IQE's compound semiconductor on silicon laser m...

Cardiff, UK, 09 October 2012: IQE plc (AIM: IQE, "IQE" or the "Group"), the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafer products and services to the semiconductor industry, has produced epitaxial wafers combining the optical properties of compound semiconductors with the electronic properties of silicon to produce high power lasers that enable increased storage density for next generation hard disk drives.

In the last 20 years, typical storage capacities for consumer disk drives have increased by 100,000 times from around 20MB to 2TB. The increased capacity has been achieved through cutting edge research and technological innovation. In order to maintain such staggering increases in capacity whilst maintaining the same footprint, the next generation of disk drives need to be capable of storing more than 1Tb of data per square inch.

Such high density storage is made possible through heat assisted magnetic recording (HAMR), where the heat source is a semiconductor laser device emitting 10mW or more of optical power.

Work published in the August 2012 edition of Nature Photonics (NPHOTON.2012.204) describes the milestone achievement by Tyndall National Institute (University College Cork), Semprius Inc. and Seagate Technology in successfully combining a high power compound semiconductor laser structure with a silicon substrate using Semprius' proprietary micro-transfer print technology to print  epitaxial layers produced by IQE at its Cardiff manufacturing facility. The demonstrated level of optoelectonic integration will allow HAMR to meet growing demand in the high performance, high capacity, and low cost storage markets.

Andrew Joel, Commercial Director for IQE's optoelectronics division, commented:

"IQE has established a leading position in the supply of MOCVD grown epitaxial layers for photonic applications. Programmes such as this demonstrate how we successfully combine our high volume manufacturing capabilities with leading edge research to support our partners through all stages from development through to production."

The full article is published at www.nature.com/naturephotonics

FURTHER INFORMATION

IQE: www.iqep.com

CONTACTS:

IQE plc ([phone])
Press/Investors: Chris Meadows
Technical: Andrew Joel

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Source: IQE plc via Thomson Reuters ONE

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