Umicore realizes breakthrough in the development of ultra-low resistivity 8” n-type Germanium wafers

Umicore Electro-Optic Materials (EOM), a leading global supplier of Germanium products and materials solutions, announces the successful development of 
ultra-low (<1 mOhm.cm) 6” and 8” Germanium wafers for Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs). 

VCSEL lasers are a key component in telecom and 3D sensor systems. Applications range from datacenters to smartphone security and LiDAR sensors for autonomous vehicles . 

Thanks to this breakthrough development, VCSELs on Umicore 6” or 8” wafers will have superior electrical performance on top of the already proven better optical performance in comparison with GaAs wafers traditionally used for this application.  

Bendix De Meulemeester, Director Marketing & Business Development: “We are seeing growing interest in our Germanium wafers for photonic applications. Thanks to the Umicore material expertise and know-how, our team has been able to develop an innovative Germanium crystal technology that achieves below 1mOhm.cm resistivity in n-type Germanium wafers without affecting the excellent crystal quality such as zero-dislocations and high doping uniformity. With the development of the first 6” VCSEL Ge wafer in 2020, the first 8” VCSEL Ge wafer in 2021, this is the third innovation of our Germanium R&D team in relatively short time, a testament of our commitment to the photonic industry ”