IQE and Tower seal InP pact
Multi-year agreement supports silicon photonics platforms for AI data centre interconnects while resolving a longstanding intellectual property dispute.
IQE and Tower Semiconductor have signed a multi-year agreement for the supply of indium phosphide (InP) epiwafers used in optical connectivity technologies for AI-driven data centre infrastructure.
Under the agreement, IQE will supply InP epiwafers for several of Tower’s silicon photonics platforms, supporting the development of next-generation optical technologies.
The collaboration covers solutions for 200Gb/s-per-lane pluggable transceivers, prototyping of 400Gb/s-per-lane modulators and optical circuit switches aimed at future data centre deployments.
The deal includes minimum purchase commitments from Tower during the first year, reciprocal supply commitments from IQE and agreed minimum volumes in subsequent years.
In a separate agreement, Tower will grant IQE a worldwide, royalty-free licence to patents related to porous silicon technology, resolving an intellectual property dispute between the companies and settling all related litigation.
IQE said the partnership strengthens its position in hyperscale cloud and AI infrastructure markets, while Tower said the combination of InP-based components with its silicon photonics platform will support the performance and manufacturing scale required for future AI networking applications.
