Kyocera Develops New GaN Laser Chip

Kyocera Corporation has developed a new thin-film process technology for making unique silicon (Si) substrates for gallium nitride (GaN)-based micro-light sources, including short-cavity lasers and micro-LEDs.
 
GaN-based light-source devices, both micro-LED and laser, have typically been fabricated on sapphire and GaN substrates. Conventional processes involve forming a thin GaN device layer for the light source directly onto the sapphire substrate by heating it to a high temperature (1,000 degrees C or more) in a controlled gas atmosphere.

Kyocera successfully developed the new process technology at the company's Research Institute for Advanced Materials and Devices in Kyoto, Japan. First, we grow a GaN layer on Si substrate which is available in high volumes at a low cost. The GaN layer is then masked with a non-growing material that features an opening in the center. After this, when a GaN layer is formed on the Si substrate, GaN nuclei grow over the opening in the mask.