IQE plc and Tower Semiconductor have announced a multi-year agreement for the supply of Indium Phosphide (InP) epiwafers. The epiwafers will support Tower’s advanced silicon photonics platforms for optical connectivity solutions in AI-driven data centre infrastructure.
IQE’s InP epiwafers will be used in technologies including 200Gbs/lane pluggable transceivers, prototyping of 400Gb/lane modulators, and optical circuit switches for datacentres. The agreement includes a minimum purchase commitment by Tower in the first year, a reciprocal supply commitment from IQE, and minimum volume commitments thereafter.
The companies also reached a separate agreement under which Tower will provide IQE with a broad worldwide and royalty-free license to porous silicon patents. This resolves all prior IP disputes and related litigation between the parties.
Jutta Meier, Chief Executive Officer of IQE, stated: “I am pleased to move forward together with Tower, already the leader in silicon photonics. This agreement reinforces IQE’s position within Tier 1 global hyperscale cloud and AI infrastructure markets. With decades of InP epitaxy expertise and established high-volume manufacturing capability, IQE is primed to support next-generation optical connectivity applications as they scale from innovation to commercial deployment.”
Dr. Marco Racanelli, President of Tower Semiconductor, stated: “We are pleased to partner with IQE as a key supplier for our next-generation photonic technologies that add InP high-performance components to our high-volume, mature, silicon photonics platform. The combination will enable products that can deliver both the performance and high volumes required to scale future AI infrastructure capacity.”
