New Semiconductor Technology for Future Data Communications

Researchers have developed world-leading Compound Semiconductor (CS) technology that can drive future high-speed data communications. A team from Cardiff University worked to innovate an ultrafast and highly sensitive 'avalanche photodiode' (APD) that creates less electronic 'noise' than its silicon rivals. A paper outlining the breakthrough in creating extremely low excess noise and high sensitivity APDs is published today in Nature Photonics. APDs are highly sensitive semiconductor devices that exploit the 'photoelectric effect' - when light hits a material - to convert light to electricity. Faster, supersensitive APDs are in demand worldwide for use in high-speed data communications and light detection and ranging (LIDAR) systems for autonomous vehicles. Researchers from Cardiff University led by Diana Huffaker , Scientific Director of ICS and Sêr Cymru Chair in Advanced Engineering and Materials, partnered with the University of Sheffield and the California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to develop the technology. Diana Huffaker said: "Our work to develop extremely low excess noise and high sensitivity avalanche photodiodes has the potential to yield a new class of high-performance receivers for applications in networking and sensing.