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Umicore Electro-Optic Materials (EOM), a leading global supplier of Germanium products and materials solutions, has successfully developed 6” Germanium wafers for Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers in collaboration with leading commercial and academic partners.

Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) are a key component in telecom and 3D sensor systems. Applications range from data-centers to Face Recognition systems and LiDAR Time of Flight (ToF) sensors on mobile handsets and in cabin sensing of autonomous vehicles. To increase the working distance of these sensors, VCSEL array sizes and costs are growing which is one of the drivers to transition from GaAs to Germanium wafers.

Bendix De Meulemeester, Director Marketing & Business Development: “For very demanding applications such as VCSELs, defect free 6” Germanium wafers show clear performance and process cost benefits in comparison with GaAs wafers. Umicore has invested years of research in the development of defect free low-resistivity 6” Germanium wafers which are currently in the process of qualification. Production volumes are expected to ramp over the next few years as adoption across the VCSEL supply chain accelerates.

Umicore Electro-Optic Materials (EOM) is creating material solutions for optical and electronic applications to customers around the world. The hyper-connectivity megatrend is at the center of our new product and services developments. This megatrend is a combination of ubiquitous communication networks, sensors and artificial intelligence and it will create exciting new possibilities and opportunities in our businesses and personal lives.