Silex Claims Silicon Breakthrough

LUCAS HEIGHTS, Australia -- One of the most sought after prizes in the global semiconductor industry – the demonstrationof optical gain in silicon – has been successfully achieved by Silex subsidiary TranslucentPhotonics Inc, in Silicon Valley, California.

“This is a major breakthrough which we believe will have far-reaching implications for boththe semiconductor and telecommunications industries” Dr Michael Goldsworthy, Silex CEOsaid today. “To put it in context, Translucent’s invention enables, for the first time, thepossibility of integrating optical telecommunications and electronic processing inconventional silicon chips. For example, this could make optical ‘Fiber-to-the-Home’ a realmedium-term possibility, rather than a long-term dream,” he added.

Many organisations have invested significant effort and resources over the past 25 years inan attempt to achieve this goal. For the first time, optical gain has been demonstrated atroom temperature in the same, pure crystalline silicon that is used in the semiconductorindustry to make high speed processors such as the Pentium™ chip. While others may haveshown optical gain in the past, it has either been at cryogenic temperatures or in amorphoussilicon which is unusable for microelectronics.

After visiting Translucent’s laboratory and reviewing the project results, Professor Byerwrote: “While others have demonstrated optical gain at cryogenic temperatures or inamorphous materials that are not usable for today’s electronics, Translucent hasdemonstrated the first room temperature optical gain in semiconductor-grade silicon. Thisenables optics to tap into the existing electronics and silicon processing infrastructure."

The Translucent invention has enormous commercial potential because it aims to push lowcost silicon into the photonics arena (optical communications technology) for the first time,delivering significant cost and performance benefits. The successful development ofTranslucent’s invention is expected to have broad application in the photonics andsemiconductor markets. As previously disclosed, Translucent’s scientists have alsoidentified potentially significant spin-off technologies for the mainstream microprocessorindustry. Patent applications for the spin-off technology have been filed, and others arecurrently being drafted.

The Translucent project is part of Silex’s long-term strategy to bring new, enabling materialsto the US$140 billion semiconductor industry. Silex’s focus is to combine Translucent’soptical technology and Silex’s isotopic silicon technologies to enable significant increases infunctionality and speed, and a reduction in heat-load of electronics processors (i.e.,integrated circuits) of the type used in the personal computer (PC) and telecommunicationsindustries.

Silex Systems Ltd.