IQE Regulatory News (IQE)

11 March 2014 

IQE plc

IQE's large scale MBE technology paves the way for next generation silicon photonics

Cardiff, UK, 11 March 2014 - IQE plc (AIM: IQE; "IQE", "the Group") announces that its epitaxial wafer technology has been used to help develop next generation quantum dot lasers on silicon substrates to enable the integration of photonics devices with silicon technology for low cost, high volume data communication applications. The results of work by IQE in conjunction with the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) will be presented at the Optical Fiber Commincations Conference (OFC) which is taking place this week in San Francisco.

Silicon photonics, which combines compound semiconductor devices with low cost silicon substrates, offers the potential to integrate highly sophisticated laser devices with more traditional low cost CMOS driver and waveguide technology.

The researchers believe this work represents an important step towards large-scale photonic integration in an ultra low-cost platform for high volume consumer applications which will lead to the mass adoption of silicon photonics.

A key feature in enabling the cost effective integration of photonic devices with silicon technology is the ability to grow compound semiconductor "quantum dots" onto silicon substrates using MBE growth technology that has a proven track record for high volume manufacturing of wireless products.

Researchers at UCSB demonstrated a novel quantum dot laser design that not only is grown on silicon but that performs as well as similar lasers grown on their native substrates.

IQE provided both the the engineered germanium/silicon substrates and the III-V molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) template growth. The growth of the quantum dot laser structure and fabrication of the laser components were performed at UCSB.

The UCSB team will discuss its record-breaking results at the OFC Conference and Exposition, being held March 9-13 in San Francisco. The presentation W4C.5. titled "High Performance 1.3μm InAs Quantum Dot Lasers Epitaxially Grown on Silicon" will take place Wednesday, March 12 at 5:00 p.m. in room 121 of the Moscone Center.

ContactsIQE +44 (0) 29 2083 9400Chris Meadows (Press/investors)

Amy Liu (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