[News] AIXTRON Received Multiple Orders from Lumentum Due to AI Optical Communication Boom
With the ongoing development of AI computing infrastructure, demand across the high-speed optical interconnect supply chain is increasingly extending upstream to equipment vendors.
On May 19, MOCVD equipment maker AIXTRON announced that it had secured multiple orders from optical communications company Lumentum for its G10-AsP platform to support capacity expansion of AI networking and high-speed optical connectivity solutions.
The G10-AsP systems purchased by Lumentum will be used to manufacture indium phosphide (InP) lasers and detectors. As hyperscale AI data center networks rapidly expand, InP-based high-speed optical components are becoming key building blocks for the 800G and emerging 1.6T era.
Lumentum has been advancing next-generation InP technologies for 800G and higher-speed applications to meet rising bandwidth requirements in AI data center architectures. To address growing customer demand, the company is expanding manufacturing capacity with AIXTRON equipment.
Designed for high-volume InP production, the G10-AsP platform incorporates advanced temperature control and injector engineering to improve wafer uniformity. It also features automated cassette-to-cassette wafer handling and in-situ cleaning capabilities to support long production cycles and high-throughput manufacturing. The platform has supported 6-inch InP wafer processing, aligning with industry trends toward larger wafer sizes and greater production scale.
The AI-driven surge in high-speed optical interconnect demand has already triggered ripple effects across the equipment market.
Earlier this month, Veeco announced more than USD 250 million in new equipment orders from multiple customers, covering its Spector ion beam deposition systems, Lumina MOCVD platforms, and WaferEtch wet processing systems, primarily for InP laser production.
According to Veeco, deliveries will begin in 2026 and peak in 2027. The orders are largely driven by rapid growth in silicon photonics and surging demand for 800G and 1.6T optical modules from hyperscale data centers.
From a broader supply-chain perspective, rising data transmission requirements under ongoing AI infrastructure upgrades are accelerating the shift toward optical interconnect architectures, as conventional copper-based solutions increasingly face limitations in speed, power efficiency, and thermal management. While 800G deployment is in high gear, 1.6T is also moving toward commercialization.
The transition to higher transmission speeds is driving demand not only for advanced optical modules and InP lasers, but also for optical chips, epitaxial capacity, and upstream equipment expansion.
Consecutive order won by suppliers such as Veeco and AIXTRON suggest that the AI computing era is ushering in a new investment cycle for high-speed optical interconnect manufacturing. As AI data center construction accelerates, devices including InP, VCSEL, and Micro LED technologies—and their broader optical communications ecosystems—could embrace significant growth opportunities ahead.
(Photo credit: FREEPIK)
