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Aeluma Achieves Photodetector Performance Milestone with its Large-Diameter Wafer Manufacturing Platform
Aeluma's Proprietary Technology Potentially Disruptive in Lowering Cost for Automotive LiDAR and Other MarketsGOLETA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2023 /
About this update from Aeluma, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"Aeluma's Proprietary Technology Potentially Disruptive in Lowering Cost for Automotive LiDAR and Other MarketsGOLETA, CA / ACCESSWIRE / March 2, 2023 / Aeluma, Inc. (the \"Company\") (OTCQB:ALMU), a semiconductor company specializing in scalable, cost-effective technologies for LiDAR (light detection and ranging), communication, and sensing, announced today a performance breakthrough for a new class of photodetectors. State-of-the-art performance was demonstrated on Aeluma's large-diameter wafer manufacturing platform.Aeluma's latest photodetector demonstration validates the potential of their technology to enable high quantum efficiency while maintaining low dark current up to a temperature of 105°C, which is specified for automotive applications. Aeluma management believes the recent data represent record performance metrics and mark an important milestone in the evolution of photodetector products that could offer both high performance and low cost for emerging markets such as automotive LiDAR, communication, mobile, AR/VR, quantum computing, and AI.\"This announcement is the culmination of our team's hard work to advance our proprietary technology,\" said Aeluma's CEO, Jonathan Klamkin, PhD. \"Aeluma's ability to manufacture high performance compound semiconductor devices on large-diameter substrates has the potential to enable volume scaling and cost reduction.\"Photodetectors are widely used for LiDAR, communication, and sensing applications. For LiDAR, common photodetector technologies are silicon SPAD (single-photon avalanche diode) and InGaAs (indium gallium arsenide) photodiode.Silicon SPADs are produced in large volumes and at low cost with large-diameter substrates in a CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) manufacturing environment. These photodetectors, however, typically demonstrate much lower efficiency than InGaAs photodiodes. Additionally, LiDAR using these devices operate in the 905-940nm wavelength region, which requires relatively low laser power to maintain eye safety. This limits the LiDAR's range, which is the maximum distance at which an object can be detected. Increasing the photodetector efficiency in the 905-940nm range could improve LiDAR performance.InGaAs is a compound semiconductor with much better material characteristics than silicon. InGaAs can detect between 900-1700nm, including 1550...