Zephyr Photonics opens semiconductor fab and foundry unit

14 Jan 2013

Company to provide DMEA-accredited, ITAR-compliant services for semiconductor developers.

Zephyr Photonics, a developer of harsh environment, optical interconnect solutions for intelligence, defense, aerospace and diverse industrial applications, based in Zephyr Cove, NV, USA, has launched a Semiconductor Fabrication and Foundry Services business unit.

Tom Steding, the company’s CEO, commented, “Our fab and foundry unit was formed to match the growing demands of fabless semiconductor companies and semiconductor companies with our growth, fabrication, testing and production capabilities. Zephyr Photonics currently provides time-critical device development, testing and production services for a number of key industry customers."

Among Zephyr Photonics' resources is its 10,000 square foot cleanroom in its Zephyr Cove facility, which includes a wide variety of growth, processing, testing, and production equipment. The facility is accredited by the US Government’s DMEA, the Defense Microelectronics Activity. Furthermore the new Zephyr facility is ITAR-compliant and ISO 9001:2008 certified.

Tim McAllister, Zephyr Photonics' VP of Business Development, added “We are excited about this opportunity to play a key fabrication role in the semiconductor industry, enabling our customers' innovation, and improving their time to market by leveraging our experience, in-depth knowledge, process libraries, IP and facilities.

”Our new business unit will grow to be a very important part of our overall corporate mission, to be a high-performance, specialized and trusted foundry partner." Zephyr Photonics' SFFS is fully operational, and is now ready to begin customer engagements.

About Zephyr Photonics

For the past 25 years, Zephyr Photonics has developed advanced photonic solutions for US Government agencies, communication companies, and defense prime contractors.

Enabled by its proprietary, wide-temperature VCSEL-based, optical technology, Zephyr Photonics brings ruggedized, high-performance optical interconnect solutions to demanding mission-critical applications.

As a vertically integrated supplier, Zephyr says it is bringing the advantages of optical solutions to the defense, intelligence, industrial, and oil & gas industries. It operates a vertically integrated 17,000 square foot development and manufacturing facility, including cleanrooms for semiconductor epitaxial growth, device fabrication and testing, as well as device packaging and module assembly.

About the Author

Matthew Peach is a contributing editor to optics.org