LNOI Lithium Niobate Thin-Film Wafers 4inch 6inch 8inch X-cut Y-cut Z-cut Orientations

LNOI Lithium Niobate Thin-Film Wafers 4inch 6inch 8inch X-cut Y-cut Z-cut Orientations

LNOI (Lithium Niobate on Insulator) wafers are advanced photonic platforms based on ultra-thin lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) films (300–900 nm) bonded to insulating substrates (e.g., silicon, sapphire, or glass) via ​​ion implantation and direct bonding techniques​​.

Key advantages include:
​​· Flexible sizes​​: Customizable 4–8-inch wafers with tunable film thickness (standard 600 nm, scalable to micro-scale). ​​

· Heterogeneous integration​​: Compatible with silicon, nitride, and glass for monolithic integration of electro-optic modulators, quantum light sources, etc.

· ​​ZMSH services​​: Wafer design, bonding process optimization, wafer-level fabrication (photolithography, etching, metallization), and turnkey solutions for prototyping to mass production.

Specification for X-cut Lithium Niobate on Insulator (LNOI) wafers

Key Features of LNOI Wafers

​​1. Material Properties​​:

· High electro-optic coefficient (r₃₃ ≈ 30 pm/V) and wide transparency window (0.35–5 μm), enabling UV-to-MIR applications.

· Ultra-low waveguide loss (<0.3 dB/cm) and high nonlinearity for high-speed modulation and quantum frequency conversion.

​2. ​Process Advantages​​:

· Sub-300 nm films reduce modal volume, supporting >60 GHz bandwidth modulators.

· Thermal expansion mismatch mitigation through bonding interface engineering (e.g., amorphous silicon layers).

​​3. Performance Comparison​​:

· vs. Silicon Photonics/InP: Lower power consumption (<3 V half-wave voltage), higher extinction ratio (>20 dB), and 50% smaller footprint.

Primary applications of LNOI Wafers

1. ​​High-Speed Optical Communications​​:

- ​​Electro-optic modulators​​: Enable 800 Gbps/1.6 Tbps modules with >40 GHz bandwidth, 3× efficiency over silicon.

​​- Coherent modules​​: Heterogeneously integrated with silicon photonics for low-loss, high-reliability long-haul transmission.

​​2. Quantum Information Systems​​:

​​- Quantum light sources​​: Integrated entangled photon pair generators for on-chip quantum state manipulation.

- ​​Quantum computing chips​​: Leverage LiNbO₃’s nonlinearity for qubit fabrication and fault-tolerant architectures.

​​3. Sensing & Imaging​​:

​​- Terahertz detectors​​: Non-cryogenic imaging with mm-resolution via EO modulation.

- ​​Fiber optic gyroscopes​​: High-precision inertial navigation for aerospace.

​​4. Optical Computing & AI Acceleration​​:

​​- Photonic ICs​​: Ultra-low-latency logic gates and switches for parallel AI processing.

ZMSH's Services

1. Core Services​​: ​​

Wafer Customization​​: 4–8-inch LNOI wafers with X-cut/Z-cut orientations, MgO doping, and buried oxide layer thickness (50 nm–20 μm).

​​Heterogeneous Integration​​: Bonding with silicon, sapphire, or nitride for hybrid EO-optical chips (e.g., laser-modulator monoliths). ​​

Fabrication Services​​: 150 nm UV lithography, dry etching, Au/Cr metallization, and wafer-level packaging/testing. ​​

End-to-End Support​​: Design simulation (PIC Studio tools), yield optimization, and full-scale production. ​​

2. Technological Trends​​: ​​

Larger Wafers​​: Transition to 8-inch LNOI for cost reduction and capacity scaling.

​​Ultra-Thin Films​​: Develop <200 nm films to overcome short-wavelength absorption limits (visible-light applications). ​​

Hybrid Integration​​: Bond with III-V materials (InP) for laser-modulator integration. ​​

Smart Manufacturing​​: AI-driven etching parameter optimization to reduce defects (<1 defect/cm²).