Source Photonics to double InP laser production capacity with new fab in China, driven by 100G and emerging 400G markets

Source Photonics Inc of West Hills, CA, USA (which provides broadband access optical components and modules) and the Jintan Economic Development Zone have announced the establishment of a new optical laser production plant in Jintan, China.

Increasing demand for more bandwidth in cloud data centers, optical networks, wireless communications systems and fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) is creating the need for more efficient and higher-throughput optical lasers and related transceivers, says Source Photonics. With the need to evolve from single-channel to multi-channel optical connectivity products to overcome physical barriers, indium phosphide (InP) laser volumes are expected to grow rapidly over the next several years. In support of these growing requirements, Source Photonics is investing in a new fabrication plant.

Accomodating wafer metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD), chip processing, and related component production, the new fab will more than double the firm’s existing output of InP lasers and related components. It will augment its existing fab in Hsinchu, Taiwan, which has more than doubled its output over the past three years and introduced more advanced devices required for the current 100G and emerging 400G markets. Initial production in the new facility will begin in second-quarter 2018.

“The new facility in Jintan will allow us to improve our service levels to our customers and bring productive and leading-edge technology to market,” says CEO Doug Wright. “It will be a world-class facility, the first of its kind in China,” he claims.