[News] Vital Technology Group’s Photonics Chip Base Begins Operation in Wuhan
On September 28, Vital Core Optoelectronic Technology (Wuhan) Co., Ltd. , a subsidiary of Vital Technology Group, officially brought its wafer fabrication facility (fab) online in the Wuhan East Lake Free Trade Zone.
Serving as the manufacturing core of Vital Technology Group’s CNY 12 billion high-end compound semiconductor material and chip industrialization base, the facility features large-format optoelectronic chip platforms supporting 4/6-inch Indium Phosphide (InP) and 6/8-inch Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) materials. The line bring-up marks the base’s formal transition from the construction phase into process qualification and product introduction.
Specifically, the InP production line targets optical communication backbones, covering optoelectronic devices such as lasers, modulators, and photodetectors, while integrating high-speed electronic device processes to enable both optical and electronic chip manufacturing on a single line. The GaAs line covers Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers (VCSELs) and radio frequency (RF) processes, providing both optical communication and RF product lines.
This month, Vital Technology Group, alongside its subsidiaries Anhui Xiandao Jixing Technology and Wuhan Optics Valley Quantum Technology, secured joint pre-research development orders from a leading overseas customer for next-generation single-lambda 400G optical interconnects. High-volume production for all 12 co-development projects will be executed at Vital Core Optoelectronic.
Concurrently, Optics Valley Quantum’s InP optical chips have reached commercial supply at 100G and 200G data rates, leveraging Vital Core Optoelectronic’s fab for volume production.
Vital Technology Group also entered into a strategic cooperation agreement this month with Smarter Microelectronics to jointly develop single-lambda 400G and higher-speed electronic chips, as well as satellite communication RF front-end chips.
Following the fab’s line bring-up, R&D and engineering batches were initiated immediately. Foundry tape-outs for 200G optical chips are leading the rollout, while projects on the 400G platform have concurrently entered the tape-out and verification stages. The platform will offer open access to the broader supply chain via both pure-play foundry services and joint development models.
Vital Core Optoelectronic operates under Vital Technology Group, which has established a fully vertically integrated supply chain in the optical communications sector—spanning upstream rare metal refining, midstream substrates, epitaxy, and chip manufacturing, down to downstream optical transceivers.
Core subsidiaries under the group include Vital Micro-Electronics, Xianrui Technology, CS Microelectronics, Vital Core Optoelectronic, Wuhan Haifeitong Optoelectronic, and Vital Yaoxin Optoelectronic.
- Upstream Materials & Substrates: Vital Micro-Electronics produces GaAs and InP substrates. Xianrui Technology, a controlled subsidiary of Optics Technology Holding, handles the InP substrate business and has achieved commercial volume production and shipment of 6-inch InP substrates.
- Midstream Chips & Devices: CS Microelectronics focuses on epitaxial wafers and laser chips, with a product portfolio covering VCSEL, MPD, APD, and EML devices. Vital Core Optoelectronic invested CNY 12 billion in Wuhan to construct 4/6-inch InP and 6/8-inch GaAs optoelectronic chip platforms, which are now operational.
- Downstream Optical Modules & Components: Wuhan Haifeitong Optoelectronic has launched 400G and 800G optical modules, with development plans for 1.6T transceivers and Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) architectures. Vital Yaoxin Optoelectronic specializes in electronic materials and specialty ceramics used in advanced packaging and optical modules.
(Photo credit: FREEPIK)
