VLC Photonics has completed its move to a larger, purpose-built facility in Paterna, Spain, now capable of testing over 1,000 photonic dies each month. The 1,545 m² space includes a 315 m² cleanroom certified to ISO Class 7, designed to support the increasing demand for photonic integrated circuit testing and assembly. The Hitachi Group company, originally a 2011 spin-off from the Universitat Politècnica de València, reports electrical characterization capabilities now extend to 110 GHz with real-time analysis at 256 GSa/s.
New 1,545 m² Facility Supports Full PIC Testing Services
The new facility enables throughput exceeding 1,000 photonic dies per month, a substantial increase in testing capacity for VLC Photonics’ clients. This capability stems from fully automated die-level testing platforms equipped for edge and vertical grating coupling, and incorporating automated chip and fiber handling. This automation is critical for supporting both high-volume production runs and the rapid prototyping cycles demanded by companies developing photonic integrated circuits.
This advanced instrumentation supports the evaluation of data transmission components utilizing non-return-to-zero (NRZ) and pulse amplitude modulation 4 (PAM4) signaling. According to the company, this capability is essential for validating high-speed data links and ensuring signal integrity in demanding applications. Optical characterization spans a broad spectrum from 350 nm to 4,000 nm, encompassing visible, near-infrared, and mid-infrared wavelengths with full polarization control, further broadening the scope of testing services.
VLC Photonics’ move also consolidates assembly capabilities, including semi-automatic wire bonding, flip-chip attachment, and fiber array attachment, alongside high-precision 2D/3D optical metrology. Reliability testing is now performed in a humidity-controlled climatic chamber, enabling assessments of high-temperature operating life, storage stability, and resistance to thermal cycling and shock.
A company statement reads, “Operating a dedicated, company-controlled environment allows VLC Photonics to schedule test campaigns independently, maintain full control over the confidentiality of customer samples and data within a single secured chain of custody, and allocate capacity from R&D toward low- and mid-volume test and assembly work as customer demand grows.” This dedicated environment, combined with collaboration with Hitachi, offers clients a scalable solution from initial prototyping to larger volume manufacturing.
According to the company, this purpose-built infrastructure supports a full range of characterization and test services for PIC developers, foundries, and research organizations. VLC Photonics, acquired by Hitachi High-Tech in 2020 and now a part of that group, designs and tests photonic chips for over 20 foundries, but does not manufacture quantum computers or systems, focusing instead on engineering services from consulting to tape-out and packaging. The company was also selected in June 2025 for a EUR 5.38M grant as an associate partner under the IPCEI on Microelectronics and Communication Technologies, awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Industry and Tourism.
Moving our labs is not something a test house does lightly, especially after having grown over 15 years on our previous location. Completing the transfer with every system back in operation in record time is a credit to our engineering team.
What matters to our customers is what it means: we now control our own environment end to end, which means we set the schedule, we protect the samples, and we can scale capacity as the market demands. Photonic integration is moving from prototype volumes toward real production volumes, and this facility is how we help our customers reach there faster and more reliable, in a cost cost-effective.
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