News: Optoelectronics
9 January 2026
Sumitomo Chemical exhibiting compound semiconductor products at Photonics West
Japan-based Sumitomo Chemical Co Ltd is participating at SPIE Photonics West 2026 in The Moscone Center, San Francisco, CA, USA (20–22 January), focusing on its compound semiconductor products.
For optical and photonic applications, the firm is engaged in R&D on gallium nitride (GaN) substrates (which are expected to meet the demand for higher laser output power) as well as indium phosphide (InP) epitaxial technology (which is expected to be applied to advanced fields such as photonic–electronic convergence devices).
In booth 5533 at Photonics West, the firm is exhibiting GaN substrates for blue laser diodes and gallium arsenide (GaAs) epitaxial wafers used in vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) applications.
GaN substrates
Sumitomo Chemical provides high-quality GaN substrates used in optical and electronic devices. The firm is developing higher-quality GaN substrates that will improve the performance of highly efficient laser metal processing machines, mercury-free laser light source projectors, and other optical and electronic devices that contribute to reducing environmental impact.
GaAs epiwafers for use in VCSEL diodes
VCSELs are expected to be used in a broad range of applications, including facial recognition devices and light detection & ranging (LiDAR) devices. Sumitomo Chemical produces GaAs epiwafers for VCSELs tailored to meet customer needs.
Conference presentation: quartz-free HVPE for high-speed 6” GaN-on-GaN epi
In addition, on 19 January (4:20–4:45pm PST) at the conference (Room 156, Moscone South, Upper Mezzanine), Shota Kaneki of Sumitomo Chemical’s ICT & Mobility Solutions Research Laboratory is presenting an Invited Paper ‘Hydride vapor phase epitaxy for 6-inch GaN-on-GaN wafer production’ (Paper 13913-8). Sumitomo Chemical has developed a quartz-free hydride vapor phase epitaxy (QF-HVPE) technology that enables high-speed growth (>100μm/h) of high-purity GaN crystal with residual Si, O and C concentrations less than mid-1014/cm3 ranges. Such a GaN crystal with extreme purity exhibited marked improvements in its electrical and optical properties, i.e. a record high room temperature (RT) Hall mobility of 1689cm2/Vs and a RT photoluminescence internal quantum efficiency over 20%, respectively. A mass-production-type reactor with 6-inch growth capability has also been installed recently.
The capability of such a high-quality, large-sized GaN epitaxial layer might open up the possibility of realizing next-generation advanced GaN-based devices such as a vertical power device, highly efficient VCSELs, micro-LEDs, and x-ray detectors.
Sumitomo presents pore-assisted free-standing GaN
Free-standing GaN GaN substrates
