June 15th partners within the iQonic project gathered at ALPES lasers S.A. in St. Blaise near Neuchâtel, Switzerland, to discuss the ALPES quantum cascade laser use case within the iQonic project. The workshop was held in a hybrid format to also allow partners to connect online, and it started with a pre-evening dinner in the beautiful city of Neuchâtel.

 The ALPES quantum cascade laser use case covers early component anomalies detection by means of image analysis conducted on the wafer level. Partners CORE and Brunel provided sophisticated algorithms, based on machine learning and convolute / neural networks to analyse functional structures of the quantum cascade lasers early in the production process, while partner Atlantis created a Decision Support System tool that connects the image’s source, the analysis algorithm computing platform, and the production GUI at ALPES in a complete chain of information flow, as desired for the iQonic architecture. 

 The end user ALPES calculated a significant improvement of yield, demonstrated by at least 2x increased amount of lasers that provide a desired performance, based on an early anomaly detection and, consequently, an early pass / fail decision for  the further processing of laser semiconductor chips.

 Additionally, the prospects of a femtosecond laser-based microscopy tool, provided by partner FORTH to visualize not only surface, but also embedded defect structures, were discussed. Partners ALPES, PRIMA and FORTH  agreed on to discuss the exploitation opportunities of this technology in a trilateral call in more detail.

 Finally, smart tagging of component trays within ALPES production infrastructure is currently deployed, aiming for increasing the lifetime and reliability of the trays. Partners Sensap and ALPES work together towards this goal. 

 The dedicated use case workshop aimed at presenting the results, as well as dissemination and exploitation opportunities of the iQonic technologies and functionalities applied to the ALPES use case.

Group photo of the hybrid MS-Teams event