ASML said its existing 2027 and 2028 supply plans cannot fully meet customer demand and that it is studying a further expansion of 2028 capacity beyond the previously planned 30% increase. Quarterly sales through September 27 were EUR 11.7 billion, up more than 50% year over year. The NXE:3800F EUV lithography system slated for introduction next year will raise productivity from 230 to 260 wafers per hour.
Why we recommend it: Capacity expansion and productivity upgrades are proceeding in parallel, offering concrete industry clues on how AI demand translates into EUV lithography equipment supply constraints.
Oct 13Tue
Tuesday
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score7171
NVIDIA and Cisco jointly announced plans for the USFP (Ultra-Small Form Factor Pluggable) optical module on October 12. This high-density pluggable optical module supports 400Gb/s per lane and targets the scaling needs of next-generation AI factory networks, helping control network complexity, power consumption and cost as connection scale grows.
Why we recommend it: The article explains the motivation behind two leading vendors jointly defining a new package form factor, helping assess the evolution of optical module formats for AI networks
Oct 12Mon
Monday
OFweek Optics Network · NewsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6565
Kunyou Optoelectronics announced the completion of a C+ round exceeding 1 billion yuan, with investors undisclosed. The company's 12-inch wafer-level optics production line in Lingang, Shanghai, built with an investment of 2 billion yuan, is expected to be completed and come online in 2027, targeting AR, fiber optics, optical communications, automotive optics and optical computing markets. This follows its C round in January 2026 and a C+ round of nearly 400 million yuan in April.
Why we recommend it: The article lists three funding rounds this year and progress on the 12-inch wafer-level optics line, helping understand capital and capacity deployment in wafer-level optics
Vuzix has launched the configurable Shrike waveguide display platform for defense, security and emergency response applications, with the first samples already shipped to customers.
Why we recommend it: The original article gives a specific product bringing waveguide displays into the defense market, helping to understand non-consumer markets for AR waveguides
A team at the Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech, Chinese Academy of Sciences, has developed a theoretical model for PML-SRLs, revealing that operating states are governed by the temporal balance of gain and loss. The model combines time-domain traveling-wave equations with partial differential equations for carrier density, examining the relationship among SOA carrier accumulation rate, SA carrier lifetime and ring-cavity round-trip time. The work, published in Optics Express, also found that an SOA with a narrow gain spectrum and a short resonator configuration can merge output pulses to yield high-energy optical pulses.
Why we recommend it: Putting gain, absorber and cavity round-trip time into a unified dynamic model offers transferable design insight for understanding mode-locking states and pulse merging in semiconductor ring cavities.
Focuslight, Synopsys, AMS Technologies and Oxford Instruments announced or completed acquisitions in early 2024, covering micro- and nano-optics, simulation software, laser systems and scientific cameras. Focuslight completed the acquisition of 100% of the equity in SMO for EUR 75.5405 million, while Synopsys plans to acquire Ansys for $35 billion, a deal still subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. AMS Technologies acquired neoLASE, and Oxford Instruments acquired First Light Imaging.
Why we recommend it: The four deals respectively add device manufacturing, simulation software, laser system and scientific imaging capabilities, useful for comparing different paths optics companies take to expand through acquisitions.