News

7 October 2008

 

IQE joins European-funded VISIT program

Epiwafer foundry and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK has become a member of the €3.5m European program ‘Vertically Integrated Systems for Information Transfer’ (VISIT). Funded under the EU's Seventh Framework Program (FP7), VISIT lasts up to three years (from June 2008) and focuses on developing strategic, high-value photonic components and subsystems for scalable economic broadband access and local-area networks.

Demand for media-rich content and high-definition video services is increasing consumer bandwidth requirements by over 30% per annum, which in turn is expected to drive a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the optical component market of more than 12%, according to industry forecasts. The central objective is research on, development, test and exploitation of system-enabling optical transmitters with a completely novel design and/or largely improved functionality compared to current technology.

Other members of the VISIT program (which is coordinated by Technische Universitaet Berlin) include the University College Cork and Intel Performance Learning Solutions Ltd in Ireland, VI Systems GmbH in Germany, Chalmers Tekniska Hoegskola AB in Sweden, the University of Cambridge in the UK, and the Ioffe Physico-Technical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Epitaxial growth of the structures, processing and design of high-frequency modules is challenging and demands detailed modelling. “The unique ability of IQE to supply material developed both by MBE and MOCVD technologies will further strengthen our project,” says professor Dieter Bimberg of Technische Universitaet Berlin. “IQE brings a wealth of experience in the growth of both edge-emitting lasers and VCSELs [vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers] for optical communications networks,” claims Andrew Joel, product director for Optoelectronic Materials at IQE’s Cardiff facility. “The materials will operate at a range of wavelengths, including 850nm (local-area networks, storage-area networks), 980nm (very short links) and 1.3µm (LAN, access networks).”

Upon completion of the program, a full supply chain from production of epitaxial wafers to test beds for measurements and prototype systems should be established. “The economic impact of this work will be systematically enhanced by contributing directly to international standardization activities and roadmaps of this area,” adds Bimberg.

See related item:

IQE reports growth in sales and profit

Search: IQE FP7 Edge-emitting lasers VCSELs

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See: Wafer Technology Company Profile

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