October 2026

Business News

ficonTEC & HTSI Announce Strategic Cooperation to Scale Advanced CPO Test Solutions in Taiwan

Partnership combines ficonTEC’s double-sided electro-optical wafer-level test technology and CPO manufacturing expertise with HTSI’s established semiconductor manufacturing, engineering and service capabilities in Taiwan.

Achim and Hsinchu — [October 1st] — ficonTEC Service GmbH (“ficonTEC”), a global provider of automated photonic assembly and test solutions, and Hermes Testing Solutions Inc. (“HTSI”), a Taiwan-based provider of semiconductor testing solutions, today announced a strategic cooperation to support the rapidly expanding co-packaged optics (CPO) ecosystem in Taiwan.

The initial focus of the cooperation will be the industrialization and scalable deployment of ficonTEC’s double-sided electro-optical wafer-level test platform, referred to within the CPO insertion flow as INS-2, for advanced silicon photonics wafer testing.
The cooperation is designed to combine ficonTEC’s experience in silicon photonics and CPO test automation with HTSI’s established semiconductor equipment manufacturing, engineering and local service capabilities. Together, the companies intend to provide customers in Taiwan with localized equipment delivery, responsive local engineering support and a scalable manufacturing path as demand for CPO test capacity increases.

Scaling Double-Sided Wafer-Level Test for CPO
CPO architectures introduce new manufacturing and test challenges by combining photonic and electronic functionality within increasingly complex three-dimensional structures. These architectures require simultaneous access to electrical and optical interfaces during wafer-level test.

ficonTEC’s INS-2 platform addresses this challenge through a 300 mm double-sided electro-optical wafer-level test architecture that enables electrical probing from the top of the wafer while providing precision optical access from below.
The system architecture includes a customized slotted wafer chuck, precision wafer positioning, a six-axis optical alignment engine, automated wafer handling, vision, probe inspection and cleaning capabilities designed to support high-throughput manufacturing environments.

Importantly, the platform is ATE-agnostic and designed to integrate with industry-standard semiconductor automated test equipment, allowing customers to deploy the optical test capability within their existing ATE infrastructure rather than creating a closed test architecture. The companies expect this flexibility to be particularly important as CPO technologies move from development toward qualification, ramp and high-volume manufacturing.

From Equipment Delivery to Continuous Manufacturing Improvement
The cooperation between ficonTEC and HTSI is intended to extend beyond equipment manufacturing and delivery.
The companies plan to establish a collaborative engineering framework supporting rapid design reviews, local system integration, installation, qualification, service and continuous improvement of the INS-2 platform.

This joint engineering approach will support the evaluation and optimization of key manufacturing metrics as CPO moves into volume production, including units per hour (UPH), equipment availability, process stability.

Customer and application feedback will be incorporated into ongoing platform development, helping both companies accelerate design reviews and continuously improve system performance while maintaining the quality and repeatability required for semiconductor manufacturing.

Combining Global CPO Experience with Taiwan Semiconductor Expertise
ficonTEC has accumulated significant practical experience in electro-optical wafer-level testing for advanced silicon photonics and CPO applications, including development work involving leading global ATE platforms and advanced CPO manufacturing environments.

This experience complements HTSI’s more than 20 years of semiconductor testing expertise and its established capabilities in equipment manufacturing, installation, technical support, manufacturingprocess development, customization and responsive local engineering service.

By bringing these capabilities together, ficonTEC and HTSI aim to provide customers with more than an individual piece of equipment: a locally supported manufacturing solution capable of evolving alongside rapidly changing CPO architectures and production requirements.

“The transition of CPO from technology development to industrial manufacturing requires more than innovative devices—it requires manufacturing capacity,” said Stefano Concezzi, CMO and Corporate Vice President of ficonTEC Service GmbH. “Our goal with HTSI is to combine the CPO test experience we have developed with Taiwan’s exceptional semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem. Together, we can shorten delivery times, provide strong local engineering and service, and continuously improve the productivity and yield of the platform as customers move toward volume production.”

“Taiwan plays a critical role in the global semiconductor and AI supply chain, and CPO represents an important new opportunity for advanced semiconductor testing,” said Steven Wang, President of Hermes Testing Solutions Inc. “By combining ficonTEC’s specialized photonics test technology with HTSI’s manufacturing, engineering and customer-service capabilities, we intend to provide customers with a highly responsive local solution from system deployment through production support and continuous improvement.”

Building the CPO Manufacturing Ecosystem
The cooperation is part of ficonTEC’s broader effort with Taiwan and North American semiconductor, photonics, test and manufacturing companies to accelerate the industrialization of silicon photonics.

The rapid expansion of AI infrastructure is creating growing requirements for optical connectivity and, consequently, for scalable photonic assembly and test capacity. ficonTEC and HTSI believe that meeting this demand will require an ecosystem approach connecting device designers, foundries, OSATs, ATE suppliers, equipment manufacturers and local engineering organizations. The initial INS-2 cooperation establishes a foundation that the companies expect can expand as CPO manufacturing requirements evolve.

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