DiLaN: Diode Laser manufacturing process using Nano-imprint lithography

The inexorable growth in broadband communications has created an enormous market (>100M units pa) for low cost, single-mode semiconductor lasers emitting around 1.3-1.55um as sources in fibre optic communicationsto the Premises (FTTP). Current technologies deployed (such as Passive Optical Networking, PON) operate at line rates of 1.25-2.5 Gb/s. However, satisfying the massively expanding bandwidth demand will require implementation of new PON standards that require higher performance, lower cost laser sources. The UK industrial partners in this project are already significant materials and chip scale suppliers to this market. Our project addresses the replacement of a high cost nm-scale lithography step in the laser manufacturing process with a low cost, high throughput nano-imprint process to realise a cost saving of 20-30% in the Cost of Manufacture of the laser chip.However, to our knowledge, the nano-imprint lithography technique has not been implemented in volume semiconductor laser manufacturing, and so there is significant de-risking activity required to establish, qualify and yield engineer a new process to unlock the productivity gains.