On June 17, 2025, Advanced Micro Semiconductors Co., Ltd. (AMSFAB) officially launched its high-speed and array Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Photodetector (PD) process platform. Featuring superior performance including low dark current, low capacitance, high responsivity, high bandwidth, and exceptional reliability, the platform marks a strategic expansion of AMSFAB’s portfolio in high-speed data communications and optical communications, enabling the company to provide customers with more comprehensive, efficient, and reliable optoelectronic solutions.
Devices fabricated on this platform deliver stable operation across a wide temperature range of -40°C to 85°C, ensuring performance consistency under harsh environmental conditions such as extreme cold and high heat and guaranteeing robust end-system reliability. In qualification testing, the platform’s devices have successfully passed the Telcordia GR-468 standard, encompassing critical reliability assessments such as High Temperature Operating Life (HTOL), Electrostatic Discharge (ESD), Temperature Cycling (T/C), and Temperature Humidity Bias (THB). Specifically, under HTOL testing at 175°C and THB conditions (85°C/85% RH) with a -5V bias applied, three independent production lots (77 samples each) underwent 2,000 hours of stress testing with zero failures. These results fully meet telecom-grade reliability standards.
Built on 4-inch GaAs/AlGaAs heterojunction epitaxial technology, AMSFAB’s GaAs PD process platform integrates critical fabrication steps including deep mesa etching, sidewall passivation, and BCB/PBO planarization. This process architecture not only guarantees exceptional device uniformity and stability but also facilitates mass production scale-up and effectively drives down production costs. Notably, by leveraging synergistic optimization with AMSFAB’s proprietary Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Laser (VCSEL) platform, the foundry can provide customers with highly cost-effective, low-power integrated transceiver solutions. This capability will accelerate the deployment of high-speed optical networks and drive greater efficiency across the optoelectronics supply chain.
