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Enkris unveils high-speed, low-power micro-LED optical interconnect product
Enkris Semiconductor, a pure-play gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial wafer foundry based in Suzhou Industrial Park, Jiangsu, China, has unveiled a high-speed, low-power micro-LED optical interconnect product. This development comes as data centers face soaring bandwidth demands from artificial intelligence and computing power growth, driving a shift from copper to optical interconnects for short-distance links within servers and racks. Traditional micro-LED optical interconnects use sapphire substrates, which suffer from low bandwidth and high drive current density. Enkris has developed 8–12-inch GaN-on-Si micro-LED light-source products that achieve a 3dB bandwidth of 1.6GHz at a current density of 500A/cm², with power consumption below 1pJ/bit. The company leveraged its GaN epitaxy expertise and a CMOS-compatible micro-LED process flow to optimize epitaxial structures, material quality, and device design. By suppressing the quantum-confined Stark effect (QCSE) in the quantum wells, carrier recombination rate is enhanced. Reducing active region area lowers device capacitance and minimizes RC delay. In collaboration with Professor Lu Shulong's research group at the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Enkris achieved the 1.6GHz cut-off frequency under ultra-low current injection, placing it at an industry-leading level. The 8”/12” micro-LED on silicon enables integration on advanced-node CMOS via mature wafer-to-wafer or die-to-wafer bonding. This technology is compatible with existing hardware architectures and protocols used in high-bandwidth memory, filling a gap in short-range transmission. With low power consumption, low heat generation, and no electromagnetic interference, it is expected to accelerate adoption of micro-LED short-distance interconnects in data centers.