PHIX, a photonics assembly company based in the Netherlands, officially opened a cleanroom and office in Bozeman on Oct. 7, adding a piece of the manufacturing chain Montana has been trying to build at home.
The company said the new site will package and assemble photonic integrated circuits, the chips that use light to move or process information. Montana already has companies and university labs that design, develop and test those chips. Packaging is the step that attaches the optical and electrical connections a finished device actually needs. Cleanroom Technology reported later in the month that PHIX has not disclosed the cleanroom’s classification, floor area or production capacity.
CEO Albert Hasper cut the ribbon with Jason Yager, executive director of the Montana Photonics and Quantum Alliance, and Labor Commissioner Sarah Swanson. Jose Pozo of the industry group Optica and other executives were also on hand, the company said.
“Opening our U.S. facility in Bozeman brings PHIX closer to our customers and to a growing photonics ecosystem in the United States,” Hasper said. “Montana has built a strong combination of industry, research, and public investment around photonics, and we are excited to be part of that growth.”
The company described the Bozeman shop as a way to stand closer to North American customers and to what the state calls its Integrated Photonics Ecosystem. Photonic chips show up in telecommunications, data networks and sensing equipment, among other uses.
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