Discrete Semiconductor Devices, etc.
2010s
2012 : Development of Stacked CMOS Image Sensor
The market size of the CMOS image sensor has rapidly expanded due to the spread of mobile phones. In order to realize the addition of new functions, high speed and low power consumption, a three-dimensional stacked CMOS image sensor has been developed in which pixels and logic circuits are fabricated on separate substrates and the substrates are then stacked one above the other.
2013 : Development of 100 Gb/s Full-band Wavelength Tunable Laser for Digital Coherent Communication
A full-band tunable laser, which Sumitomo Electric Industries commercialized as a light source for 100 Gb / s digital coherent communication in 2013, has its own CSG-DR (Chirped-Sampled-Grating Distributed Reflector) structure and localized thermal control by integrated heaters, and it realized both the high optical fiber output of +16 dBm or more and narrow line width of 200 kHz or less simultaneously. It became an important milestone toward further increasing the capacity of optical networks in the future by improving spectrum utilization efficiency.
2014 : Development of 3.3 kV/1.5 kA SiC-MOSFET
Mitsubishi Electric developed and announced a 3.3 kV SiC-MOSFET in 2013. In 2014, it developed a 3.3 kV/1.5 kA full SiC power module equipped with 3.3 kV SiC-MOSFET and SiC-SBD and realized the world 's first installment in the inverter for a railway car.
2014: Development of high brightness light emitting diodes (LEDs) for large screen displays of outdoor use(Stanley, Toshiba, Nichia)
The red light-emitting diode (LED) was developed by Holonyak Jr. in 1962. Its emission wavelength range had been widely expanded and its luminance had been remarkably increased through the development of various compound semiconductor crystal technologies. Around 1995, the three primary colors of light LEDs (Red, Green, and Blue: RGB) with luminance of over 5000 cd/m2 necessary for full-color display were developed, so that large screen full-color LED displays were realized. In the 2010s, ultra-large screen LED displays for outdoor use with a width of more than 100 meters have been installed.
2015 : Development of High Luminous Flux / High Efficiency White LED Exceeding Halogen Lamps and Mercury Lamps Development of High Luminous Flux/High Efficiency White LED Exceeding Halogen Lamps and Mercury Lamps
In addition to the improvement of the blue LED element and the phosphor material, Citizen Electronics has developed a unique package technology that directly mounts the LED element on an aluminum substrate with high heat conductivity, and it developed and commercialized a high-luminous and high-efficiency white LED ahead of the world which realized the same total luminous flux amount (60 – 80 thousand lumens) as the 1 kW class mercury lamp with a power input of several hundred watts.
It has been adopted for indoor and outdoor large-sized lighting devices such as stadiums and merchandising lighting where mercury lamps and halogen lamps were conventionally used.
2017 : Development of a pixel/DRAM/logic 3-layer stacked CMOS Image Sensor (Sony)
The CMOS Image Sensor (CIS) market had been expanding as smartphones came into wide use. The two-layer stacked CIS with stacked pixel and logic circuits, which began shipping in 2012, had improved pixel characteristics, increased gate size, and reduced the size of camera modules. In 2017, a 3-layer stacked CIS with additional DRAM layers was developed, which enabled to minimize rolling shutter distortion in still images and incorporate new functions such as super slow motion movie shooting.
