Press release
CCRAFT Secures Innosuisse Support to Boost Swiss Photonic Chip Manufacturing for AI Data Centers
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CHF 2.5 million project to strengthen CCRAFT’s design and manufacturing of next-generation photonic chips.
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Accelerating innovation in AI data centers through faster, more energy-efficient optical interconnects.
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Reinforcing Switzerland’s position in the global race for advanced photonics for AI factories.
CCRAFT, pioneering independent pure-play foundry dedicated to thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic integrated circuits, announces a CHF 2.5 million (EUR 2.7 million) project supported by Innosuisse, the Swiss Innovation Agency. Over the next two years, the project will accelerate CCRAFT’s in-house design and manufacturing capabilities, advancing its proprietary TFLN platform to meet the growing performance and reliability demands of AI data centers.
Global data traffic is growing at an unprecedented pace, accelerated by the artificial intelligence revolution. Today’s photonic interconnect technologies are reaching their limits in data transmission rate and power efficiency. A new material platform is required to sustain this growth. TFLN has emerged as the key enabler for ultra-high-speed, low-power optical links, capable of supporting data modules beyond 1.6 Tbit/s while consuming less than 1 pJ/bit. Yet, a major bottleneck remains: no industrial-grade foundry has been able to produce TFLN chips at the scale required by hyperscale data centers. CCRAFT closes this gap.
Scaling Swiss innovation into global industrial leadership
CCRAFT has developed its proprietary TFLN technology within the industrial facilities of the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM), establishing a production-ready process for wafer-scale manufacturing. Building on over six years of R&D, the company now operates as an independent foundry delivering monolithic TFLN photonic chips and TFLN-enhanced silicon photonics wafer processing. While several players are attempting to adapt legacy CMOS fabs for TFLN production, CCRAFT already runs an industrial manufacturing line at the scale required to meet growing global demand. The Innosuisse-supported project will further expand CCRAFT’s component library and enhance process reliability to satisfy the stringent qualification standards of hyperscale customers.
“This support from Innosuisse reinforces our mission to turn Swiss innovation into global industrial leadership,” said Hamed Sattari, CEO of CCRAFT. “Operating on a 150 mm manufacturing line within CSEM’s facility, we already deliver chips to customers at industrial scale and are advancing toward multi-million-chip annual capacity. The transition to 200 mm wafers will further boost throughput and efficiency as we expand production.”
CCRAFT’s upcoming milestones include the release of its datacom Process Design Kit (PDK) in 2026, building on its extensively validated telecom platform. By 2027, the company aims to qualify high-volume production workflows for ultra-high-speed interconnect components, marking a critical step toward establishing a reliable European manufacturing base for large-scale TFLN photonic chip production serving data communication markets.
Wafers at CCRAFT’s manufacturing facility in Switzerland. Photo: CSEM
About CCRAFT
CCRAFT is the world’s first independent, industrial-scale foundry for thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic integrated circuits. Combining in-house manufacturing and advanced process design kits (PDKs), CCRAFT provides the infrastructure that allows innovators and fabless companies to bring their photonic designs into reliable, high-volume production. By bridging the gap between research and industry, CCRAFT strengthens the entire TFLN photonic chip value chain and enables new generations of high-performance, energy-efficient systems across communications, computing, quantum, aerospace, and sensing applications.
About Innosuisse
Innosuisse is the Swiss Innovation Agency. Its role is to promote science-based innovation in the interest of the economy and society in Switzerland.