CONNECTING THE COMPOUND SEMICONDUCTOR COMMUNITY
January / February 2011 Volume 17 Number 1
Editor-in-Chief David Ridsdale
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Consultant Editor Richard Stevenson PhD
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Bill Dunlop Uprichard – CEO Stephen Whitehurst – COO Jan Smoothy – CFO Haroon Malik, Jackie Cannon, Scott Adams, Sharon Cowley, Sukhi Bhadal
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dh@angelbcl.co.uk js@angelbcl.co.uk
There are many benefits associated with turning to these semi-polar and non-polar planes: Reduction or even elimination of internal electric fields that hamper laser emission; the opportunity to increase the indium content in indium gallium nitride layers and propel emission further into the green; and greater design freedom, allowing engineers to invent architectures that are quicker and easier to make.
Unleashing the potential of this class of lasers began in 2007, when Rohm and the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), independently unveiled violet lasers. Since then their performance and color range has increased to a level where it now eclipses that of its conventional cousins. This form of laser now holds the records for the highest continuous wave output power and wall plug efficiency for single mode blue lasers, and the lowest threshold currents and longest emission wavelengths for green nitride lasers (see this month’s Research Review for details).
Record-breaking lab results don’t guarantee commercial success, but the signs are looking good for the semi-polar and non-polar lasers. The UCSB spin-off Soraa has published reliability data that shows that these devices can go the distance, and engineers at this start-up and the Japanese semi-polar laser pioneer Sumitomo Electric Industries find that chip yields in the lab significantly exceed those of conventional equivalents.
Soraa is also sampling product. Future success will hinge on convincing potential customers that it is worth making the transition to both a new technology and a new company.
If Soraa and the other semi-polar and non-polar laser makers can fill their order books, they will then have the challenge of churning out chips with an acceptable profit margin.
To do this they need reasonably sized substrates. Much of the early work in the field was carried out on incredibly expensive pieces of gallium nitride no bigger than a fingernail, but times have changed. Sumitomo has recently unveiled 2-inch non-polar GaN, and Ammono plans to be launching 1-inch semi-polar and non-polar substrates this year. With a good foundation now to grow on, these laser pioneers should be in with a good chance of success.
Richard Stevenson PhD Consultant Editor
mg@angelbcl.co.uk
One of the most promising technologies that could be netting billions of dollars by the end of this decade is the nitride laser that is built on unconventional cuts of gallium nitride.
sc@angelbcl.co.uk E:
tbrun@brunmedia.com
Engineers with an entrepreneurial streak whoop with delight when they spot a technology with the potential to generate piles of cash. But they also know that it is going to take many years of hard graft if their dreams are to materialize into a game-changing product.
sm@angelbcl.co.uk tb@angelbcl.co.uk
New planes bolster nitride laser credentials
jc@angelbcl.co.uk dr@angelbcl.co.uk
editorialview
January / February 2011
www.compoundsemiconductor.net 3
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