nLight Achieves High Power and High Brightness by Using MOCVD Tools with Integrated Vacuum and Abatement


SANTA CLARA, CALIF. (22 May 2006)- BOC Edwards and Aixtron are delighted to have contributed towards nLight's recent success in achieving high power and high brightness laser devices. nLight's leading-edge laser technology combines a high level of performance and reliability. nLight's technology is based on proprietary laser structures grown by MOCVD, facet passivation technology, and state-of-the-art solder processes. These innovative designs collectively result in highly reliable, long lifetime products with world-class performance.

nLight produces the broadest range of diode lasers in the industry, with wavelengths ranging from 635 nm to 2000 nm, in its vertically integrated 60,000 square-foot manufacturing facility in Vancouver, Wash. In addition, nLight has demonstrated a number of power and efficiency records including over 400W from a 1-cm long 8xx nm Cascades(TM) diode laser bar equivalent to >60 mW/um of emitting aperture. The 8xx nm Cascades product also exhibits excellent reliability with a MTTF in excess of 80,000 hours at room temperature.

The work is funded by the United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Super-High-Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDS) program. nLight has demonstrated record efficiencies with 76 percent single emitter and 73 percent diode bar efficiencies at 9xx nm. For the longer wavelength 1470 nm diode laser products, over 100W and 50 percent efficiency have been achieved from single laser diode bars.
nLight products enable industrial, defense, medical, graphics, and consumer applications. With its technology, nLight can offer its customers an opportunity to differentiate themselves in increasingly competitive markets, while enabling performance and reducing overall costs.

Contributing toward this success has been Aixtron's high-performance MOCVD reactor and BOC Edwards' innovative Zenith(TM) III-V integrated pump and abatement system.

In a fast-moving, competitive cost-conscious market, flexibility, coupled with reproducibility is essential and these were key reasons for choosing Aixtron reactors. Another advantage has been the low consumption of source materials, keeping operating costs low.

A conventional configuration would have included a chilled phosphorus ("p") trap to protect the on-tool vacuum pump, but nLight decided to try a novel approach developed by BOC Edwards and exclusively available through Aixtron. This involves using a high-temperature vacuum pump that runs hot enough to prevent the condensation of phosphorus vapor, which results from the thermal decomposition of phosphine in the reaction chamber, without the need for a p-trap. However, this results in much higher phosphorus loading into the pump exhaust, therefore careful thermal management is required to prevent it from condensing and blocking the pipe. A highly capable gas abatement system is also required to treat the much higher exhaust load that now results.

Mike Grimshaw, director of MOCVD, nLight, said, "The Zenith system has all the bases covered. By close-coupling the vacuum and abatement system in conjunction with the heated lines, we have been running without a p-trap for several years now. This has resulted in lower downtime than would arise from a conventional exhaust system. The hydrogen is also treated in the thermal combustor, so we don't have to rely on dilution of the exhaust gas for safety."

nLight Photonics
nLight develops and manufactures industry leading high-power semiconductor diode laser components and subsystems. nLight's products feature unparalleled power, brightness, and reliability and enable a broad range of laser-based products in the industrial, medical, graphic arts, and defense markets.
nLight produces the world's leading high-power semiconductor diode lasers in wavelengths ranging from 635 nm to 2000 nm. nLight is positioned to address the most stringent package requirements. Our product line includes a broad range of single-emitters, bars, and fiber-couple packages.
http://nlightphotonics.com/
sales@nlight.net

AIXTRON
World's leading manufacturer of MOCVD equipment. AIXTRON AG is a leading provider of deposition equipment to the semiconductor industry. The Company's technology solutions are used by a diverse range of customers worldwide to build advanced components for electronic and opto-electronic applications based on compound, silicon, or organic semiconductor materials. Such components are used in fiber optic communication systems, wireless and mobile telephony applications, optical and electronic storage devices, computing, signaling and lighting, as well as a range of other leading-edge technologies. AIXTRON AG's securities are listed on the Prime Standard market segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and, as American Depositary Shares (ADS), on NASDAQ, and are included in the TecDAX index, the NASDAQ Composite Index, the MSCI World Small Cap Index and the Nature Stock Index (NAI). Founded in 1983, the Company is headquartered in Aachen, Germany.
http://www.aixtron.com

BOC Edwards
BOC Edwards, part of The BOC Group plc, is a leading supplier of integrated solutions for the manufacture of microelectronics devices, including semiconductors and flat panel displays. Partnering with fabs, foundries and process tool manufacturers, BOC Edwards provides electronic materials and process-enabling subsystems that are supported by best-in-class operations and maintenance services for its global customer base.

Serving two million customers in more than 50 countries, The BOC Group is one of the largest and most global of the world's leading gases companies. It employs over 43,000 people, with annual sales of £4.6 billion (more than US $8 billion) in 2004. For more than a century, BOC has contributed to advances in many industries and aspects of everyday life, including steel-making, refining, chemical processing, environmental protection, wastewater treatment, welding and cutting, food processing and distribution, glass production, electronics and health care.

Information on the BOC Group can be accessed by visiting the Group web site, www.boc.com. Specific information on BOC Edwards can be found at www.bocedwards.com. E-mail inquires can be sent to info@bocedwards.com.

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