The Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult was established to help the UK become a global leader in compound semiconductors through collaboration with both large companies, and start-ups to develop and commercialise new applications utilising this technology.
Compound semiconductor devices have the potential to transform the world of technology in the 2020s as radically as the silicon transistor did in the 1960s and 1970s. In the fields of power electronics and radio frequency systems, compound semiconductor devices can enable product manufacturers to achieve dramatic improvements in performance, size, weight, cost and power. In photonics, compound semiconductors provide unique emitter and detector functions to enhance sensor capability.
Compound semiconductor technology has such potential that it has triggered a cascade of innovative developments at UK companies and research institutes. But the market for compound semiconductors is so new that the infrastructure, systems and processes for realising a concept in the form of a working prototype or a complete system board have not been readily available to UK companies.
The Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult’s purpose is to deliver longterm benefit to the UK economy and accelerate UK economic growth in industries where applying compound semiconductors creates a competitive advantage and enables new products or end markets. Compound semiconductors bring many advantages in size, weight and performance when used in systems. Typically, they have a much wider bandgap compared to silicon which allows devices to operate at much higher voltages, frequencies and temperatures to power the essential technologies of the future.
Our vision is for the UK to become a global leader in developing and commercialising new applications for compound semiconductors. How do we aim to do this? Through the knowledge and expertise of our talented team based at our world-class Innovation Centre, based at the heart of the compound semiconductor cluster in Newport, South Wales.
The Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult is a company limited by guarantee. The Leadership Team manages day-to-day operations under the supervision and guidance of the board of directors.
Funding
The Catapult receives a core grant, under a Grant Funding Agreement, from Innovate UK. Additionally, the Catapult secures funding through directs contracts with UK business, projects with UK and international companies, and from competitive Research and Development Grants.
About Catapult Centres
The Catapult Centres are a network of world-leading centres designed to transform the UK’s capability for innovation and help drive future economic growth. The centres provide a physical place where the very best of the UK’s businesses, scientists and engineers work side-by-side on translational research and development. The overall objective of the Catapults is to transform high potential ideas into new products and services to generate economic growth.
The Catapult network has been established by Innovate UK to connect business and research. Each Catapult Centre specialises in a different area of technology, but all offer a space with the facilities and expertise to enable businesses and researchers to collaboratively solve key problems and develop new products and services on a commercial scale.
Each Catapult focuses on an area in which the UK has genuine potential to generate growth in strategically important global markets. There are currently nine Catapults:
High-Value Manufacturing Catapult, Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult, Energy Systems Catapult, Connected Places Catapult, Satellite Applications Catapult, Medicines Discovery Catapult, Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult, Digital Catapult.
Catapults exist to:
- Reduce the risk of innovation.
- Accelerate the pace of innovation.
- Capitalise on UK investments in academic research.
- Create sustainable jobs and growth.
- Develop the UK’s skills and knowledge base and its global competitiveness.
About Semiconductors
Modern electronic products, from computers to smart phones, use silicon chips at their heart. As the name suggests, these chips are made from silicon, which is a highly abundant element found in sand.
With a single element, it is possible to scale-up the manufacturing process to make highly complex silicon chips in large volumes, and hence 80% of the world’s semiconductors use silicon. The remaining 20% use compound semiconductors, which combine two or more elements from the periodic table to form a compound.
Although compound semiconductors are more complex to manufacture than silicon, they possess 3 properties that outperform silicon:
Power (power electronics for electric vehicles)
Speed (radio frequency for 5G and RADAR)
Light (photonics for optical fibre communications)
The Catapult has aligned these three properties with three matching technical divisions, supported by Advanced Packaging. Those are Power Electronics, Photonics and RF & Microwave.
There are many ways of combining two or more elements from the periodic table, which creates a wide variety of semiconductor materials, each with unique properties. Their unique properties mean that compound semiconductors are finding increasingly diverse applications, such as Electric vehicles and 5G.
Market Applications
Compound semiconductors are currently being deployed across a rapidly growing number of applications and here at CSA Catapult we are the forefront of these developments.
These include:
Transportation
- Electric and hybrid-electric vehicle motors and chargers
- Auxiliary electric motors in conventional aircraft
- Novel electric propulsion technologies for aircraft
- RADAR for ADAS and autonomous vehicles
- LIDAR for autonomous vehicles
Clean Energy
In the area of clean energy, Wide Band Gap technology can reduce energy conversion losses by up to 90%. Here at CSA Catapult we are the forefront of these developments. CS is fundamental in the generation of renewable energy and with high efficiency will significantly reduce the loss of energy in the process.
- Wide Band Gap technology can reduce energy conversion losses by up to 90%
- Solar power system inverters and micro-inverters
- Inverters in wind turbines
- High-efficiency power distribution
- Power conversion and distribution in emerging renewable generation technologies
Digital Communications
The challenges in digital communications lie in solving 5G, implementing vehicle to vehicle communication and in satellite communications from ground stations to low earth orbit satellites.
Defence and Space
Defence and security applications bring a set of requirements for harsh environments, temperature range, and reliability considerations that can be addressed with compound semiconductors leveraging our expertise in advanced packaging and harsh environmental and reliability testing.
Memberships
CSA Catapult is a part of the following memberships:
