Intense Photonics takes off

17 Jun 2002

Optoelectronic start-up buys DuPont's UK photomask fab after securing millions of dollars in first-round funding.

The Scottish optoelectronic chip manufacturer Intense Photonics has bought a photomask-fabrication facility from the US technology giant DuPont. Based in Hamilton, Scotland, the plant marks Intense Photonics's first expansion after recently securing USD 11 million from the UK-based venture capitalists 3i and ACT Capital Partners.

"The facility is ideal for our needs," said Intense Photonics's chief executive David Lockwood. "It adds to our current infrastructure and will enable the development of our optoelectronic process and manufacturing."

The company plans to open its new site by September of this year and will eventually employ 80 staff.

· Intense Photonics's chip fabrication process for III-V compound semiconductor devices is based on a technique called quantum-well intermixing. Technologists deposit and then cap the layers that build up a wafer. This allows the quantum wells, which form the active elements within a semiconductor, to be "intermixed" across a wafer.

· Intense Photonics's so-called bandgap engineering technique has led to single chips that perform a range of optical functions.