Technology

Nanoporous DBR technology unlocks 30 years of unsolved photonics — high-yield VCSELs and RC-LEDs across new wavelengths

THE 30-YEAR INDUSTRY DEADLOCK
INPHRED’S PATENTED SOLUTION
  1. GaAs VCSELs dominate NIR (850–980 nm) light sources
    AlGaAs/GaAs forms a near-perfect homoepitaxial DBR mirror pair — high refractive-index contrast, low cost, wafer-level testable.
  2. InP (SWIR) and GaN (visible) have no equivalent DBR pair
    InP lattice-matched alloys offer only ~0.3% index contrast vs. ~16% for AlGaAs/GaAs, far below the ~99.9% reflectivity required for a VCSEL cavity.
  3. Existing workarounds fail at scale
    Heteroepitaxial growth adds cost and defects; wafer fusion breaks monolithic process flow; dielectric DBRs resist volume manufacturing. No competitor has achieved low-cost, wafer-level InP or GaN VCSELs.
  • Simple electrochemical etch
    Selectively convert n⁺-doped InP (or GaN) layers into nanoporous (NP) layers to precisely tune refractive index without changing the crystal lattice.
  • Homoepitaxial DBR with engineered contrast
    Alternating undoped/NP layers create index steps of up to ~40% (exceeding AlGaAs/GaAs) on standard foundry epitaxy. No exotic growth, no fusion.
  • Drop-in compatible with volume manufacturing
    All processing is conventional wafer-level fab with on-wafer testing. The scalable electrochemical etch adds one post-epi step which does not change the foundry supply chain.
HOW THE NANOPOROUS DBR WORKS — END-TO-END

Mature foundry epi

Electrochemical etch

Tunable index stack

Mature foundry fabrication

Volume testing/packaging

Homoepitaxially grown InP or GaN with alternating n⁺ and undoped layers

Selectively convert n⁺ layers to nanoporous (NP) semiconductor; undoped layers unchanged

Porosity controls Δn; DBR reflectivity can be tuned from 60% (RC-LED) to >99.5% (VCSEL)

Standard wafer-level process; on-wafer testing; compatible with existing InP/GaN foundries

High yield, low cost — InPHRED is the only company achieving this in InP and GaN

Platform · Extensible

InP · 1,300 – 2,300 nm

GaN · 450 – 570 nm

Nanoporous Technology Platform
One patented process applied to multiple material systems, device types, and integration approaches. IP moat grows with each new application.

SWIR VCSEL
First manufacturable InP VCSEL with homoepitaxial DBR. Eye-safe, high SNR, SWIR wavelengths previously inaccessible at volume cost.

Visible RC-LED
High-spectral-purity, directional visible emitter — enabled by nanoporous GaN DBR mirrors. Unlocks precision health sensing and USR interconnects.

13+ patents · InP & GaN validated · Foundry-compatible

Consumer sensing · Automotive LiDAR · Non-invasive glucose monitor · Gas sensing · Data center I/O

Health wearables · Biomarker sensing · Chip-to-chip links

No competitor achieves this combination: homoepitaxial growth, wafer-level processing, and high-reflectivity DBR mirrors in InP or GaN, simultaneously. InPHRED is the only company to have demonstrated this at a commercially manufacturable level.