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Funding Supports Surface Mount Photonics
March 29, 2007 |Estimated reading time: 2 minutes
MONROVIA, Calif. Xponent Photonics secured $23 million in series C funding and added Barbara Grant, Ph.D., to its board of directors. The manufacturer supplies optical components based on its surface mount photonics platform technology. "Surface mount photonics are more manufacturing-friendly than traditional optical solutions," said Al Benzoni of Xponent.
Funding, led by new investor American River Ventures (Roseville, Calif.), will go toward accelerating market penetration of surface mount photonics beyond fiber-to-the-X (FTTx) markets, according to Jeffrey S. Rittichier, president and CEO of the company. The company has ramped to volume production of the surface mount photonics platform at merchant silicon foundries and IC packaging houses. FTTx optical components manufactured by Xponent are active devices on a silicon platform, which the company maintains will expand in telecom and CATV markets.
The company uses optical die, a planar lightwave circuit (PLC), and fiber traces laid out in vee grooves to create the surface mount photonics components. "The platform takes accuracy concerns out of the alignment process, so that optical die conform to surface mounting and can be assembled on high-volume products," explained Benzoni. Known good die (KGD) are attached as flip chips to the PLC substrate, and encapsulated. An automatic flip-chip die bonder attaches six die, then the module is reflowed creating electrical, optical, mechanical, and thermal connections simultaneously. Gold-tin solder is used, as "RoHS compliance is important for the component's in-home markets in the EU and Japan." This module is packaged to a standard FR4 single-sided panel using chip-on-board (COB) techniques.
This surface mount component competes with thru-hole TO cans, said Benzoni, and as yet does not directly compete with other surface mount optics. "This is a challenge that we're facing, because no other part shares this form factor; it's difficult for customers to source a comprable product." With lower parasitics than thru-hole components, and no sheilding requirements, the component will be able to compete in this space, according to Xponent. The funding round primarily will go toward developing volume applications, such as cell phone and PDA integration, datacom and cable TV, and HDMI end-products. The component's low profile suits modern designs for mobile and consumer devices.
Grant, a former CEO with experience in wafer fab operations from IBM, joins the company's board as a partner in American River Ventures. This is the last expected round of financing before the company hits planned profitability, noted Xponent. Returning investors in the series C round included Arcturus Capital, Eastward Capital, El Dorado Ventures, HOYA Holdings, Samsung, U.S. Venture Partners, and Walden International.