TNO is already looking to double production capacity of its photonic chip pilot plant under construction at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven. The facility was designed to produce 10,000 6-inch InP wafers a year, but adding equipment could raise output to 20,000. TNO is discussing the expansion with its partners as demand for photonic chips accelerates, driven in particular by AI data centers, director Ton van Mol of TNO Holst Centre told Studio040.
Van Mol said a much larger full-scale production facility is currently being explored, too. In addition to InP technology, this plant could focus on SiN photonics, for which a pilot production facility is currently being planned in Twente. “Our expectation is that this factory, too, will soon be too small. The question is whether it wouldn’t be better to combine all the separate initiatives in one large factory,” Van Mol said.
The Dutch ambition is to eventually account for 50 percent of global photonic chip production.
