Semiconductor hub and Bristol University agree collaboration
THE Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult has announced that it has secured its first commercial agreement with the University of Bristol.
The CSA Catapult is a UK Government-funded organisation created to support the country’s compound semiconductor industry.
Semiconductors are the essential technology at the heart of most modern electronic devices – without them, computers, smartphones and many other devices we depend on today would not be possible.
The exact location of the innovation centre has yet to be confirmed, but is expected to be at the former LG Semicon facility in Newport, part of which was recently acquired with £40m from the £1.2bn City Deal for the Cardiff Capital Region
The University of Bristol has developed a groundbreaking technology called TherMap, which has the potential to be adopted by many companies operating within the multi-billion-dollar worldwide semiconductor marketplace.
The revolutionary measurement solution developed by the University of Bristol will allow manufacturers of semiconductor wafers and similar technologies to increase production, by removing the currently unavoidable waste that occurs during their standard quality-control tests.
The CSA Catapult has been commissioned by the university to provide an analysis of the potential market for this technology to inform its commercialisation roadmap.
The Catapult will interview potential users of the technology to establish their current approach to wafer characterisation and inform them about TherMap.
The University of Bristol is also offering a free trial service to wafer fabs and device manufacturers around the world, and the Catapult is fielding inquiries from interested fabs.
The CSA Catapult works collaboratively and has built strong relationships with key players across the UK wafer fabrication industry.
This outreach to CSA Catapult’s network will enable it to advise the university on how its TherMap technology could be used in innovative applications within the compound semiconductor industry.
CSA Catapult CEO Stephen Doran said: “I am very pleased to announce our first commercial agreement with the University of Bristol and TherMap. This innovation could potentially make a huge difference to the compound semiconductor industry globally by enabling it to assess the quality of semiconductor wafers, improve yield and improve its processes.
“We are delighted to be a part of bringing this impressive innovation closer to market and marking a milestone for the Catapult in being truly open for business.”
Professor Martin Kuball, from the Centre for Device Thermography and Reliability (CDTR) labs at Bristol University, said: “TherMap is a development of Bristol’s CDTR labs for innovative thermal wafer mapping, the result of many years of research which we aim to translate into an industry product.
“We very much appreciate the Catapult’s support in exploring the market.”