Another Hot Application of SiC – Full-Color Optical Waveguides.

Another Hot Application of SiC – Full-Color Optical Waveguides.

As a typical material of third-generation semiconductors, SiC and its industrial development have grown rapidly in recent years, like mushrooms after a rain. SiC substrates have already established a strong presence in electric vehicles and industrial applications, such as in the 800V fast charging for electric vehicles. Due to its excellent performance and the continuously developing supply chain, SiC has become a key driver of this growth. Additionally, SiC has excellent thermal conductivity, allowing for similar rated power to be achieved with smaller packaging. Furthermore, we are also seeing SiC materials being applied in holographic optical waveguides. Several leading AR companies have reportedly started turning their attention to SiC optical waveguides. The SEMICON exhibition featured promotional images of SiC full-color optical waveguides.

Why can SiC materials be used in full-color optical waveguide applications?

1. High Refractive Index of SiC: SiC has a refractive index (2.6–2.7) significantly higher than traditional glass (1.5–2.0) and resin (1.4–1.7). The high refractive index of SiC allows optical waveguide lenses made from it to provide a wider field of view. Moreover, this high refractive index enables SiC to more effectively constrain light in diffractive optical waveguides, reducing light loss and improving display brightness.
    

2. Single-Layer Design: In theory, a single-layer SiC lens can achieve a full-color field of view angle greater than 80°, whereas a glass lens requires three layers to achieve only a 40° field of view.
    

3. Reduced Weight: The single-layer structure reduces the amount of material used. Combined with SiC’s inherent high strength, this significantly reduces the overall weight of AR glasses, enhancing wearing comfort. SiC lenses can dramatically reduce device weight and expand the field of view, enabling AR glasses to reach a total weight below the 20g threshold, approaching the form of regular glasses. The use of SiC substrates in Micro LED display technology can reduce the module volume by 40%, increase brightness efficiency by 2.3 times, and enhance the display performance of AR glasses.
    

4. Thermal Management: SiC materials have excellent thermal conductivity (490W/m·K), allowing the heat generated by the optical and computational modules to be quickly conducted through the waveguide itself, rather than relying on traditional leg heat dissipation designs. This property solves the performance degradation problem caused by heat buildup in AR devices and improves heat dissipation efficiency. The high thermal conductivity, combined with low-stress cutting processes, significantly reduces the "rainbow pattern" issue in optical waveguide lenses. Additionally, with the integrated heat dissipation design of the waveguide, it helps lower the operational temperature of the optical system and improves thermal management.
    

5. Supportive Properties: The mechanical strength, wear resistance, and thermal stability of SiC ensure the structural stability of optical waveguides during long-term use, making them particularly suitable for high-precision optical component requirements, such as space telescopes and AR glasses
    

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The above characteristics of SiC materials break through the traditional limitations of optical waveguides in terms of display performance, volume weight, and thermal management, making SiC a key innovation direction in the field of full-color optical waveguides.

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