The research team makes use of GaN nanopore technology to build green wavelength

Recently, Taiwan, China Institute of Industrial Technology (ITRI) and researchers from Ganvix, a GaN VCSELs developer in the United States, announced that they are expanding their cooperation to further develop short wave vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs).

At present, it is not difficult for porous GaN semiconductor materials to build blue laser, so the above two partners focus on the production of green wavelength and VCSEL array.

Ganvix said that the use of nanopore technology to provide compact, lightweight blue/green/ultraviolet VCSEL lasers can produce superior wavelength control, smaller spot size and array architecture, so that substantial innovation can be made in a wide range of applications.

Image source: Ganvix

Develop multi-color VCSELs micro arrays of red, green and blue light

ITRI Research Institute and Ganvix hope to promote the delivery of unique red light, green light and blue light VCSELs micro arrays through the efforts of "Phase II". These VCSELs micro arrays are suitable for mass production and deployment in emerging expanded reality applications.

The two sides announced: "By closely combining Ganvix's design innovation capabilities with ITRI's manufacturing capabilities, we have demonstrated GaN VCSELs working in the blue wavelength range."

In addition, the two sides added that the next stage of development will include the identification, testing and packaging of lasers and arrays, as well as promoting the research and development of green wavelength GaN VCSELs. The relevant target markets include consumer electronics, industry, medical and life sciences, communications and augmented reality (AR) and other meta cosmic applications. Recent applications include red, green and blue VCSEL engines for laser scanning display devices, and lasers and laser arrays for free space and polymer fiber communications.

Like Porotech in Cambridge, England, Ganvix is making efforts to utilize the surface behavior of porous GaN semiconductor materials to provide compact, lightweight VCSELs between UV and green wavelengths. The company cited many advantages of this process, including: superior wavelength control, smaller spot size and better array architecture.

It is reported that Taiwan, China Institute of Industrial Technology (ITRI) has been committed to the large-scale production of LED and laser diode before, and is currently studying how to accelerate the listing schedule of Ganvix. They said that the resulting products will create new opportunities for high-performance, low-cost GaN VCSEL in the multi billion dollar global market, including consumer electronics, communications, medical and life sciences, and industrial applications.

GaN Materials Create More Opportunities for VCSEL Lasers

Although the gallium arsenide (GaAs) based VCSEL was developed more than 20 years ago, it has become one of the fastest growing technologies in the field of electrooptics. However, GaAs cannot emit ultraviolet or visible (blue and green) wavelengths of light. Because of this, creating VCSEL with shorter wavelength has become a more challenging task.

The partner pointed out that GaN material is necessary for future applications in the field of electrooptics, but until now, there is no real commercial solution that can be used to form the required laser cavity mirror. Ganvix solves this problem by using nano porous technology to design the optical properties of GaN.

Shih Chieh Chang, director of ITRI Electronics and Optoelectronics System Research Laboratory, predicted that "three primary color VCSEL will play a key role in the future application of the metauniverse. We are very happy to continue to deepen cooperation with Ganvix and launch commercial products, which can also further drive Taiwan, China's industry to enter the metauniverse market."

As for the cooperation between the two sides, John Fijol, CEO of Ganvix, commented: "We are pleased to announce that we have successfully demonstrated the blue VCSEL laser using the proprietary nano porous GaN produced in cooperation with ITRI. This marks that these new laser devices have made important progress in commercialization."

In addition to Ganvix, many well-known enterprises around the world are striving to create unique GaN based VCSELs. According to the website of Delaware, an advanced information technology solution and service provider, nanopore technology can be completely epitaxial grown GaN based VCSELs without introducing any crystal defects or lattice mismatch. The company also said that subwavelength nanopores have produced GaN/air nanocomposites with adjustable refractive index, which is conducive to forming distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) with high reflectivity (>99.9%), which is crucial for VCSEL devices.

Earlier this year, Porotech, a developer of microLED and GaN semiconductor technology, successfully won $20 million in venture capital and reached an agreement with IQE, a British supplier of compound semiconductor wafer products and advanced materials, to strive to use a single material system to manufacture full-color micro displays. It is reported that Porotech is also seeking to develop the characteristics of porous GaN, although so far its goal is microLEDs rather than VCSELs. In contrast, porous semiconductor structures are designed to emit red, green and blue wavelengths, which means that each transmitter required for near eye display can be generated on a single semiconductor material platform.

Source: OFweek