Ffotoneg Completes InP Process Development R&D Project Part Funded by Welsh Government
Ffotoneg Ltd has concluded a three-month feasibility R&D project investigating front-end fabrication processes for the development of challenging grating structures used in laser diodes made from Indium Phosphide compound semiconductor materials. The project was part funded by a Welsh Government SMART Flexible Innovation Support (Level 1) grant, in preparation for a programme of further R&D innovation to develop in-house processes for custom device development for our customers.
The project explored processes to develop grating feature sizes down to 100 nm using electron beam lithography, and etched to depths of over 1 μm, which present challenging aspect ratios. Design of Experiments included experiments with different electron beam resists and doses. The results of the project have helped establish a baseline for work on customer devices and areas of exploration in future internal R&D in this area.
Ffotoneg Awarded Funding to Expand Design Capability and Further Strengthen the South Wales Compound Semiconductor Supply Chain
Ffotoneg Ltd has been awarded funding by CSconnected, in partnership with Cardiff Capital Region, as one of four successful applicants in its £1 million Supply Chain Development Programme, aimed at strengthening and scaling the compound semiconductor supply chain in South Wales.
This funding will have a major impact on Ffotoneg’s in-house design capability in a project that aims to develop workflow software to systematise the process of compound semiconductor epitaxial design and optimisation. The project is supported by CSconnected cluster partners.
Ffotoneg and Collaborators Win Innovation Funding to Scale Up InP Manufacturing in £645k CHIPIN6 Project
Ffotoneg Ltd, together with collaborators, Cardiff University; SPTS Technologies Ltd, a KLA company; and lead partner Compound Semiconductor Centre Ltd, part of IQE plc., have won a £410k award from Innovate UK’s Improving and Scaling-up Semiconductor Manufacturing competition, announced 27 September 2024 – “£11.5m to improve semiconductor manufacturing and supply chains”.
This 12-month, £645k project, named Commodity High Performance InP lasers on a 6” wafer platform (CHIPIN6), will enable each partner to innovate towards offering compound semiconductor photonic solutions on the 6” Indium Phosphide (InP) substrate size. Areas of innovation include design, epitaxy, plasma etch technology and fabrication process developments. InP photonic chips are used as light sources and detectors in applications such as high speed datacoms and telecommunications, data centres, smartphones and displays, environmental and healthcare sensing, and consumer products.