HyperLight, UMC, and Wavetek Partner to Enable High-Volume Foundry Production of TFLN Chiplet™ Platform
Strategic Partnership to Scale TFLN Photonics Manufacturing
HyperLight Corporation, United Microelectronics Corporation, and Wavetek Microelectronics Corporation have announced a strategic manufacturing partnership aimed at enabling high-volume foundry production of HyperLight’s TFLN (thin-film lithium niobate) Chiplet™ Platform. The collaboration will support large-scale production on both 6-inch and 8-inch semiconductor wafers, representing a major milestone in the commercialization of advanced photonics technologies. By combining HyperLight’s photonic platform architecture with UMC and Wavetek’s large-scale semiconductor manufacturing infrastructure, the partnership is expected to accelerate the transition of TFLN technology from specialized research environments into mainstream production environments capable of supporting global technology demand. This initiative comes at a time when the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence computing, hyperscale data centers, and cloud infrastructure is creating unprecedented demand for high-performance optical interconnect technologies. The partnership positions the three companies to provide the manufacturing scale required to support these next-generation computing ecosystems, while also enabling reliable and cost-effective production of photonic chiplets that can be integrated into a wide variety of advanced optical systems used in modern data networks.
Advancing the Commercialization of TFLN Photonics
The new collaboration marks an important turning point for thin-film lithium niobate technology, which has long been recognized as a highly promising material for optical communication and photonic integration. Historically, TFLN photonics has been viewed primarily as a specialized or niche technology used in advanced research applications and limited commercial deployments. However, the new manufacturing partnership aims to change that perception by establishing a clear pathway toward large-scale commercial production. According to HyperLight leadership, the industry has been waiting for a manufacturing model that could support the high volumes required for global infrastructure deployment. With the support of UMC and Wavetek’s foundry capabilities, the TFLN Chiplet Platform can now transition from prototype development to mass manufacturing. This transformation is particularly important for industries that require high-bandwidth optical communication, such as artificial intelligence data centers, telecommunications networks, and high-performance computing environments. By enabling scalable production, the partnership will help deliver the performance, reliability, and cost efficiency required for TFLN photonics to become a foundational technology within next-generation digital infrastructure. The companies involved believe that the era of TFLN as a niche innovation has effectively ended, as large-scale manufacturing will allow the technology to be deployed broadly across global networking and computing platforms.
Unified Photonics Architecture for Modern Optical Networks
At the core of the partnership is HyperLight’s TFLN Chiplet Platform, a design architecture specifically developed to support the wide range of optical communication technologies used in modern networking systems. The platform was engineered from the beginning to support AI-infrastructure-scale production while also accommodating multiple types of optical interconnect solutions within a single manufacturable framework. This unified architecture enables compatibility with short-reach IMDD-based data center pluggables, which are widely used in high-speed data center networking. It also supports longer-reach coherent optical modules commonly deployed in telecommunications and long-distance data communication networks. In addition, the platform is designed to support emerging co-packaged optics (CPO) solutions, which integrate optical communication components directly alongside high-performance processors to improve bandwidth and energy efficiency. By consolidating these diverse application requirements into a single architecture, HyperLight has created a platform capable of serving a broad range of networking environments while maintaining high manufacturing efficiency. Within the partnership, HyperLight will continue to serve as the primary platform architect, responsible for guiding the design and technical roadmap of the TFLN Chiplet Platform. Meanwhile, UMC and Wavetek will provide the advanced foundry manufacturing capabilities necessary to produce these photonic components at the scale required by global technology companies and cloud infrastructure providers.
Leveraging Foundry Expertise for Global Scale
The collaboration builds upon a long-standing relationship between HyperLight and Wavetek, which has played a critical role in transforming TFLN photonics from a laboratory innovation into a commercially viable manufacturing technology. Over the past several years, Wavetek has worked closely with HyperLight to establish a customer-qualified high-volume manufacturing line for TFLN devices within a 6-inch CMOS semiconductor foundry environment. This achievement marked a significant milestone by demonstrating that TFLN photonic devices could be manufactured using processes compatible with existing semiconductor production technologies. The new partnership now expands this capability by introducing the large-scale production resources of United Microelectronics Corporation, one of the world’s leading semiconductor foundry companies. With its advanced 8-inch wafer manufacturing facilities and extensive experience in high-volume chip fabrication, UMC brings the industrial scale required to meet the rapidly growing demand for photonic devices in AI and cloud computing applications. By combining Wavetek’s established TFLN manufacturing processes with UMC’s large-scale production infrastructure, the partnership creates a powerful manufacturing ecosystem capable of supporting global deployment of the TFLN Chiplet Platform.
Industry Leaders Highlight Strategic Importance of TFLN
Executives from the participating companies emphasized the strategic importance of this partnership for the future of optical networking technology. Mian Zhang explained that thin-film lithium niobate has long been recognized as one of the most promising technologies for optical interconnect systems, yet the industry has lacked a clear path toward large-scale manufacturing. The TFLN Chiplet Platform was designed specifically to address this challenge by providing a standardized architecture capable of supporting IMDD, coherent optics, and co-packaged optics within a single manufacturable platform. By working together with UMC and Wavetek, HyperLight now has the manufacturing infrastructure required to bring this technology into high-volume production and deliver the performance and reliability needed for global AI infrastructure deployment. G. C. Hung highlighted that achieving data transmission speeds of 1.6 terabits per second and beyond will require advanced materials capable of delivering significantly higher bandwidth. TFLN is emerging as one of the most promising materials for meeting these performance requirements, and UMC is pleased to contribute its 8-inch manufacturing capabilities to support the commercialization of this scalable photonics platform. The partnership, he noted, establishes a new benchmark for the industry and positions the companies involved as leaders in TFLN production for rapidly expanding AI, cloud computing, and networking markets.
Enabling High-Performance Optical Systems
The TFLN Chiplet Platform delivers several key performance advantages that make it particularly well suited for next-generation optical communication systems. One of its most important capabilities is extremely high modulation bandwidth, which allows optical signals to be transmitted at much higher speeds than many conventional photonic technologies. The platform also supports CMOS-level drive voltages, enabling direct integration with standard semiconductor electronics without requiring additional high-power drivers. In addition, TFLN devices offer exceptionally low optical loss, allowing signals to travel longer distances with minimal degradation. These characteristics provide significant advantages for AI data center networks, where high-speed optical communication is essential for connecting massive numbers of computing processors and storage systems. The technology can also reduce the number of lasers required within networking systems while supporting direct-drive CMOS voltages, helping to lower overall power consumption as data transmission speeds continue to increase. Beyond traditional networking applications, the TFLN Chiplet Platform also holds strong potential for emerging technologies such as quantum computing and advanced sensing systems, where extremely precise optical performance is required.
Simplifying Ecosystem Complexity Through Platform Design
Another major benefit of HyperLight’s platform-based approach is the ability to simplify the broader photonics ecosystem by consolidating multiple application requirements into a standardized production architecture. Traditionally, different optical networking technologies have required distinct component designs and manufacturing processes, increasing complexity for both manufacturers and system integrators. By providing a unified platform that can support multiple optical communication standards and architectures, HyperLight reduces the need for specialized manufacturing processes while lowering development and integration risks. This approach enables customers to adopt TFLN photonics more quickly and cost-effectively, accelerating the deployment of advanced optical technologies across global technology infrastructure. Standardizing production also helps improve supply chain reliability, as manufacturers can produce components at higher volumes using consistent fabrication processes. For cloud service providers, telecommunications companies, and AI infrastructure developers, this means faster access to high-performance photonic components that can support the continued expansion of data-intensive computing environments.
About HyperLight and United Microelectronics Corporation
HyperLight specializes in developing high-performance integrated photonics solutions based on thin-film lithium niobate technology. The company combines the unique electro-optic advantages of TFLN materials with scalable manufacturing techniques, advanced testing processes, and integration technologies to produce next-generation optical engines used in AI data centers, telecommunications networks, and emerging photonics applications. United Microelectronics Corporation, headquartered in Hsinchu, is one of the world’s leading semiconductor foundry providers. The company offers advanced integrated circuit fabrication services covering a wide range of semiconductor technologies including logic and mixed-signal processing, embedded high-voltage components, embedded non-volatile memory, radio-frequency silicon-on-insulator (RFSOI), and BCD technologies. UMC operates 12 semiconductor fabrication facilities across Asia with a combined production capacity exceeding 400,000 wafers per month on a 12-inch equivalent basis. All of its manufacturing facilities are certified under the IATF 16949 automotive quality standard, demonstrating the company’s commitment to high-quality semiconductor production. With offices in the United States, Europe, China, Japan, Korea, and Singapore, UMC employs more than 20,000 people worldwide and continues to play a central role in enabling the semiconductor technologies that power modern electronics and digital infrastructure.
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