November 28, 2005, Palo Alto, CA--Translucent Inc., Silex Systems' (Sydney, Australia) silicon electronics and photonics semiconductor subsidiary, says it has achieved another milestone in its efforts to develop advanced silicon-based photonics devices: the demonstration of electroluminescence (EL) at room temperature in a form of silicon that is compatible with current mass-produced silicon chips and future silicon electronics technology nodes.

"This is an important step forward in our optical silicon integration program," said Petar Atanackovic, Translucent CEO. "The ultimate objective is to develop optically active devices, including an electrically driven silicon laser, which can be integrated with mainstream silicon chips."

The demonstration of EL is a critical prerequisite to the integration of electronic and optical functionality in silicon, and essentially allows light to be generated from silicon by an electric current, such as would be provided by a small battery, or more importantly, an operating silicon chip itself. Previous demonstrations of EL in silicon by other groups have been reported at cryogenic temperatures or in forms of silicon that are not compatible with today's silicon chips or future technology nodes.

Under a DARPA contract that commenced last January, Translucent is funded to develop proprietary silicon-based optical gain devices as part of the EPIC Program. Silex holds a 70% interest in Translucent.

Mon Nov 28 09:17:00 CST 2005