Advanced Etching and Optical Coating for Low Cost Laser Diode Manufacturing

The objective of the project is to reduce the cost of manufacturing compound semiconductor laser diodes. In the key markets for laser diodes such as Fibre To The Home (FTTH) and in DataCentre (DC) networks, laser diode cost is a critical factor . Compound Semiconductor Technologies Global Ltd is currently serving these markets however in order to remain competitive against laser diode suppliers globally, it is necessary to develop manufacturing processes and technology that will maintain the company's competitiveness. Project therefore addresses the competition scope by developing an innovative enabling capability in compound semiconductors to improve productivity. This will be achieved through the development of an advanced etch and passivation process that will be applied to the laser diode wafers and will allow the facets of the laser diodes to be coated while still in wafer format. A typical 3 inch diameter laser diode wafer contains over 1000 bars and therefore the benefit of this approach is that it removes the labour intensive approach of cleaving the wafer into bars and mounting the individual bars in jigs to perform the dielectric coating process. The development of the process will lead to substantial savings in the manufacturing cost of laser diodes.