Semiconductor today

Silicon photonics-based chip-to-chip optical connectivity firm Ayar Labs of San Jose, CA, USA — which is pioneering co-packaged optics (CPO) for AI scale-up — has secured an additional $150m in funding, bringing its total primary capital raised in 2026 to $650m. Separately, it discloses that Wiwynn made a strategic investment earlier this year. Wiwynn, a cloud IT and infrastructure provider for data centers, joins a growing group of strategic backers that includes Alchip, AMD, Intel, MediaTek, and NVIDIA...

The Optical Internetworking Forum (OIF) has issued the Implementation Agreement (IA) for 1600ZR Coherent Interfaces, defining an interoperable 1.6T coherent line interface and frame format for single-span, amplified, point-to-point dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) links up to 120km...

In booth #2173 at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2026) in Malaga, Spain (21–23 September), the Ethernet Alliance is hosting a live multi-vendor interoperability demonstration at a pivotal moment for high-speed Ethernet, as bandwidth and performance requirements continue to climb and the 1.6 Terabit Ethernet ecosystem gains momentum. IEEE P802.3dj, which includes new specifications for 1.6Tb/s Ethernet, is also advancing through the standards process...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA (a dual-use defense & security integrated platform company) says that, following notification from NYSE Regulation, trading in its common stock is scheduled to resume on NYSE American on 14 September under the ticker symbol ‘BURU’. The stock is currently quoted on the OTC Pink Market under the temporary post-split symbol ‘BURUD’...

Infineon Technologies AG of Munich, Germany and smart energy firm SolarEdge Technologies Inc of Milpitas, CA, USA have extended their collaboration to advance solid-state circuit breaker (SSCB) technology for high-voltage DC distribution in AI and hyperscale data centers. The collaboration addresses a key challenge in the adoption of 800VDC architecture: Safe operation of increasingly power-dense infrastructure requires very fast fault-isolation to achieve selectivity while maintaining high efficiency...

Pure-play 8-inch specialty foundry DB HiTek of Seoul, South Korea has completed reliability qualification for its 1200V silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFET process on 8-inch (200mm) wafers. This marks a step in its expansion into the 8-inch SiC foundry market. Building on completion of this qualification, DB HiTek plans to strengthen product development support for customers, secure new customers and accelerate preparations for volume production in 2027...

Ascent Solar Technologies Inc of Thornton, CO, USA – which designs and makes lightweight, flexible copper indium gallium diselenide (CIGS) thin-film photovoltaic (PV) panels that can be integrated into consumer products, off-grid applications and aerospace applications – has added Tom Bawol as its new director of strategic sales & market development, and Lieutenant General Steve Smith to its Strategic Advisory Board in the role of strategic advisor...

Epiwafer and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK has reported greater-than-expected revenue of £64.6m for first-half 2026, up 43% from £45.3m in first-half 2025, supported by strong demand across all of the firm’s core segments...

IVWorks Co Ltd of Daejeon, South Korea – which was founded in 2011 and manufactures 100–200mm gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial wafers for RF & power electronics applications – is accelerating the shift from automated production that follows fixed procedures to an autonomous process in which AI judges the existing state and decides the next action on its own. The shift is based on the company’s in-house AI epitaxy platform DOMM, which is used in its GaN epiwafer production...

Global smartphone production in second-quarter 2026 reached 275 million units, down 8% year-on-year, according to market research firm TrendForce. The decline was narrower than previously forecast, resulting in better-than-expected overall performance...

In Yole Group’s White Paper ‘Photonics at the Speed of AI’ (part of the firm’s AI White Papers Collection), it argues that optical transceivers — once a supporting piece of data-center infrastructure — have become a system-level requirement for scaling artificial intelligence...

Modelithics Inc of Tampa, FL, USA, which provides RF and microwave simulation models for electronic design automation (EDA), has released the Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library v26.5.11. For more than 12 years, the Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library has provided RF and microwave engineers with up-to-date, highly accurate, measurement-based nonlinear models that accelerate design cycles, improve first-pass success and reduce development costs...

Modelithics Inc of Tampa, FL, USA, which provides RF and microwave simulation models for electronic design automation (EDA), has released the Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library v26.5.11. For more than 12 years, the Modelithics Qorvo GaN Library has provided RF and microwave engineers with up-to-date, highly accurate, measurement-based nonlinear models that accelerate design cycles, improve first-pass success and reduce development costs...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA (a dual-use defense & security integrated platform company) is expanding its directed-energy optical portfolio into law enforcement and public security through its subsidiary Lyocon S.r.l. The initiative extends NUBURU’s One Optical Systems Hub beyond the battlefield and into everyday protective operations – public order, checkpoints and access control, tactical response and perimeter protection – with an initial go-to-market focus on the USA and NATO-member countries...

NUBURU Inc of Centennial, CO, USA (a dual-use defense & security integrated platform company) is expanding its directed-energy optical portfolio into law enforcement and public security through its subsidiary Lyocon S.r.l. The initiative extends NUBURU’s One Optical Systems Hub beyond the battlefield and into everyday protective operations – public order, checkpoints and access control, tactical response and perimeter protection – with an initial go-to-market focus on the USA and NATO-member countries...

RF gallium nitride GaN technology is entering a new phase of growth and strategic competition, notes KnowMade in its report RF GaN Technology Patent Landscape Analysis 2026...

RF gallium nitride GaN technology is entering a new phase of growth and strategic competition, notes KnowMade in its report RF GaN Technology Patent Landscape Analysis 2026...

Specialty semiconductor and performance materials producer 5N Plus Inc (5N+) of Montréal, Québec, Canada has been selected by the US Department of War to receive a US$7.3m award to establish domestic production of gallium arsenide components for US defence applications. This follows presentation of the firm’s proposal at the inaugural Defense Industrial Base Accelerator (DIBX) Pitch Competition in Philadelphia (25-27 August)...

Sivers Semiconductors AB of Kista, Sweden (which supplies RF beam-former ICs and lasers for AI data-center, SATCOM, defense and telecom applications) has announced a $30m strategic investment to significantly expand its indium phosphide (InP) manufacturing facility in Glasgow, Scotland, UK as it prepares for anticipated customer production ramps driven by growing AI data-center and optical networking demand...

Epiwafer and substrate maker IQE plc of Cardiff, Wales, UK has announced a purchase agreement with Quintessent Inc of Santa Barbara, CA, USA — which specializes in heterogeneous integration of quantum dot lasers and silicon photonic integrated circuits (PICs) — for the supply of quantum dot laser (QDL) epitaxy...