VLC Photonics S.L., a Hitachi Group company specializing in photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design, testing, and packaging has completed the relocation of its testing and assembly operations to a purpose-built facility at the Táctica Industrial Park in Paterna, Valencia. The move finishes a phased transition that began late last year with the transfer of its corporate and administrative teams.
The new 1,545-square-meter site features 315 square meters of ISO Class 7 (Class 10,000) cleanroom space with electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection, 480 square meters of specialized laboratories, and 750 square meters of office space. Research and characterization work will run in an adjacent ISO Class 8 lab, with all metrology, test, and assembly systems fully operational.
As optical connectivity moves from research prototypes to mass commercialization, the site significantly expands VLC Photonics’ service offerings across multiple material systems, including silicon photonics, indium phosphide (InP), silicon nitride (SiN), planar lightwave circuits (PLC), and polymers.
The facility’s technical capabilities include:
- Wafer- and Die-Level Testing: Automated probe alignment at nanometer precision for vertical and edge coupling, supporting throughput of over 1,000 dies per month.
- High-Speed Electrical Testing: Characterization up to 110 GHz with real-time analysis at 256 GSa/s, supporting NRZ and PAM4 modulation formats.
- Broadband Optical Metrology: Wavelength coverage spanning 350 nm to 4,000 nm with full polarization control.
- Packaging and Assembly: Chip-on-board, chip-on-carrier, wire bonding, flip-chip attach, and fiber array attachment.
- Environmental Reliability Testing: In-house climatic chambers capable of HTOL, HTS, thermal shock, damp heat, and HAST stress testing.
“Operating our own dedicated environment lets us control test schedules, secure customer intellectual property, and scale production seamlessly,” said Iñigo Artundo, CEO of VLC Photonics. “Photonic integration is shifting toward commercial volumes, and this infrastructure helps our customers scale reliably.”
The facility also features a built-in cleanroom expansion zone to add future backend capacity without requiring structural changes.
