Guangcheng Yanchuang and Caiyu Technology launch a new generation of silicon-based "Metalens metalenses"

Artilux, which is famous for the world's exclusive germanium silicon (GeSi) photonic technology and is a leader in short-wave infrared (SWIR) light sensing, imaging and communications based on CMOS processes, has joined hands with Caiyu Technology to jointly release the latest metalens technology.

This technology is different from traditional curved lenses and adopts an all-planar, ultra-thin optical element design. It can not only precisely control light waves, but also directly create ultra-high-precision nanostructures on a 12-inch silicon substrate. Optics has successfully integrated core silicon germanium technology and metalenses into a single silicon wafer, greatly improving optical system performance, mass production efficiency and yield, and is widely used in commercial fields such as SWIR sensing, imaging, communications and artificial intelligence.

Super lens technology has high growth potential, but there are also many design and mass production challenges.

With the boom of AI, robots, silicon photonics, etc., silicon chip-based light sensing, imaging and communication technologies will be the key to promoting the development of these industries. Therefore, mobile phones and wearable devices with built-in imaging and physiological sensing and support for AI judgment will become more popular in the future. In AI data centers, silicon photonics can provide efficient optical communications and are the core of future AI model training and inference. As devices become increasingly lighter and thinner, "metalenses" in silicon-based optical technology are expected to lead and accelerate the implementation of these applications.

Metalenses have the advantages of single-wafer process integration and optical module miniaturization, and are expected to bring a new wave of growth momentum to silicon chips in the optical field.

Currently, most optical systems on the market use traditional lenses, that is, parabolic or spherical designs to focus light to control amplitude, phase, polarization and other characteristics. However, due to physical limitations, it needs to rely on precision mechanical alignment, and complex curved surface design requires high-precision polishing and coating. Therefore, it is difficult to use CMOS processes and optical sensors for wafer-level integration, which has become a problem in miniaturization and integration.

Combining silicon germanium and SWIR sensing technology to achieve ultra-thin Optical modules accelerate application implementation

Meta-Surface subverts the traditional curved microlens design and uses all-planar, ultra-thin optical elements, which not only reduces size and thickness, but also increases design freedom, reduces signal crosstalk, and achieves efficient focusing and wavefront correction. More importantly, unlike the transmitter DOE, the metalens developed by Optics is directly manufactured with high precision on a 12-inch silicon substrate using silicide nanostructures. It can be integrated on a single silicon wafer using a CMOS process and GeSi technology, comprehensively improving the integration and quality of optical systems. Production efficiency and yield, covering SWIR band, improving coupling efficiency, bringing more flexible and diverse sensing, imaging and communication solutions to AI, suitable for 3D sensing, physiological sensing, consumer wear, mixed reality, optical communications, radar, biomedicine, defense and aerospace and other fields.

Neil Na, co-founder and CTO of Guangcheng Research and Development, said: "Guangcheng Research and Development is internationally renowned for semiconductor innovation. We are pleased to share our independently developed metasurface technology and combine it with Caiyu Technology's leading optical process on 12-inch wafers to create ultra-thin optical components that can accurately control light waves for SWI applications. R sensing, imaging, communication and AI and other diverse scenarios. It is believed that this technology will not only have breakthrough value in the optical field, but will also accelerate the development and implementation of the next generation of optical technology. ”

Xie Jinquan, Vice President of Caiyu Technology’s R&D Organization, pointed out: “Caiyu Technology has always paid attention to the global CMOS image and light sensor trends, and continues to improve production capacity and output value by leveraging process advantages and cooperation to develop key technologies. We are very pleased that Guangcheng Research and Development has adopted Caiyu's silicon-based metalens process to facilitate the integration of optical components and jointly break through the packaging size limitations of traditional designs and processes. We look forward to the cooperation between the two parties to bring more innovative applications and promote the popularization of metalens technology. ”

Metalenses show key potential in the silicon photonics industry, especially in component miniaturization, integration and performance improvement. With the advancement of materials and processes, technical challenges are gradually overcome. In the future, metalenses are expected to become standard components in silicon photonics and sensing applications, promoting continued innovation in the next generation of optical chips and the market.