Imagine building a laser on a foundation that fits better and is cheaper than the current industry standard. Instead of using expensive and toxic materials, this method uses germanium, which acts like a more stable base for the laser's structure. This makes the lasers easier to mass-produce and more compatible with standard computer chips.
Current VCSEL production relies on expensive, toxic GaAs substrates that limit wafer size and increase production waste. This creates a bottleneck for the scaling of LiDAR and 3D sensing markets.
A Ge-VCSEL epi-growth process using MOCVD and MBE techniques and a set of high-performance lasers integrated into 3D camera and LiDAR demonstrators.
If you are an autonomous vehicle manufacturer dealing with high sensor costs and reliability issues — this project developed Ge-based VCSELs that improve production yield and cost efficiency for LiDAR systems.
If you are a hardware developer dealing with the need for smaller, more efficient 3D cameras — this project developed a laser structure on Ge substrates that enables better integration with CMOS technology.
If you are a drone manufacturer dealing with the environmental impact of toxic materials in sensors — this project developed a Ge-VCSEL solution that reduces the use of toxic elements compared to GaAs substrates.
The use of Ge large diameter substrates is expected to lower production costs by increasing yield and reducing production losses due to higher uniformity at larger wafer sizes.
Yes, the project focuses on using large diameter Ge substrates and MOCVD/MBE growth techniques to enable industrial-scale manufacturing.
Based on available project data, the project is in the signed phase with a consortium of 8 partners, but specific licensing terms are not disclosed.
The project creates a path for the integration of VCSELs with CMOS technology, which is the standard for most integrated circuits.
The project period runs from 2022-10-01 to 2026-09-30, indicating the technology is currently under development and testing.
The consortium is heavily industry-weighted with a 62% industry ratio, comprising 5 industrial partners and 3 SMEs across 5 countries. This strong commercial presence, combined with 3 research-focused entities, suggests a high priority on translating the Ge-VCSEL technology into a viable commercial product rather than purely academic research.
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