Dutch Photonic IC Firm Announces Production Expansion And Price Reduction

Recently, the Dutch photonic integrated circuit foundry SMART Photonics announced a major decision: to transfer its entire production capacity from 3-inch wafers to 4-inch wafer substrates, thus expanding the production scale of photonic chips and significantly reducing the price of chips.
According to the company, SMART Photonics is one of the first photonic IC foundries to offer 4-inch indium phosphide wafer production.
The above shift not only improves the scale of production, but also brings significant advantages: in general, 4-inch wafers contain almost twice as many chips as 3-inch wafers, which means that production efficiency can be greatly improved. The company said that this scale effect will translate into lower chip prices to better meet market demand.
Guy Backner, COO of SMART Photonics, said: "This shift is not just about the number of wafers. Larger wafer substrates will allow us to better meet the market demand for optical chips."
He further added that the company is expected to play a more dominant role in the integrated optoelectronics ecosystem by reducing costs and increasing production efficiency.
This shift has been supported by the industry and financial venture capital organizations. Last July, $111 million in financing was provided by partners such as PhotonDelta, chip equipment giant Asmay (ASML) and chipmaker NXP Semiconductors. In addition, the European Union's Interreg Northwest Europe project OIP4NWE also provides important support for this change.
By shifting production capacity from 3-inch to 4-inch wafers, SMART Photonics has demonstrated its innovative capability and forward-looking layout in the field of photonic integrated circuits. This shift not only improves the company's competitiveness, but also lays a solid foundation for the development of the entire Dutch photonics ecosystem. In the future, the company will also fully utilize its financing to expand its manufacturing capabilities and accelerate the development of its PIC technology platform and process design suite.