Zhaochi, Sanan, and Leyard reveal new progress in Micro LED optical communications

Recently, Zhaochi, Sanan Optoelectronics, and Leyard have successively disclosed the progress of Micro LED optical communications.

■ Zhaochi Co., Ltd.: Micro LED light source chip is in the sample verification and testing stage

On March 12, Zhaochi Co., Ltd. released the "Progress Announcement on Foreign Investment and Construction of Optical Communication Semiconductor Laser Chip and High-speed Optical Module Projects."

The announcement shows that Zhaochi's high-speed optical module project has completed the construction of a clean intelligent manufacturing base of nearly 50,000 square meters and is fully operational. As of the date of this announcement, 200G and below optical modules have been mass-produced; the first batch of 400G/800G parallel optical transceiver module full-process manufacturing production lines have completed equipment installation and debugging, and the 400G/800G optical modules have entered the small-batch production stage after completion of reliability testing, and are orderly advanced to the large-scale mass production stage; 1.6T optical modules have entered the rapid research and development stage, focusing on LPO, NPO, and CPO multi-path parallel research to build the next generation of high-speed and low-power solutions.

At the same time, the company's laser chip project has also made phased progress. In the early stage, 20-cavity MOCVD equipment compatible with LED gallium arsenide chip and laser chip production lines has been configured. At present, some back-end equipment has been added to build a laser chip production line.

As of the date of this announcement, 25GDFB and below rate optical chips have completed research and development and trial production, and are gradually transitioning to the mass production stage; the high-power series CWDFB laser chips and 50GEML laser chips used in 400G/800G/1.6T optical modules are steadily advancing research and development according to the established plan; the Micro LED light source chip for Micro LED optical interconnection CPO technology has completed the research and development work and is currently in the sample verification and testing stage.

It is understood that Zhaochi's "annual output of 100 million optical communication semiconductor laser chips project" and "optical communication high-speed module and optical device project" planned investment amount does not exceed 500 million yuan; it will build gallium arsenide and indium phosphide compound semiconductor laser wafer manufacturing production lines, as well as optical communication high-speed module and optical device manufacturing production lines respectively.

■ Sanan Optoelectronics: Micro LED light source devices have been sent to domestic and foreign leading companies for module assembly verification

On March 11, Sanan Optoelectronics said in response to investor questions on an interactive platform that the company has carried out in-depth cooperation with Tsinghua University, China Mobile and other entities in the fields of Micro LED optoelectronic devices and high-speed optical communications to jointly promote the research and development and application verification of related technologies. The Micro LED light source devices produced by the company have excellent performance, and samples have been sent to leading domestic and foreign companies for module assembly verification.

■ Leyard: Micro LED optical module products have been provided to the Chinese Academy of Sciences

On March 10, the investor relations activity record sheet disclosed by Leyard showed that the company had previously carried out research and development cooperation with the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the field of optical communications, and had provided Micro LED optical module products to the Chinese Academy of Sciences to replace the original traditional LED light transmission solution. The current solution is still in the research and development verification stage, and there is certain uncertainty.

As the AI wave drives the demand for data center computing throughput to surge, Micro LED optical communication has the advantages of low power consumption, high bandwidth, low cost, and easy integration, and has become a new direction in the industry.

Currently, Micro LED optical communication participants are mainly divided into chip manufacturers and ecological participants. Chip manufacturers are the foundation of Micro LED optical communications. They are responsible for providing core components such as light-emitting chips, detection chips, and driver chips. They are the key force for technological breakthroughs. As the "signal source" of Micro LED optical communication, the performance of the light-emitting chip directly determines the bandwidth, power consumption and stability of the optical communication link, and GaN-based chip manufacturers are the absolute core in this field.

Generally speaking, Micro LED optical communication is moving from the laboratory to industrialization. International companies are leading in ecology and technology, and domestic companies are quickly catching up based on the foundation of the LED industry. As commercialization accelerates, it may become an important solution for high-speed interconnection in the AI era.