IQE joins consortium to develop European laser industry

13th May 2014 14:03

Semiconductor wafer products group IQE has joined a new consortium aimed at establishing a pan-European supply chain to improve vertical cavity surface emitting lasers (VCSELs) manufacturing.IQE said that VCSELs are key enabling technologies for a wide range of applications where "demand is proliferating rapidly", such as infrared illumination, data communications, gesture recognition and industrial heating applications."A key impact of the project will be for Europe to secure a leading global position in this vital and rapidly growing segment of photonics," IQE said.The €23m VCSEL consortium, whose partners include Philips, STMicroelectronics, Sick and Sidel, will receive funding from the European Commission with IQE receiving significant support from the Welsh government.The partnership will bring together the partners' production facilities and end users to reduce costs and increase development."By working with key European partners to establish full pilot manufacturing capabilities for high volume production, we will bring the same principles and economies of scale that apply to LED and CMOS processes, to photonics applications employing VCSELs," said IQE's Chief Executive Drew Nelson.The stock was 1.1% higher at 23p by 13:57 on Tuesday.BC