Modification of Semiconductors for Monolithic Integration of Optoelectronic Devices
 Summary:
Through a 2000 SBIR Phase I award and a 2002 Phase II award, BMDO funded ALTAIR Center to develop and demonstrate an optics-based platform capable of handling 1.3-micron and 1.5-micron wavelengths for military communications systems. ALTAIR has developed a means to control the refractive index of semiconductor materials used in optical applications through a process that eliminates numerous steps involved in a common photolithography technique known as photomasking and etching. ALTAIR Center’s process is efficient and inexpensive as it can be applied to off-the-shelf products and performed at room temperature with minimal clean-room requirements. ALTAIR Center’s technology should prove beneficial in areas such as optical signal processing, optical computing and communications, photonics, infrared optics component manufacturing, laser-diode manufacturing, remote sensing and monitoring, and spatial light modulation.
Technology Description:
Advanced Laser Technologies and Innovative Research Center, LLC (ALTAIR Center; Shrewsbury, MA), manufactures various relief-free optoelectronic components with large photoinduced changes in their refractive indices. They use holography instead of etching to control the refractive index of semiconductor materials that enables light-signal processing.
The advantage of relief-free surfaces becomes apparent when additional layers of crystal are grown or deposited onto the surface of semiconductor components. Crystalline growth is subject to stresses and flaws, but is more likely to yield near-perfect structures when starting from a smooth, relief-free substrate.
ALTAIR Center’s unique process eliminates numerous steps involved in a common photolithography technique known as photomasking and etching. This reduction in steps is possible because the semiconductor material’s refractive index is directly modified using an illumination with a laser beam instead of etching the surface relief.
Specific steps eliminated by ALTAIR Center’s process over traditional etching methods include cleaning the substrate; depositing a photoresist—a compound whose resistance decreases with increasing incident light intensity; exposing the photoresist with the light using a mask to illuminate the desired areas; developing the photoresist; and removing the photoresist once the etching is complete.
ALTAIR Center’s process offers several advantages over traditional fabrication methods. The process is adaptable and can be applied to off-the-shelf components to improve their performance. Fabrication is also easy to manage and less expensive than traditional methods because it can be performed at room temperature, with minimal clean-room requirements, and operated by technicians with limited training. This process can be used either as a step in an assembly line process, or as an application to existing devices to enhance their performance.
MDA Origins:
MDA predecessor BMDO originally funded ALTAIR Center’s technological process through a 2000 SBIR Phase I award and a 2002 Phase II award to develop and demonstrate an optics-based platform capable of handling 1.3-micron and 1.5-micron wavelengths for military communications systems.
Spinoff Applications:
ALTAIR Center’s technology should prove beneficial in areas such as optical signal processing, optical computing and communications, photonics, infrared optics component manufacturing, laser-diode manufacturing remote sensing and monitoring, and spatial light modulation. Specifically, the process could be used in manufacturing devices such as laser diodes, integrated optical waveguide structures, parallel optical interconnectors, beam splitters, infrared polarizers, retardation plates, and infrared diffraction gratings.
Commercialization:
The company’s manufacturing technique is not yet commercially available. ALTAIR Center is now looking for potential business partners or for opportunities to license its technology.
Company Profile:
ALTAIR Center was founded in 1998 as a limited liability company by Russian scientist Dr. Sergei Krivoshlykov. Motivation to start a business came at the height of the telecom boom when Krivoshlykov wanted to develop new optoelectronic technologies for communications equipment for both government and civilian use. After the telecom bubble burst, Krivoshlykov continued research and prototype building for MDA and other Defense Department agencies through 34 different SBIR and STTR awards. The company’s staffing level is dependent on the number of contracts ALTAIR Center is working on at a given time. Currently, the company’s staff is three.
Contact Information:
Dr. Sergei Krivoshlykov
ALTAIR Center, LLC.
1 Chartwell Circle
Shrewsbury, MA 01545-4819
(508) 845-5349
fax: (508) 845-5349
email: altairctr@aol.com
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