RIBER wins MBE production platform order from 3SP Technologies
RIBER, the French molecular beam epitaxy equipment manufacturer listed on Euronext Growth Paris, has announced a new order from 3SP Technologies for an industrial passivation platform. Delivery is scheduled for 2027. The deal extends a commercial relationship spanning more than two decades, with 3SP Technologies described as one of RIBER's longest-standing production customers.
3SP Technologies, headquartered in France and a subsidiary of Hong Kong-listed O-Net Communications Group since 2014, designs and manufactures III-V semiconductor laser chips and photonic integrated circuits for data centre and telecommunications applications. Austin Na, chairman of 3SP Technologies and chief executive of O-Net Communications, said the new system "will significantly increase the production capacity of 3SP Technologies' 980 nm high-power laser diodes," supporting demand in data centre interconnects, hyper-rails systems, and adjacent industrial applications.
The deal
The platform will expand 3SP Technologies' industrial capacity for high-performance photonic components used in next-generation optical networking. Molecular beam epitaxy is a deposition process considered critical in determining the performance, reliability and yield of compound semiconductor devices. RIBER says its production-grade MBE platforms are engineered for process stability and deposition uniformity at manufacturing scale, attributes that matter considerably when producing components destined for high-volume data centre supply chains.
No financial terms were disclosed in the announcement. RIBER chief executive Annie Geoffroy noted that several customers now operate "significant installed bases" of RIBER systems, which she described as an endorsement of long-term platform reliability. RIBER's current portfolio covers MBE platforms for laser and photodetector manufacturing alongside its ROSIE platform, targeting silicon-based electro-optic modulation on 300 mm production lines.
Market context
Demand for high-power laser diodes in the 980 nm band has accelerated sharply as data centre operators scale AI workloads and build out higher-bandwidth interconnect fabrics. These components underpin optical amplifiers and pump lasers integral to coherent transmission systems, and supply constraints have been a recurring concern as hyperscalers and colocation operators expand capacity. 3SP Technologies claims a leading position globally in 980 nm high-power laser diodes and in high-power Raman pump lasers, both of which sit at the heart of AI-driven interconnect architectures.
The MBE equipment market is relatively concentrated. RIBER competes with a small number of specialist vendors, including Veeco Instruments in the United States, in serving both research and production customers. Customer stickiness in the segment tends to be high: process qualification cycles for compound semiconductor production lines are lengthy and costly to repeat, which makes repeat orders from established accounts commercially significant even when individual deal sizes are not disclosed.
Regulatory and standards read-across
European photonics manufacturing is increasingly treated as strategically important under the EU Chips Act, which targets doubling Europe's share of global semiconductor production by 2030. French national policy, channelled partly through Bpifrance, which recognises RIBER as an innovative company, has supported domestic compound semiconductor capabilities. For 3SP Technologies, ramping 980 nm laser diode production in France also aligns with the O-Net Group's stated strategy of maintaining a dedicated III-V chip R&D and production site within Europe, offering some insulation from export-control pressures that have affected Asia-Pacific supply chains in related component categories.
RIBER's ROSIE platform, compatible with 300 mm silicon wafer lines, represents a longer-term bet on silicon photonics integration, a market that analysts expect to grow as co-packaged optics architectures become standard in next-generation AI accelerator systems. The 2027 delivery timeline for the 3SP order coincides with a period in which several hyperscalers are expected to qualify new optical interconnect suppliers.