GRENOBLE, France — 21 August 2014 —  For the first time, SEMICON Europa 2014 will offer two new power-related technical forums — Power Electronics Conference (8-9 October) and Low Power Conference (7-8 October). The exhibition and conferences will offer an in-depth look at the cutting-edge energy technology delivering new levels of energy efficiency in electronics. Energy efficiency is a key challenge and advances in power microelectronics, batteries, mobility, and energy harvesting systems are making power management smarter to reduce energy consumption. SEMICON Europa’s two new Power Conferences focus on how innovators and their technologies are building energy-optimized applications.

The theme of the  Low Power Conference is “Highly Energy Efficient Nanotechnologies and Applications.” The number of connected electronics devices is growing exponentially. According to Jean-Marc Chery, COO STMicroelectronics, to sustain this growth, the semiconductor industry needs a real breakthrough in energy efficiency — both for connected devices and for the communication infrastructure. At the same time, the traditional planar bulk CMOS technology is plateauing in power consumption and performance beyond 28nm, so breakthrough solutions for energy efficient systems are mandatory to continue the growth.

Sessions include: Market Analysis; Technology Energy Efficiency; Processors; Energy Efficient Design; Energy Efficient EDA Tools; and Applications.  Speaker highlights include:

• STMicroelectronics: Jean-Marc Chery, COO
• GLOBALFOUNDRIES: Manfred Horstmann, director, Products and Integration
• Qualcomm Technologies: Mustafa Badaroglu, senior program manager
• Cadence Design Systems, Inc.: Marcus Binning, senior AE manager
• IBS, Inc.:  Handel Jones, CEO,
• Hewlett-Packard: Rémi Barbarin, CTO
• Schneider Electric: Gilles Chabanis, manager, Pervasive Sensing

The  Power Electronics Conference  is themed “The Ultimate Path to CO₂Reduction.” Modern power semiconductors play an essential role in energy conservation and worldwide CO₂ reduction. Philippe Roussel, business unit manager at Yole Developpement, will present the keynote on market and technology overview of the Power Electronics industry, including a look at the impact of Wide BandGap (WBG) Devices.    He believes that the emergence of new WBG technologies such as SiC and GaN will reshape the established power electronics industry, especially on the high-voltage side.  SiC and GaN offer benefits (higher frequency switching, power density, and more) that may dramatically help improve the power conversion efficiency. Yole believes that this could lead to lower CO₂ emission if both SiC and GaN can emerge from labs to mass production. SiC transitioned a few years ago and GaN is starting the commercialization curve. By 2020, WBD devices are expected to generate more than $1 billion according to Yole.

The session highlights include:

• Applications session — speakers from CEA/LETI, EpiGaN, European Center for Power Electronics e.V. (ECPE), Infineon, European Commission, Renault, and Supergrid Institute. 
• Technology and Materials session — presenters from Fairchild, Infineon Technologies AG, SiCrystal AG, Siltronic AG, Soitec, ST Catania, and Yole Developpement. 

For more information on SEMICON Europa, visit  www.semiconeuropa.org.

About SEMICON Europa

SEMICON Europa is the annual premier event for the global microelectronics industry in Europe. The event now rotates yearly between Grenoble (starting 2014) and Dresden (2015). The event covers the display of new products and technologies for microelectronics design and manufacturing, and features technologies from across the microelectronics supply chain, from electronic design automation to device fabrication (wafer processing) to final manufacturing (assembly, packaging, and test). SEMICON Europa also features emerging markets and technologies, including MEMS and flexible electronics,  as well as a wide range of products, including power electronics, sensors, organic and flexible electronics, imaging devices, bioelectronics, and other exciting new technologies. For more information on SEMICON Europa, please visit:  www.semiconeuropa.org

About SEMI

SEMI is the global industry association serving the nano- and microelectronics manufacturing supply chains.  Our 1,900 member companies are the engine of the future, enabling smarter, faster and more economical products that improve our lives. Since 1970, SEMI has been committed to helping members grow more profitably, create new markets and meet common industry challenges. SEMI maintains offices in Bangalore, Beijing, Berlin, Brussels, Grenoble, Hsinchu, Moscow, San Jose, Seoul, Shanghai, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, D.C.  For more information, visit  www.semi.org.


Contact: 

Beat Mueller
SEMI Europe / Berlin Office
Phone: +49 30 3030 8077 0
Email:  Email Contact
www.semi.org/eu

Deborah Geiger/SEMI HQ
Phone: 1.408.943.7988
Email:  Email Contact
www.semi.org