Forge Nano, Inc., a leading U.S. based semiconductor equipment and advanced materials company pioneering Atomic Layer Deposition ("ALD") technology for artificial intelligence ("AI")-era chip manufacturing and defense battery applications, which has signed an agreement to merge with Archimedes Tech SPAC Partners II Co. ("Archimedes II"), today announced that a leading commercial photonics technology company has selected Forge Nano's TEPHRA™ semiconductor wafer fabrication platform to support the manufacturing of advanced integrated photonic devices.
The order represents growing adoption of Forge Nano's ALD technology within the photonics industry, where manufacturers are increasingly seeking production-ready solutions that deliver the precision, repeatability, and scalability required for commercial device manufacturing.
Integrated photonics is emerging as a critical technology for enabling next-generation AI infrastructure, optical interconnects, data center communications, sensing systems, and future photonic computing architectures. As these markets expand, manufacturers are placing greater emphasis on advanced process technologies that improve device performance, reliability, yield, and manufacturability.
Forge Nano's proprietary ALD technology enables ultra-thin, highly conformal coatings with atomic-scale precision across complex device architectures. These capabilities support a wide range of photonic manufacturing requirements, including barrier layer formation, interface engineering, environmental protection, performance optimization, and long-term device reliability.
"We are excited to support a leading innovator in the photonics industry with our TEPHRA platform," said Paul Lichty, Chief Executive Officer of Forge Nano. "This selection demonstrates the growing role of ALD in commercial photonics manufacturing and validates TEPHRA's ability to meet the demanding requirements of next-generation device production. As photonics adoption accelerates across communications, AI infrastructure, and emerging computing applications, we believe Forge Nano is well positioned to become a key manufacturing technology partner for the industry."
The TEPHRA platform is designed for high-volume semiconductor manufacturing and delivers the film uniformity, process repeatability, throughput, and manufacturing scalability required for commercial production environments. The platform supports a broad range of advanced semiconductor applications, including photonics, advanced packaging, memory, logic, heterogeneous integration, and emerging optoelectronic technologies.
This order represents continued commercial momentum for Forge Nano's semiconductor equipment business and further strengthens the company's position within the rapidly growing photonics manufacturing ecosystem.