CCRAFT foundry launches to commercialise TFLN chips
The start-up, which is a CSEM spin-off, has been delivering photonic chips using a pilot production line for the past four years, and plans additional manufacturing capacities in Neuchâtel to scale up production
CSEM has announced the launch of spin-off company CCRAFT to manufacture next‑generation PICs based on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN). These advanced photonic microchips process light signals for high-speed optical communications and high‑performance computing (HPC), and also aim to enable innovative sensing systems and emerging quantum technologies.
“Mainstream photonic platforms are hitting fundamental limits in bandwidth and energy efficiency, bottlenecks amplified by the AI-driven demand for data. TFLN is a very promising material platform capable of meeting these next-generation performance needs,” says Hamed Sattari, CCRAFT founder and CEO. “We have developed our technology over the last six years at CSEM, and manufactured thousands of photonics chips for more than 40 partners. We are now ready to scale up production.”
Today’s global data communication depends on a massive network of datacentres and internet exchange points connected by optical fibres, cables, and even free-space links. As data flows through these networks, it constantly needs to switch between electronic and optical signals – handled by special components like transceivers in datacentres.
With the rapid growth of data, especially driven by AI, current technologies are hitting their limits in speed and energy efficiency. Although new architectures and faster electronic chips are being developed, the biggest challenge remains the conversion between light and electricity.
According to CCRAFT, most existing platforms, such as silicon photonics or indium phosphide, cannot deliver the leap in performance the market needs, but TFLN-based chips promise up to 8 times higher speed and consume up to 10 times less energy than conventional optical components.
Thanks to its excellent electro-optic properties and compatibility with modern chip manufacturing, TFLN enables ultra-fast and efficient data transfer and industrial adaptation, CCRAFT says. The company adds that, beyond data communication, TFLN also opens new possibilities for applications in quantum technologies, advanced sensing, and space systems, thanks to its low optical losses, wide transparency range, and ability to work at standard electronics voltages.
“TFLN combines several key advantages: high electro‑optic efficiency, low optical losses, a wide transparency window, optical nonlinearities, and compatibility with microelectronic systems,” explains Sattari. “This positions TFLN as a transformative platform not only for data communication, but also for quantum technologies, LiDAR, advanced sensing, and space applications. CCRAFT offers both monolithic chips, built entirely on a TFLN substrate, and hybrid designs that combine TFLN with silicon for easier integration.”
CCRAFT also provides a dedicated process design kit (PDK) to support customers in the designing and testing of the microcircuits to be produced. The company says its PDK contains a complete modelling of each component’s physical characteristics and performance to ensure that the manufactured chips behave as designed. CCRAFT adds that it can produce Multi‑Project Wafers (MPW) containing up to 800 different chips per wafer, which can help clients speed up the modelling and testing phase.
Sattari and his team have been producing PICs for six years on CSEM’s foundry infrastructure. “Our tight collaboration with CSEM allows us to move from pilot manufacturing to industrial production,” states Sattari. The company plans to install additional production lines in Neuchâtel to deliver 12 million chips per year by 2030.
“CSEM provides a unique platform for CCRAFT,” says Bahaa Roustom, vice president of marketing & business development at CSEM. “By leveraging CSEM's infrastructure and years of know‑how and also Horizon Europe projects, CCRAFT can accelerate the time to production and could become the first company in the world offering industrial production of components essential to high-performance optical information processing. This is a real opportunity for Switzerland and Europe to regain some sovereignty in an essential communication and computing technology. The launching of CCRAFT shows the impact of CSEM’s start-up programme that supports innovation in a structured and ambitious way. It also aligns with our objectives to foster world-class innovation, follow tightly where the market is going, and enable Swiss high-tech companies to flourish.”
