According to foreign media reports, British researchers have developed the world's leading composite semiconductor (CS) technology to support future high-speed data communications. A team of researchers at the Cardiff University's Institute for Compound Semiconductors (ICS) has collaborated with others to create an ultra-fast, highly sensitive avalanche photodiode (APD) that is produced by this diode. Electronic "noise" is smaller than other silicon competing products.

APD is a semiconductor device that utilizes the "photoelectric effect" (produced when light is irradiated onto a material) and is particularly sensitive, capable of converting light into electricity. Faster, more sensitive APDs are needed around the world for high-speed data communication applications and light detection and ranging (lidar) systems for self-driving cars.

Dr. Shiyu Xie, co-founder of Ser Cymru MBE equipment, said: "The APD we developed is capable of operating in very low room temperature environments and, very importantly, is compatible with the InP optoelectronic platforms currently used by most commercial communications providers. Such APDs can be used in a wide range of applications. In lidar or 3D laser imaging applications, APD can generate high-precision maps; in addition, it can be used in geomorphology, seismology, and some control and navigation applications for autonomous vehicles. Our research can change the global APD research, and the materials we develop can directly replace existing APDs, resulting in higher data transfer rates or longer transmission distances."