of common stock with a 30‑day overallotment option allowing underwriters to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares. The offering is...
InPHRED Expands Into Data-Center Optical Interconnect Market with InP VCSEL and Micro-RC-LED Solutions
InPHRED Inc., a Boston‑based photonics startup, announced its entry into the data‑center optical interconnect market, leveraging its nanoporous platform to deliver InP VCSEL and micro‑RC‑LED solutions. The company aims to address ultra‑short‑reach chip‑to‑chip I/O and longer intra‑rack links, with Q1 2027...
AOI Adding Manufacturing Capacity in Houston Area
Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AOI) announced a 388,000 ft² manufacturing expansion in Pearland, Texas, adding two adjacent buildings to its Houston‑area footprint. The new space will enable production of up to 700,000 800G and 1.6T transceivers per month and boost laser‑fabrication capacity...
AOI Receives New $71m Upsized Order for 800G Data-Center Transceivers
Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AOI) secured a $71 million upsized order for 800 G single‑mode data‑center transceivers from a major hyperscale customer, bringing total orders from that client to $124 million since mid‑March. The deal more than doubles AOI's backlog with the customer and...
AI Optical Transceiver Market to Grow 57% to US$26bn in 2026
TrendForce projects the global AI‑focused optical transceiver market to surge from $16.5 bn in 2025 to $26 bn in 2026, a 57% year‑on‑year increase. The growth is fueled by rising demand for 800 G‑plus transceivers that link AI‑intensive server clusters in hyperscale data...
UK Semiconductor Centre Appoints Director of International Partnerships
The UK Semiconductor Centre (UKSC) has hired Brian Robertson as its director of international partnerships. Robertson, who brings more than 25 years of experience at firms like Arm, Broadcom, Texas Instruments and NXP, will lead efforts to deepen ties with...
Nuvoton Releases 4.5W 402nm Violet Laser, Boosting Power Output by 1.5x
Nuvoton Technology of Kyoto announced mass production of its KLC434FL01WW violet laser diode, delivering 4.5 W at 402 nm—1.5 times the output of its previous 3 W model. The device uses proprietary facet‑coating and a high‑thermal‑conductivity TO‑9 package to boost wall‑plug efficiency and reliability....
SemiLEDs’ Quarterly Revenue More than Halves
SemiLEDs Corp reported fiscal Q2 2026 revenue of $1.064 million, a drop of more than 50% from the $2.57 million earned in the prior quarter and sharply below the $10.87 million a year earlier. The decline stems from the absence of any buy‑sell equipment...
Vexlum and Menlo Collaborate to Streamline Optical Clock Development
Finland’s Vexlum and Germany’s Menlo Systems have teamed up under the EU‑funded VEQTOR project to create a modular, turn‑key photonics source for optical atomic clocks. By merging Vexlum’s high‑power VECSEL lasers with Menlo’s precision metrology hardware, the partnership aims to...
Aixtron’s Preliminary Q1 Order Intake up 30% Year-on-Year, Driven by Opto Comprising 65% Share
German deposition equipment maker Aixtron reported preliminary Q1 2026 revenue of about €59 m (~$71 m), a 48% decline from a year earlier, while gross margin fell to roughly 18%. Despite the revenue drop, order intake jumped 30% YoY to €171 m (~$205 m),...
Quinas Completes Innovate UK Project Advancing ULTRARAM for AI and Neuromorphic Computing
Quinas Technology has finished an Innovate UK‑funded project that demonstrates its ULTRARAM memory’s suitability for neuromorphic and compute‑in‑memory AI systems. The £1.1 million (~$1.4 million) grant enabled device optimisation, architectural design work, and validation of ultra‑low‑energy operation. ULTRARAM uniquely blends DRAM‑class speed, flash‑class...
US DOE Selects Five Project to Restart Domestic Primary Gallium Recovery
The U.S. Department of Energy announced roughly $5.4 million in funding for five projects aimed at restarting domestic primary gallium recovery, a capability absent since 1987. The TRACE‑Ga initiative, managed by ENERGYWERX, will prototype novel extraction methods from waste streams, alumina...
Sivers Collaborates with Jabil on Energy-Efficient 1.6T Pluggable Optical Transceiver Module
Sivers Semiconductors and Jabil have partnered to develop a 1.6‑terabit‑per‑second linear receive optical (LRO) transceiver module that leverages Sivers' high‑performance distributed feedback (DFB) lasers. The pluggable module is designed for energy‑efficient optical interconnects, aiming to meet the power‑constrained demands of...
AlixLabs Closes €15m Series A with Strategic Investment From Stephen Industries
Sweden‑based AlixLabs AB closed a €15 million (≈$16.2 million) Series A round in Q1 2026, secured from Finnish investor Stephen Industries. The funding targets rapid development of its proprietary Atomic Pitch Splitting (APS) atomic layer epitaxy (ALE) platform. Stephen Industries’ Kustaa Poutiainen, who helped...
AlixLabs and VDL ETG Projects Announce MoU for Industrialization of APS Patterning
Swedish semiconductor equipment maker AlixLabs AB has signed a memorandum of understanding with VDL ETG Projects to industrialize its Atomic Pitch Splitting (APS) patterning technology. The partnership will move APS from laboratory validation to batch manufacturing and turnkey production lines for chip...
Silanna UV Adds TO-39 Flat-Window Package to SF1 and SN3 Series of UV-C LEDs
Silanna UV of Brisbane has introduced a TO‑39 flat‑window package for its SF1 (235 nm far‑UVC) and SN3 (255 nm deep‑UVC) LED series. The new low‑profile design lets engineers attach custom secondary optics, improving beam control and reducing system size. Both series...
UK Semiconductor Centre Launches London HQ to Support Rapid Sector Growth
On 14 April 2026, the UK Semiconductor Centre (UKSC) inaugurated a new headquarters on the Institute of Physics campus in King’s Cross, London. The location places UKSC alongside Google’s $1.27 billion Platform 37 offices, DeepMind, Meta and UCL within the city’s Knowledge...
EPC Releases 5kW GaN 3-Phase Inverters for Robotics and Light EVs
Efficient Power Conversion Corp (EPC) unveiled two 5 kW GaN‑based 3‑phase inverter evaluation boards, the EPC9186HC2 and EPC9186HC3, targeting robotics, light electric vehicles and high‑power drones. The boards use EPC2361 eGaN FETs, delivering up to 150 A RMS phase current and 120 kHz...
Photon Bridge and PHIX Partner on DWDM External Laser Sources for Hyperscale AI Data Centers
Photon Bridge of Eindhoven and PHIX of Enschede have teamed up to commercialize a high‑performance DWDM external laser source transmit optical sub‑assembly (TOSA) aimed at co‑packaged optics in hyperscale AI data centers. Photon Bridge will supply end‑to‑end photonic chip design,...
Navitas Appoints Gregory M. Fischer as Independent Director
Navitas Semiconductor announced the appointment of Gregory M. Fischer as an independent director, where he will serve on the Compensation and Executive Steering committees and stand for reelection in 2027 as a Class III director. Fischer brings more than four decades...
Photon Design’s Laser Design Course Now Part of Cardiff’s Physics Curriculum
Photon Design Ltd has partnered with Cardiff University to embed a two‑day laser design course into the university’s physics curriculum. The program guides students from basic laser theory to hands‑on creation of manufacturable designs using Photon Design’s FIMMPROP and PICWave...
5N Plus Appoints Alban Fournier as CFO
5N Plus Inc., a Montreal‑based specialty semiconductor and performance materials producer, announced the appointment of Alban Fournier as chief financial officer effective 27 April 2026. The move follows a pre‑announced succession plan that will see current president and CFO Richard Perron become president‑CEO,...
BluGlass Completes Upsized AUS$8m Two-Tranche Placement
BluGlass Ltd secured an upsized AUS$8 million (≈US$5.3 million) two‑tranche placement at AUS$0.24 per share, adding a free‑attaching option exercisable at AUS$0.38 until May 2028. The raise includes a AUS$2.3 million cornerstone from the board, with executive chair Omer Granit committing AUS$2 million (≈US$1.3 million). Proceeds...
Aehr’s Quarterly Revenue Rebounds to $10.3m
Aehr Test Systems posted third‑quarter 2026 revenue of $10.3 million, up from $9.9 million last quarter but down from $18.3 million a year earlier. Non‑GAAP operating expenses rose to $6.31 million and the company recorded a net loss of $1.52 million. Cash and equivalents increased...
US DOE Issues $69m Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator Funding Opportunity
The U.S. Department of Energy announced a $69 million Critical Minerals and Materials Accelerator funding opportunity to move bench‑scale technologies into pilot‑scale production. The program focuses on industry‑led partnerships that will develop processing methods for rare‑earth recycling, gallium and silicon‑carbide refining,...
HRL’s T3L 40nm GaN-on-SiC Technology Achieves Manufacturing Readiness Level 6
HRL Laboratories announced that its 40 nm T3L gallium‑nitride on silicon‑carbide (GaN‑on‑SiC) technology has attained Manufacturing Readiness Level 6, confirming production‑grade manufacturability under U.S. Department of War standards. The milestone paves the way for high‑volume manufacturing through a partnership with MACOM Technology...
Vector Photonics Demos Free-Space Optical Communication Using PCSEL Outside of a Lab
Vector Photonics showcased its photonic crystal surface‑emitting lasers (PCSEL) in a real‑world free‑space optical link across Glasgow’s River Clyde, transmitting 50 Mbps over 500 m. The trial, built with Fraunhofer UK, moved the technology from a lab‑only proof‑of‑concept to a commercial‑grade readiness...
CSconnected Extends Deadline for Fourth Funding Round of Supply Chain Development Program
CSconnected, the world’s first compound‑semiconductor cluster, has pushed back the deadline for the fourth and final round of its £1 million (≈$1.25 million) supply‑chain development programme to 4 pm on 23 April, six days later than originally planned. The programme, co‑funded by UKRI’s Strength...
Supra Extends Pre-Seed Funding Round with Rio Tinto as Strategic Investor
Supra Elemental Recovery Inc. announced a strategic investment from Rio Tinto, delivered through the Founders Factory mining accelerator, to extend its pre‑seed funding round. The deal combines cash and in‑kind services, enabling Supra to advance its modular technology that extracts high‑purity...
Metallium Completes Phase I SBIR Contract Within Six Months
Metallium Ltd’s Texas subsidiary, Flash Metals USA, finished Phase I of a Department of Defense SBIR contract in six months, half the usual timeframe. The program demonstrated the company’s Flash Joule Heating (FJH) technology can extract gallium and other strategic metals...
ACM Research Unifies Product Portfolio as ACM Planetary Family
ACM Research announced the ACM Planetary Family, a unified branding that reorganizes its equipment into eight process‑aligned series covering cleaning, advanced packaging, electroplating, furnace, track, PECVD, panel‑level packaging, and polishing. The new structure reflects the company’s evolution from a single...
IVWorks Raises $4.5m to Expand reGaN Technology Into RF and AI Power Semi Markets
IVWorks Co Ltd, a South Korean GaN wafer maker, secured $4.5 million in new funding, raising its total investment to $33 million. The capital will expand its proprietary reGaN selective‑area regrowth technology into E‑band and W‑band RF markets and AI‑focused power‑delivery applications....
Onsemi’s Hybrid Power Integrated Modules Used in Sineng Electric’s Solar and Energy Storage Solutions
onsemi announced that its next‑generation hybrid power integrated modules (PIMs) will be used in Sineng Electric’s 430 kW liquid‑cooled string energy storage system and 320 kW utility‑scale solar inverter. The FS7 IGBT and EliteSiC‑based F5BP modules deliver 32% higher power density and...
EPC Space Adds EPC7C010 and EPC7C011 Half-Bridge Buck Platforms for High-Rel and Rad-Hard Applications
EPC Space announced two new half‑bridge buck evaluation boards, the EPC7C010 (100 V/20 A) and EPC7C011 (200 V/10 A), built around radiation‑hardened eGaN HEMTs and isolated gate drivers. Both platforms are optimized for 350 kHz operation but can run from 50 kHz to 1.5 MHz, delivering peak...
NUBURU Wins Counter-Drone Directed-Energy Order From Government Defense Electronics Organization in Asia–Pacific
NUBURU Inc’s Italian subsidiary Lyocon secured a $250,000 initial deployment order from a tier‑one government defense electronics organization in a major Asia‑Pacific market for its portable directed‑energy laser dazzler aimed at counter‑drone missions. The contract follows a multi‑phase validation process...
Silvaco Expands Partnership with APEC on Silicon Carbide Power Device Development
Silvaco Group announced an expanded strategic partnership with Taiwan's Advanced Power Electronics Corp (APEC) to deepen the use of its Victory Device, Gateway, and SmartSpice simulation tools. The collaboration gives APEC broader access to Silvaco's TCAD and EDA solutions, aiming...
Aehr Gains Initial Order From New Silicon Photonics Transceiver Customer
Semiconductor test equipment maker Aehr Test Systems announced an initial order from a major, unnamed networking supplier developing silicon‑photonic transceivers for hyperscale AI and cloud data centers. The order includes several FOX‑XP wafer‑level burn‑in systems capable of testing nine wafers...
Metallium Announces Off-Take Agreement with Indium Corp for Critical & Precious Metals Including Gallium and Germanium
Metallium Ltd's US arm, Flash Metals USA, has signed a long‑term off‑take agreement with Indium Corp to purchase recovered gallium, germanium, copper, tin, gold and indium from Metallium's recycling operations. The contract runs for an initial ten years with automatic...
Latest Issue of Semiconductor Today Now Available
Semiconductor Today’s March 2026 issue spotlights rapid advances in compound semiconductors, noting a projected market size of roughly $5.2 bn by 2031 growing at a 14% CAGR. The publication highlights the ALP‑4‑SiC project for quantum photonic circuits, new growth methods for...
AOI Receives New Order for 800G Data-Center Transceivers From Major Hyperscale Customer
Applied Optoelectronics Inc. (AOI) secured a volume order exceeding $53 million from a major hyperscale customer for 800‑gigabit single‑mode data‑center transceivers. The order supports AI‑driven GPU clusters and will be shipped between Q2 and mid‑Q3 2026 after product qualification. AOI’s CEO highlighted...
Warwick- and Southampton-Led UK Project to Develop Electro-Deposition of Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides
The UK’s EXPRESS programme, a five‑year EPSRC‑funded initiative worth £10.4 m (≈$13.2 m), is led by the Universities of Warwick and Southampton to develop electro‑deposition methods for transition‑metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs). Researchers will combine novel precursor chemistry with electrochemical techniques to grow high‑crystallinity...
Wolfspeed Reduces Senior Secured Note Balance by 43% After Raising $475.9m in Private Placements
Wolfspeed Inc. raised $475.9 million through a $379 million 3.5% convertible senior secured note offering and $96.9 million of equity and pre‑funded warrants. The proceeds were used to redeem $475.9 million of its 2030 senior secured notes, slashing the outstanding balance by 43%. The...
Polar Light Awarded €1.1m EU Grant for 18-Month 2ndGenMicroLED Project
Polar Light Technologies secured a €1.1 million (≈ $1.2 million USD) Eurostars grant for an 18‑month project called ‘2ndGenMicroLED.’ The consortium, which includes Germany’s Finetech GmbH & Co KG, will develop the first dual‑color micro‑LED micro‑display using a bottom‑up pyramidal GaN/InGaN architecture. The technology targets ultra‑compact,...
Taiwan Semiconductor Introduces AEC-Q-Qualified 1200V SiC Schottky Rectifiers in SOD-128 Packages
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSC) launched automotive‑grade 1200 V silicon carbide Schottky rectifiers in SOD‑128 packages, offering 1 A and 2 A versions. The diodes, TSCDFS01120G2H and TSCDFS02120G2H, claim industry‑leading performance and AEC‑Q qualification for high‑reliability applications. They target compact power‑train functions such as auxiliary...
Infineon and DG Matrix Partner to Drive Solid-State Transformer Technology for AI Data Centers and Industrial Power Applications
Infineon Technologies is partnering with solid‑state transformer specialist DG Matrix to provide its latest‑generation silicon‑carbide (SiC) power devices for the Interport multi‑port platform. The collaboration boosts the efficiency, power density and reliability of DG Matrix’s SST systems, which target AI...
EPC91121 BLDC Motor Drive Evaluation Board Introduced, Using EPC’s Gen-7 40V GaN Technology
Efficient Power Conversion (EPC) unveiled the EPC91121 BLDC motor‑drive evaluation board at APEC 2026, built around its Gen‑7 40 V EPC2366 eGaN transistor. The compact board delivers up to 70 A peak (50 A RMS) from 18‑30 V inputs and supports PWM frequencies up to...
SemiQ Launches QSiC Dual3 Family of 1200V Half-Bridge MOSFET Modules
SemiQ Inc. unveiled its QSiC Dual3 family, a line of 1200 V half‑bridge SiC MOSFET modules aimed at motor drives in data‑center cooling, grid‑scale energy storage converters, and industrial drivers. The series boasts ultra‑low RDS(on) values down to 1 mΩ and a...
Renesas Adds GaN-Based Half-Wave LLC Platform to AC/DC and Power Adapter Range
Renesas Electronics introduced a gallium‑nitride (GaN) half‑wave LLC (HWLLC) platform that delivers 500 W and higher power density for AC/DC adapters. The solution includes four new controller ICs, featuring the RRW11011 interleaved PFC/HWLLC combo, enabling up to 240 W USB‑PD EPR with...