Recently, 36Kr learned that Shenzhen

Lingdong Xingguang was established in Shenzhen in June 2022, focusing on the design and development of silicon-based optoelectronic integrated chips based on silicon nitride materials. With the technical support of the Department of Electronics at Tsinghua University, the company team has developed an ultra-low loss silicon nitride waveguide integrated chip based on their rich experience in silicon optical chip design. They have also successfully developed a silicon-based integrated external cavity laser using their self-developed chip.

Laser is the core component in information systems, and the linewidth of the laser represents the purity of its emission. The ultra narrow linewidth developed by Lingdong Core Light compresses the already very narrow linewidth of ordinary lasers by thousands of times to meet some special applications. A distributed fiber optic sensing system using an ultra narrow linewidth laser as the light source can sense very weak disturbances such as sound, vibration, temperature stress, etc. along several tens of kilometers.

At present, the research and development of silicon-based optoelectronic technology in China mainly focuses on long-distance transmission, and is mainly concentrated in the fields of supercomputing and optical communication. The silicon-based optoelectronic integrated chips developed by Lingdong Semiconductor focus more on the fields of fiber optic sensing and LiDAR.

There are two main types of products in Lingdong Core Optics. One type is silicon-based integrated external cavity narrow linewidth lasers, which have the advantages of ultra narrow linewidth and high wavelength stability. They are the core optoelectronic devices of distributed fiber optic sensing systems.

By utilizing the coherence characteristics of narrow linewidth lasers, ultra-high precision, ultra long distance, and weak signal detection can be achieved. This laser can be used in distributed sensing systems such as oil and gas pipeline monitoring, power system transmission loss monitoring, nuclear power plant safety monitoring, real-time safety monitoring of oil wells and coal mines, high-speed vehicle road coordination, and high-speed railway line monitoring.

Wang Hui, co-founder and CEO of Lingdong Xinguang, told 36Kr that the silicon-based integrated external cavity ultra narrow linewidth laser that has been trial produced in small batches has extremely low phase noise, integrated design ensures high stability and reliability, and the process flow is independently controllable. It can completely replace imported lasers in distributed fiber sensing systems.

Another type of product is the high linearity frequency modulated continuous wave (FMCW) laser radar light source product developed by the company based on this technology, which has good frequency modulation linearity& nbsp; It can improve the resolution of LiDAR products, solve the bottleneck of nonlinear distortion, and is mainly aimed at the automotive LiDAR market with huge growth potential. Currently, it has started to send samples for initial testing to partners and is in the stage of communication, joint testing, and continuous improvement with radar manufacturers. In the future, the integrated ultra narrow linewidth light source of flexible core light can also be used in emerging fields such as microwave photonics and quantum communication and computing.

In Wang Hui's view, Lingdong Semiconductor has two core competitiveness, one is to create a design and processing platform for silicon optical chips. The company designs dedicated chips based on application characteristics from the source, leveraging different performance features; The second is the packaging capability of silicon optical chips, which stabilizes the ability of dedicated chips through targeted packaging, forming functional devices or modules, and turning them into products suitable for market applications; Based on the above design and packaging platform, Lingdong Xingguang can develop various functional modules for applications.

The investor said:

Xia Zhijin, Managing Partner of Xiangfeng Investment, stated that the localization and miniaturization of optoelectronic devices are long-term trends in the sensing field. The narrow linewidth laser independently developed by Lingdong Core can change the current bottleneck situation of importing key foreign components in high-end fiber optic sensors. The company's FMCW light source provides strong support for the chip integration of LiDAR, bringing higher reliability, lower cost, and less assembly complexity, helping LiDAR open up a larger market space. The Lingdong Semiconductor team has been deeply rooted in the field of silicon optical chips for many years. We are pleased to help the team set sail and promote the industrial development of silicon optical chips in China