Artilux, renowned for its globally exclusive germanium-silicon (GeSi) photonics technology and a leader in short-wave infrared (SWIR) photosensitive, optical imaging, and optical communication technologies based on complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) processes, today (5th) announced its latest Metalens technology in collaboration with Caiyu Technology. This newly announced Metalens technology differs from traditional curved lenses, employing a fully planar, ultra-thin optical element design. It not only precisely controls light waves but also allows for the direct fabrication of ultra-high-precision nanostructures on a 12-inch silicon substrate. Artilux has successfully integrated its core germanium-silicon technology and Metalens technology onto a single silicon wafer, significantly improving the performance of optical systems and the efficiency and yield of mass production. This technology can be widely applied in commercial fields such as SWIR photosensitive sensing, optical imaging, optical communication, and artificial intelligence.
Superlens technology boasts high growth potential, but also presents significant design and mass production challenges . With the rise of artificial intelligence, robotics, and silicon photonics, silicon-based optical sensing, imaging, and communication technologies will play a crucial role in driving the development of these industries. Therefore, smartphones and wearable devices with built-in image and physiological signal sensing capabilities, supporting AI judgment and applications, will become increasingly prevalent. Furthermore, in AI data center applications, silicon photonics provides high-efficiency optical communication transmission, making it an indispensable part of future AI model training and inference. With the trend towards increasingly compact hardware designs, "superlens technology" in silicon-based optics will lead and accelerate the deployment of these applications.
"Super Lens Technology" has advantages such as single-wafer process integration and miniaturization of optical component modules, and is expected to bring a new wave of growth momentum to silicon chips in the optical field.
Most optical systems on the market currently use traditional optical lenses, employing parabolic or spherical surface structures to focus light, thereby controlling the amplitude, phase, and polarization of the light. However, this technology relies on precise mechanical alignment due to its physical limitations, and the complex curved surface designs required for optical components necessitate high-precision polishing and coating processes. Therefore, it is difficult to integrate these components with photosensors at the wafer level using semiconductor CMOS processes, posing a significant challenge to the miniaturization and integration of optical systems.
Combining germanium and silicon with short-wave infrared light sensing technology to accelerate application deployment with ultra-thin optical modules <br /> Meta-Surface revolutionizes the design of curved optical microlenses, providing a fully planar and ultra-thin optical element. In addition to reducing size and thickness, it also significantly increases the design freedom of optical microlens modules, reduces signal crosstalk, and achieves efficient optical focusing and wavefront correction. More importantly, unlike the DOE (Diffraction Optical Element) technology used in the transmitter, Opto-Tech's Super Lens technology uses silicon nanostructures to be manufactured directly on a 12-inch silicon substrate with ultra-high precision. It can be directly integrated with CMOS process and its core GeSi technology on a single silicon wafer, achieving a fully integrated optical system and improving the efficiency and yield of mass production. It can also cover the short-wave infrared light band, improve optical coupling efficiency, and bring more flexible and diverse optical sensing, imaging and communication solutions for artificial intelligence applications. It is suitable for industries such as 3D image sensing, physiological signal sensing, consumer electronics wearable devices, mixed reality, optical communication, LiDAR, biomedicine and defense aerospace.
Neil Na, co-founder and chief technology officer of Opto-Tech, said, "Opto-Tech has earned international acclaim for its innovation in semiconductor technology. We are delighted to share our independently developed ultra-thin surface technology again, combined with the leading optical processes of Cryotech on 12-inch wafers, to successfully create ultra-thin optical components for precise control of light waves. This technology can be extended to diverse commercial applications such as SWIR photosensitive sensors, optical imaging, optical communication, and artificial intelligence. We believe that this technology not only has groundbreaking value in the field of optics, but will also accelerate the development and realization of next-generation optical technologies."
Hsieh Chin-Chuan, Vice President of the Research and Development Organization at Cryotech, emphasized: "Cryotech has been closely monitoring development trends in the global CMOS imaging and light sensor industry, while leveraging its semiconductor process advantages and collaborative development of key technologies to continuously improve production capacity and output value. We are delighted to see our business partner, Optical Path Technology, applying Cryotech's silicon-based meta-lens process to help enhance the integration of optical components, jointly breaking through the limitations of traditional design and process in terms of package size (form factor). We look forward to the collaboration between the two parties inspiring more innovative applications in the optical sensing industry and promoting the wider adoption of meta-lens technology."
Superlens technology demonstrates key potential in silicon photonics-related industries, particularly in the miniaturization, integration, and performance enhancement of optical components. With the optimization and advancement of materials and processes, the related technological challenges are gradually being overcome. In the future, superlenses are expected to become one of the standard optical components in silicon photonics and sensing applications, thereby driving continuous innovation in next-generation optical chips and market applications.
