When looking back ten years hence, 2002
will not be remembered as one of the better years. For most companies in the III-Vs sector it will be one best forgotten.
Nonetheless, it cannot be said to have been an uninteresting year. There have been numerous intriguing developments in the sector to surprise as well as depress those who observe and commentate upon it.
2002: the year in review
While business has been patchy, technical progress has been relentless across the board. This would confirm that while companies may be cutting down on production they are not scaling back R&D. However, there were few of what might be termed 'revolutionary' developments.
Announcements have been more of an 'evolutionary' nature for the most part. Once again this may reflect the austerity of the times. It has been a case of existing materials and devices being further refined for the marketplace rather than innovations such as the violet laser or HBT MMICs of years past.
A most intriguing trend has been the further blurring of the boundaries between device applications.At no other time have there been so many device options available for the system designers.This should result in some very interesting new products in due course.