Acronym: aloha

PROJECT FINAL REPORT

Project acronym: ALOHA

Project title: AlInGaAs Lasers for Optical Home Access

Project duration: 2.5 years, from March 2011 to August 2013
Coordinator (organisation): CST Global

Scientific representative of the coordinator (name and title): Dr Wyn Meredith

E-mail: wmeredith@compoundsemi.co.uk

• 
  High quality AlInGaAs laser Multiple Quantum well epitaxy for high temperature operation
  
• 
  High uniformity AlInGaAs epitaxy on 4” InP substrate platforms
  
• 
  Ridge waveguide laser chip fabrication processes for high yielding devices
  
• 
  Semiconductor etching and fabrication of DM laser chip architectures
  
• 
  Optimisation of fabrication parameters (such as metallisation and dielectric passivation) for low parasitic capacitance high speed laser designs >10Gb/s
  
• 
  Optimisation of wafer level fabrication processes for >90% on wafer yield
  
• 
  Design and realisation of high yielding DFB laser chips using electron beam written buried grating structures
  
• 
  Novel processes for low-loss, high volume laser chip fabrication up to 10M unit per annum
  

The development of the ‘higher-end’ tunable solutions proved more challenging, but the project activity promoted understanding of the end user requirements and timescale for need. The tunable DM and fixed wavelength EML development led to high quality, specific IP, but would need significant additional effort to commercialise. Excellent 10Gb/s to 43Gb/s modulation performance of the developed EMLs could be demonstrated, showing that the approach used is suitable for future commercialisation.

• 
  Uncooled, high efficiency, low power consumption
  
• 
  10Gb/s operation
  
• 
  high spectral quality
  
• 
  Enabling course-fine tunability
  
• 
  All at $s per chip NOT100$ per chip for Millions of units
  

The project aimed to address this and:

1. 
   Develop and demonstrate a toolkit of device types and fabrication processes to address above
   
2. 
   Assess the manufacturability and volume scalability of such solutions
   
3. 
   Determine the commercial potential of such solutions
   
4. 
   Demonstrate and extend foundry collaborative model for commercialisation
   

1. 
   A range of device types have been demonstrated which have the potential to address the commercial specifications required. Those advances are outlined under section B2.
   
2. 
   We have demonstrated that the baseline product can be produced reproducibly in high yield, and have a roadmap for volume scale up for several of the device demonstrators
   
3. 
   We have developed viable commercial models for foundry products at the epi-wafer, fabricated wafer, and chip level for several of the demonstrators.
   
4. 
   We now have developed extended relationships, collaborating with manufacturing partners to proceed on a collaborative commercial supply model. Commercial contracts have been executed using this extended foundry supply model as a result of collaboration forged during the project.
   

The part of the project dedicated to a low cost tunable laser solution was not achieved due to the fact that the primary partner in this area (COGO) went into formal administration and was acquired in the second year of the project.

Exploitable outcomes:

Project coordinator: Dr Wyn Meredith, email wmeredith@compoundsemi.co.uk