IQE Regulatory News (IQE)

13 March 2014 

IQE plc

IQE's VCSEL wafers enable IBM to achieve new data transmission record of 64 Gb/s for high capacity servers, datacentres and supercomputers

Cardiff, UK, 13 March 2014 - IQE plc (AIM: IQE; "IQE", "the Group") announces that its leading edge, vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) epiwafer technology has been employed to develop high-performance optical links as reported by IBM and Chalmers University of Technology at the Optical Fiber Communications Conference (OFC) which is taking place this week in San Francisco.

As the data transmission rates across optical interconnects continue to increase, from today's 25-28 Gb/s to next generation interconnects with speeds in excess of 50 Gb/s, there is a need for step-change performance improvements in the optoelectronics and electronics hardware that support this technology.

Vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) provide the primary light source for optical interconnects and are now in production for high capacity interconnect cables in datacentres and high performance computing systems.

Recent work by IBM and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden used IQE's VCSEL wafers to achieve a record speed of 64 Gb/s. Data was transmitted over 57m of multimode optical fibre.

The VCSEL epitaxial wafer material was provided by IQE's Photonics division in Cardiff. The VCSEL device was developed and fabricated at Chalmers and the full interconnect, including drive and receive circuitry, was produced, assembled and tested at IBM.

The interconnect performance reveals the full potential of the advanced VCSEL devices enabled by the high quality of the epitaxial material provided by IQE.

The full results are presented today at the Optical Fiber Communication conference (OFC) in San Francisco (paper Th3C.2).

ContactsIQE plc +44 (0) 29 2083 9400Chris Meadows (Press/investors)Andrew Joel (Technical)

NOTE TO EDITORSABOUT IQE

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IQE is the leading global supplier of advanced semiconductor wafers with products that cover a diverse range of applications, supported by an innovative outsourced foundry services portfolio that allows the Group to provide a 'one stop shop' for the wafer needs of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturers. IQE uses advanced crystal growth technology (epitaxy) to manufacture and supply bespoke semiconductor wafers ('epiwafers') to the major chip manufacturing companies, who then use these wafers to make the chips which form the key components of virtually all high technology systems. IQE is unique in being able to supply wafers using all of the leading crystal growth technology platforms.IQE's products are found in many leading-edge consumer, communication, computing and industrial applications, including a complete range of wafer products for the wireless industry, such as mobile handsets and wireless infrastructure, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, base stations, GPS, and satellite communications; and optical communications. The Group also manufactures advanced optoelectronic and photonic components such as semiconductor lasers, vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) and optical sensors for a wide range of applications including optical fibre communications, optical storage (CD, DVD, BluRay), thermal imaging, leading-edge medical products, pico-projection, finger navigation ultra-high brightness LEDs, and high efficiency concentrated photovoltaic (CPV) solar cells.The manufacturers of these chips are increasingly seeking to outsource wafer production to specialist foundries such as IQE in order to reduce overall wafer costs and accelerate time to market.IQE also provides bespoke R&D services to deliver customised materials for specific applications and offers specialist technical staff to manufacture to specification either at its own facilities or on the customer's own sites. The Group is also able to leverage its global purchasing volumes to reduce the cost of raw materials. In this way, IQE's outsourced services, provide compelling benefits in terms of flexibility and predictability of cost, thereby significantly reducing operating risk.IQE operates a number of manufacturing and R&D facilities across Europe, Asia and the USA. The Group also delivers its products and services through regional sales offices located in major economic centres worldwide