 |
Performance
of 50 Completed ATP Projects
Status
Report - Number 2
NIST SP 950-2
Chapter
4 - Electronics, Computer Hardware & Communications
|
|
Spire
Corporation
A Feedback-Controlled, Metallo-Organic
Chemical Vapor Deposition Reactor
|
| Laser
diodes are the tiny workhorses in many industrial and consumer products.
Every CD-ROM player has at least one, and many printers and photocopiers
have a large array of them. More than 20 million laser diodes are
needed each year for this market alone, and the number is growing. |
COMPOSITE
PERFORMANCE SCORE
(Based on a four star rating.)
|
Advanced Fabrication
Control for Improved Electronic Devices
This ATP project with Spire Corporation developed a new way to make laser
diodes and other optoelectronic devices. Founded in 1969, Spire is a specialty
manufacturer of semiconductor wafers and metallo-organic chemical vapor
deposition (MOCVD) equipment. The company’s new method makes possible
the manufacture of individual lasers and laser arrays at lower cost and
with higher performance characteristics.
 |
| The advanced
metallo-organic chemical vapor deposition reactor constructed with
funding from ATP. |
Spire built and demonstrated
an advanced MOCVD reactor designed for the fabrication of laser diodes.
Laser diodes are intricate multilayer structures generally grown by MOCVD
on compound semiconductor wafers. Researchers developed in-process sensors
to monitor the development of layers on the substrate, as well as control
systems to automatically adjust the many process parameters. They demonstrated
that the new technology can control the growth rate of the layers. They
also showed that the new reactor performed better than conventional reactors
in terms of epitaxial layer uniformity over the entire wafer, as well
as run-to-run consistency. These two factors can contribute significantly
to reducing the cost of making laser diodes.
Potential for Commercial
Products
The project did well technically, and limited commercialization is under
way. Spire is pursuing its original plan to produce and sell reactors
and license the technology to other manufacturers, and it is in discussions
with several potential customers. The company also planned to produce
low-cost laser diode arrays in competition with foreign producers, but
that market did not develop.
Spire has successfully
used the prototype reactor to perform customer-specific research and development
to produce epitaxial laser wafers of a demanding structure. One customer
has invested more that $250,000 with Spire to develop vertical cavity
surface emitting laser (VCSEL) wafers and plans to invest another $450,000
in the effort in the near future. A VCSEL emits light in a cylindrical
beam vertically from its surface and may offer significant advantages
over edge-emitting lasers in some applications. This customer may also
buy an MOCVD reactor from Spire in the next two years, following completion
of the initial development project.
 |
| A wafer populated
with arrays of vertical cavity surface emitting lasers. |
Spire is focusing
on use of the new feedback-controlled reactor for growing laser wafers
for VCSELs and edge-emitting lasers. VCSELs would be used in high-speed
laser printers and in optical interconnects for computer links, and edge-emitting
lasers would be used in solid-state laser pumps and in measurement and
material processing applications. The company contracted with another
large manufacturer in late 1997 to develop VCSEL arrays for advanced optical
computer interconnects. Spire has already been paid $106,000 for the project
and could potentially receive another $300,000. If the development work
succeeds, Spire believes it will enable the company to enter the huge
market for optical interconnect components.
ATP
Project Opens Doors
If the ATP funds had not been available, Spire would not have done the
project, company officials say. The ATP award enabled Spire to overcome
technical barriers to volume production of VCSEL wafers, some of which
contain more than 650 epitaxial layers. These complex structures had been
previously grown only in a few laboratories and in small lots and sometimes
virtually by hand. Spire’s new capability, in turn, has attracted
an entire new line of customers.
The potential for
alliances with research and development partners is now high, and Spire
is already working on advanced device development projects with several
companies. The benefits to users of new devices made from these complex
wafers can be significant. The ATP-funded reactor enables production of
many kinds of wafers at lower costs. It also enables the production of
some devices, made from VCSEL wafers, that could not be fabricated any
other way. The benefits, however, can occur only if the company’s
limited commercialization expands into full-scale success, and it is still
too early to tell whether that will happen.
|
Project
Highlights
|
|
PROJECT:
To develop an advanced feedback-controlled, high-throughput, metallo-organic
chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor for fabricating low-cost,
high-quality laser diode arrays.
Duration: 6/15/1992 — 3/31/1995
ATP Number: 91-01-0263
FUNDING (in
thousands):
| ATP |
$1,223
|
56%
|
| Company |
973
|
44%
|
| Total |
$2,196
|
|
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Spire achieved the project’s research goal and afterward conducted
additional, company-funded development to commercialize the technology.
A prototype reactor is being used for commercial wafer production
and customer-specific development work. Signs of the project’s
success include the fact that the company:
- published
four papers and presented several others at professional conferences
during the award period;
- demonstrated
the ability to grow epitaxial wafers with high-quality uniformity
of composition and thickness over an entire wafer 2.25 inches
in diameter;
- demonstrated
the ability to fabricate vertical cavity surface emitting lasers
(VCSELs) with state-of-the-art performance characteristics;
- published
a 1997 update on use of the ATP-funded reactor, “In Situ
Monitoring and Control for MOCVD Growth of AlGaAs and InGaAs,”
in the Journal of Electronic Materials;
- received
$356,000 from two large manufacturers for development of advanced
VCSEL epitaxial wafers and wafer production processes, with an
additional $450,000 to $750,000 expected in the near future; and
- expanded
sales of commercial epitaxial wafers (mostly for lasers and light-emitting
diodes), with sales revenue of about $200,000 in 1998.
|
COMMERCIALIZATION
STATUS:
Limited commercialization has been under way since 1996. The ATP-funded
technology has been incorporated into an MOCVD reactor being used
for commercial production of optoelectronic epitaxial wafers. These
include VCSEL epitaxial wafers that are being developed for high-speed
laser printing. Spire is also using the reactor for two development
projects funded by other companies.
OUTLOOK:
Spire expects to produce substantial numbers of VCSEL devices in
the future. Because the market is growing rapidly, the company is
positioned to exploit its superior in-house epitaxial wafer growth
capability, based on the ATP-funded technology, to produce large
quantities of whole epitaxial wafers, as well as wafers processed
into optoelectronic devices ready for packaging.
Composite
Performance Score:
COMPANY:
Spire Corporation
1 Patriots Park
Bedford, MA 01730-2396
Contacts:
Harvey B. Serreze or Kurt J. Linden
Phone: (781) 275-6000
Number of employees: 180 at project start, 150 at the end
of 1997
|
Return to Table
of Contents or go to next section.
Date created: April
2002
Last updated:
April 12, 2005
|
