Applications
RF & photonics
In RF and photonic devices, geometry is the function. Waveguide sidewall roughness becomes optical loss, facet angle becomes coupling efficiency and film thickness becomes centre frequency. Equipment evaluation must be measured in the units of your device.
The process challenges that recur
Roughness measured in nanometres
Waveguide and resonator sidewalls demand smooth, vertical profiles in materials from silicon and SiN to lithium niobate and III-V stacks.
Exotic material stacks
Piezoelectrics, III-V epitaxy and optical dielectrics each bring their own chemistry, selectivity and damage constraints.
Optical-grade films
Index control, absorption and stress in deposited dielectrics decide device performance as much as any lithography step.
Typical process steps we support
- Precision dielectric and compound RIE
- Deep silicon etch for optical benches and MEMS mirrors
- Optical-grade SiO₂ / SiN PECVD
- Facet and mesa etch for III-V lasers
- Thermal oxidation and anneal
How we help
Speak the units of your device
Evaluations framed in insertion loss, Q-factor and propagation loss — with process metrics mapped to them explicitly.
Structure multi-material projects
When one device crosses three material systems, we help sequence the equipment questions so they can each be answered cleanly.
Bridge research and production
Many photonics teams are scaling from lab processes. We help define what changes — and what must not — on the way to a production platform.
What to prepare for a first discussion
- Device type and wavelength / frequency band
- Material stack and substrate, wafer size
- Critical geometry: CD, depth, sidewall spec
- Loss, roughness or damage criteria
- Current platform and its limitation
- Stage: research, pilot or production
Have a structure, film or thermal step to discuss?
Send a short description of your application — device type, material, wafer size and what a good result looks like. An engineer will reply with a concrete next step.