News: Optoelectronics
5 October 2023
BluGlass a commercial partner in US Microelectronics Commons regional innovation hub CLAWS
BluGlass Ltd of Silverwater, Australia — which develops and manufactures gallium nitride (GaN) blue laser diodes based on its proprietary low-temperature, low-hydrogen remote-plasma chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) technology — has been named a member of the ‘Commercial Leap Ahead for Wide-bandgap Semiconductors’ (CLAWS) Hub, one of eight Microelectronics Commons regional innovation hubs announced by the US Department of Defense, with the aim of developing next-generation photonic devices with significant commercial and strategic defence applications in the decades ahead.
The US DoD awarded US$238m in CHIPS and Science Act funding in fiscal year 2023 for the establishment of eight regional innovation hubs, as part of the US$2bn allocated to the ME Commons Program from fiscal years 2023-2027. The Microelectronics Commons is focused on bridging and accelerating the lab-to-fab transition and mitigating supply chain risks and aims to boost America’s ability to develop, prototype, manufacture and produce cutting-edge microelectronics at scale.
Led by North Carolina State University (NCSU), the CLAWS Hub has been awarded US$39.4m for the base year of performance and consists of seven hub members: North Carolina State University (Hub Lead), Adroit Materials, BluGlass, Coherent, General Electric, Kyma, North Carolina A&T State University, and Wolfspeed.
“The work we will be contributing to the hub perfectly aligns with BluGlass’ wide-bandgap and extended-wavelength roadmaps and will leverage the benefits of our proprietary RPCVD technology,” says BluGlass’ CEO Jim Haden.
“We are delighted to be partnering with BluGlass in the NCSU-led CLAWS Hub, working together to innovate next-generation III-N photonic and optoelectronic solutions with BluGlass further adding a path to commercialization,” says Fred Kish, MC Dean Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering. “The photonic technologies in the hub hold the potential to enable quantum technologies, communications, artificial intelligence applications, position/navigation/timing, biotechnical and medical, materials processing, displays, and a host of additional defense needs,” he adds. “They are also important for national security applications by providing energy efficiency, size, weight, power and performance advantages in critical application areas including weapons systems, war fighter outfitting, and a host of additional defense needs.”
