Welcome and opening remarks

The dawn of the InP market in consumer applications

Ali Jaffal Technology and Market Analyst Yole Intelligence (France)

The InP photonics market has been dominated by the datacom and telecom applications thanks to the unique ability of InP photonic devices to reach high data rates and long reaches in optical transceivers. However, the growing interest in emission and detection at wavelengths around 1300 nm and 1500 nm has extended to sensing applications. There has long been speculation about the penetration of InP into consumer applications. For smartphones, OLED displays are transparent at wavelengths in the range from 1300 to 1550 nm. Leading manufacturers, such as Apple, interested in removing the camera notch on mobile phone screens and integrating 3D-sensing modules under OLED displays, are considering moving to InP Edge Emitting Lasers (EELs), replacing currently-used GaAs Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers (VCSELs). Apple has already adopted InP proximity sensors in its AirPod 3 and iPhone 14 pro families. Will InP penetration in smartphones reach 3D-sensing modules? And what will the status of the GaAs VCSEL business in coming years be?

Ali Jaffal is a Technology and Market Analyst specializing in Compound Semiconductors and Emerging Substrates at Yole Intelligence. As part of the Power and Wireless team, Ali is deeply engaged in the development of a dedicated collection of compound semiconductor market & technology reports and monitors. Previously, he worked at CEA-Leti (France) as a research engineer. His mission was focused on the design, growth, and clean room processing of GaAs semiconductor nanowires for visible-infrared photodetectors. During his Ph.D., Ali researched the epitaxy (MBE) on InP nanowires dedicated to telecom applications. Ali authored/co-authored eight scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals and a patent on III-V nanowires at CEA-Leti. He also delivered presentations to numerous seminars at national and international conferences. Ali Jaffal obtained his master’s degree in Nanotechnology from INSA (Lyon, France), Ecole Centrale de Lyon and Claude Bernard University (Lyon, France).

Lasers for advanced sensing in consumer electronics

Gerald Dahlmann Senior Director of Marketing Coherent Corp. (United States)

Semiconductor diode lasers have become ubiquitous in consumer electronics devices. Many advanced mobile phones and tablets contain lasers for various sensor functions, such as proxiity, autofocus, biometric and 3D scanning sensors. New use cases for lasers have recently emerged in augmented and virtual reality headsets, as well as in wearable devices. These applications are creating new challenges and driving the industy to develop lasers with higher efficiency, more compact form factors and expanding the spectrum of wavelengths. The paper will give an overview of the status of the industry and emerging trends. It will discuss laser technology platforms from the near-infrared to the mid-infrared range, and edge emitter as well as VCSEL diode architectures.

Gerald Dahlmann is Senior Director of Marketing at Coherent. He has worked in the high-tech industry for 20 years in various roles in product management and sales and marekting. His range of expertise includes sensors, optics, optelectronics and MEMS technology. Gerald holds a degree in Electrical Engineering from TU Darmstadt and a PhD from Imperial College London.

The evolution of InP as a key enabler of sensing technology in consumer electronics

Mark J. Furlong Executive Vice President, Product Management IQE (United Kingdom)

GaAs has been the mainstay of many recent developments in consumer product sensing, enabling new functionality in facial recognition and camera imaging to be achieved, providing a much needed feature boost for mobile devices where technology innovation has been stagnating. But sensing is evolving to support future consumer electronics platforms with applications requiring devices which can detect and emit light at longer wavelengths, thus enabling a raft of new technologies to be developed in healthcare, wearables and autonomous driving platforms as well as higher performance proximity sensing. In this presentation the history of InP as a key enabler of high-speed fibre optic communications will provide the foundation from which new consumer-based laser and detector technologies will be discussed. We will also review competing technologies in GaAs where emerging dilute nitride materials make possible long wavelength detection based upon incumbent 6” GaAs technology. The relative merits and suitability of MOCVD and MBE to scale InP to meet the anticipated mass production requirements of such devices will be debated alongside the volume and quality requirements for larger diameter InP substrates. It is anticipated that multi-material sensors will become a key innovation enabling platform for next generation consumer electronics, where InP will play a pivotal role.

Mark Furlong was appointed Executive Vice President of Global Business Development, Photonics in July 2019, prior to which he served as Vice President of IQE's Infrared Business Unit since 2015. In his current role he is responsible for Product Management and Business Development across a diverse range of Photonics and Wireless product sectors and also has responsibility for IQE's substrate manufacturing operations located in the UK and US. His career in compound semiconductors commenced in the late 1990s at Epitaxial Products International following which he held various commercial and technical marketing roles within IQE, which included responsibility for APAC business development. Mark received his Ph.D. in semiconductor science and technology from the University of Bath and a B.Sc. (Hons.) degree in Chemistry from the University of London. He also holds a Diploma in Management with Distinction from the Open University, UK.