Recently, **IQE **CEO Jutta Meier said that due to supply uncertainty caused by export controls, obtaining indium phosphide (InP) substrates is becoming a major risk facing the semiconductor industry. In an interview, Meier said the main challenge for the entire industry is “geopolitical restrictions”—difficulty obtaining materials used to manufacture chips for high-speed data transmission, because supply cannot keep up with demand.
“We are reducing risk by working extensively with different suppliers,” Meier noted. “But ultimately, if the relevant policies are revoked, export-control licenses will also affect us.”
Judging from this statement, already-tight indium phosphide has once again sounded the alarm.
What is indium phosphide?
To understand why indium phosphide is so important, one must first understand what it is.
As one of the three main integrated photonics platforms, indium phosphide (InP) has the longest history. There is a reason for this: to build light-based electronic circuits, a material is needed that can not only “guide light” but also generate light. That means it must be possible to manufacture active components in addition to passive ones. As a so-called direct-bandgap semiconductor, InP is the only material that can satisfy both conditions at the same time; silicon and silicon nitride cannot.
Read more
