News: Suppliers
27 March 2024
IQE expands portfolio of epiwafers for high-speed optical connectivity
Epiwafer and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK is strengthening its portfolio of high-speed optical connectivity epiwafers to address increasing demands for artificial intelligence (AI), cloud, carrier and data-intensive workloads.
The products are designed to meet the demands of AI and data centers now and in the future, while also increasing energy efficiency. The new offerings are:
- the industry’s first foundry epitaxy service for 1310nm quantum dot lasers (QDL), available on both gallium arsenide (GaAs) and silicon, with photonic integrated circuit (PIC) and CMOS platform compatibility to enable customers to develop next-generation high-data-payload optical transceivers for greater performance and energy efficiency within data centers;
- launch of a 56G 850nm vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) reference design for pulsed amplitude modulation (PAM-4) optical transmission in data center and enterprise short-reach multi-mode fiber (MMF) applications;
- release of a 6”-diameter indium phosphide (InP)-based PIN photodetector platform, complementing the firm’s 6” InP Fabry–Perot (FP), distributed feedback (DFB) and electro-absorption-modulated laser (EML) signal laser offering, for customers prototyping photonics devices at disruptive larger wafer diameters, enabling the industry to scale and meet the future demands of datacom whilst driving economies of scale.
“Datacom is undergoing a rapid transformation as it needs to meet the demands of generative AI and its high-speed data processing,” notes Mark Furlong, executive VP, business development. “Our strengthened portfolio is at the forefront of an industry drive for faster, more efficient and cost-effective data connectivity solutions,” he adds. “We are enabling our customers to develop a competitive advantage to transform optical networks at the heart of AI engines and next-gen compute while also generating economies of scale and supporting the need for more sustainable solutions.”
