News: Suppliers
24 June 2026
ClassOne secures record follow-on Solstice S8 orders from AOI
ClassOne Technology of Kalispell, MT, USA (which manufactures electroplating and wet-chemical process systems for ≤200mm wafers) has announced record follow-on orders from Applied Optoelectronics Inc (AOI) of Sugar Land, TX, USA (a designer and manufacturer of optical and hybrid fibre-coaxial networking products for AI data centers, cable TV and broadband fiber access networks) for multiple Solstice S8 single-wafer wet processing systems to support AOI’s expanding production of optical devices in Houston.
Marking the largest customer order in ClassOne’s history, the orders are reckoned to reflect a pivotal inflection point in the semiconductor industry: the rapid transition from electrical to optical interconnects within artificial intelligence (AI)-driven data-center architectures. Industry analysts such as Yole Group project that photonics will become a foundational technology in AI data centers over the next decade, with silicon photonics markets growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 30% through 2030, while AI-driven optical interconnect infrastructure expands at a CAGR of more than 20% as hyperscalers transition from pluggable optics to co-packaged architectures.
“The continued growth of AI data-center infrastructure is placing new demands on both scale and process consistency in optical device manufacturing,” says Stephen Hu, deputy director of Wafer and Chip Production at AOI. “These additional Solstice systems will support our expansion in Texas, and having ClassOne’s world-class wafer processing technologies in house will help us speed our production ramp.”
The order further strengthens ClassOne’s move into high-volume manufacturing (HVM) to meet accelerating global demand for high-speed optical interconnect devices driven by AI infrastructure buildout. With the addition of these systems, AOI is expanding both capacity and process capability, including its transition to 6-inch indium phosphide (InP) wafer production.
“This milestone order is not only a validation of the performance and scalability of our Solstice platform, but also a clear signal of where the industry is heading,” says ClassOne’s CEO Byron Exarcos. “We are in the early stages of a major architectural shift in AI data centers toward optical interconnects. From transceivers today to co-packaged optics tomorrow, photonics will play a central role in enabling the next decade of AI growth.”
ClassOne reckons that it has established an early leadership position in this transition, with Solstice systems deployed at leading photonics manufacturers such as AOI. This latest order builds on AOI’s adoption of the Solstice S8 platform last year, while ClassOne continues to expand its footprint among leading photonics manufacturers, with Solstice systems now deployed across the world’s top five photonics device makers to support their transition to volume 6-inch InP production. With its differentiated approach to precision single-wafer wet processing, ClassOne says it is positioned to support both existing production needs and future technology transitions.
AOI chooses ClassOne’s Solstice S8 system for gold plating and metal lift-off on InP
