News: Optoelectronics
21 November 2023
Infinera awarded $14m, five-year CalCompetes grant
Infinera Corp of San Jose, CA, USA — a vertically integrated manufacturer of digital optical network systems — has been awarded a California Competes (CalCompetes) grant worth up to $14m over five years by the California Governor’s Office of Business and Economic Development (GO-Biz). This is a first step to expanding and modernizing Infinera’s US-based domestic production of compound semiconductors and continuing to support innovation and economic development in the USA in future years.
The grant will enable Infinera — which has in-house fab operations and test & packaging capabilities in multiple states — to build upon its 20+ year history in the USA and continue to drive innovation in indium phosphide (InP)-based compound semiconductor and monolithic photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technologies. It is expected that fostering domestic production of these critical technologies will help to increase the USA’s economic and national security in semiconductor innovation, manufacturing and supply chain resilience.
The CalCompetes Grant Program is one of California’s main incentive programs to leverage tens of billions of dollars of federal funds available under the Creating Helpful Incentives to Produce Semiconductors (CHIPS) Act, which is designed to encourage growth and expansion of semiconductor manufacturing and R&D in the USA.
The grant is “an important step in helping to boost America’s domestic production of semiconductor technologies,” reckons Infinera’s CEO David Heard. “Since our founding, we chose to keep our optical compound semiconductor fab and advanced packaging operations in the United States,” he adds. “We remain committed to leveraging our unique expertise, talent and capabilities to support the goals of US federal and state initiatives focused on economic development and national security.”
