News: Optoelectronics
17 November 2025
Oxford Instruments’ plasma processing equipment enabling Coherent to ramp up 6-inch InP fabs
UK-based Oxford Instruments says that it is playing a key role to support the industry’s first fully automated 6-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafer fabrication capability for photonic devices, led by compound semiconductors and optical networking solutions provider Coherent Corp of Saxonburg, PA, USA.
The firm says that its plasma processing equipment is central to Coherent ramping up 6-inch InP fabs in Sherman, Texas, and Järfälla, Sweden, which will play a pivotal role in driving advancements in AI data-center, telecoms and sensing applications. Coherent’s transition to 6-inch wafers is set to deliver significant benefits, including a substantial increase in capacity, lower die cost and more than four times the number of devices per wafer.
Oxford Instruments has supplied fully automated, high-throughput 6-inch InP processing equipment, enabling Coherent to achieve the productivity gains. The equipment is designed to support the transition from 800G to 1.6T products, a key requirement to meet the growing demands of AI interconnects and optical communications.
“We have been the leading supplier of InP plasma etch equipment to the datacom market, and Coherent, for many years,” says Matt Kelly, managing director, Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology (OIPT) of Yatton, near Bristol, UK. “Our technology, with the quality, throughput and reliability that we have developed alongside excellent service, is ideally positioned to support the current device demand infle ction we are seeing with the release of generative AI applications… We look forward to continuing to develop and release innovative and valuable plasma processing solutions,” he adds.
“Coherent’s move to 6-inch InP wafer fabrication marks a transformative milestone for the industry,” says Dr Beck Mason, executive VP – semiconductor devices at Coherent. “Oxford Instruments’ expertise in plasma processing has been essential in enabling our Sherman and Järfälla fabs to reach world-class performance,” he adds. “Together, we are advancing InP technology to support faster networks, greater efficiency, and the new applications that will define the future of connectivity.”
Coherent launches high-speed InP photodiodes for 1.6T transceivers
