
IQE, Quintessent prepare quantum dot wafers for AI
Laser and photonics company Quintessent Inc. (Goleta, Calif.) and wafer supplier IQE plc (Cardiff, Wales) are elevating an R&D partnership on photonics for datacenters to the commercial level.
Quintessent, founded in 2019, has ordered US$500,000 of epitaxial wafers from IQE plc for quantum dot laser and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) production. The deliveries will take place through 2025.
Traditional laser technologies struggle to meet the requirements of silicon photonics and therefore quantum dot lasers and optical amplifiers are critical to improving AI infrastructure, the companies claimed in a joint statement.
IQE has worked with Quintessent for a decade on the R&D of quantum dot lasers building on the work of John Bower’s laboratory at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
The partnership has now developed GaAs-based quantum dot wafers of six-inch diameter that compare with four-inch indium phosphide lasers.
“The performance, cost, and reliability advantages that quantum dot-based lasers and amplifiers enable over their quantum well counterparts are exactly what our customers are demanding to address the soaring need for optical connectivity in AI driven compute,” said Alan Liu, CEO and co-founder of Quintessent.
Jutta Meier, interim CEO and CFO of IQE, said: “Our collaboration, spanning commercial products and DoD programs has delivered QDL wafers with exceptional reproducibility and lasing performance.”
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