CST Global to develop BH laser diodes
CST Global has begun developing a buried heterostructure (BH), laser diode production capability on its commercial, MOCVD reactor.
There is currently a supply shortage of this type of single-frequency device and a worldwide bottleneck in the ability to manufacture them. BH lasers suit many silicon photonics applications, including passive optical network (PON) and quantum sensing markets.
The active layers of BH lasers are coated with an InP epitaxial overgrowth layer, applied by the MOCVD machine. This creates a special semiconductor structure, which simultaneously provides optical and electrical confinement, whilst also offering high thermal performance, optimal beam shapes and low noise, semiconductor, optical amplification.
Euan Livingston, VP sales and marketing at CST Global explains: "The BH laser diode development project will enable CST Global to meet known high demand for this type of laser, which is used in silicon-photonic, cloud data centre applications. BH lasers provide many advantages over standard lasers, such as low threshold current and high-speed modulation capability. Additionally, the epitaxial layers are uniform and can be grown simultaneously on multiple, large-area substrates, so they should be relatively quick and simple for us to make with high yield rates."
