primarysourced Photonics
photonics.primarysourced
Photonics sector · primary-sourced research

The companies building silicon photonics — sourced, cited, contested.

Working knowledge bases for the public and private companies bringing photonic integration into AI-scale optical interconnects. Long-form notes, falsifiable theses, primary-source citations on every load-bearing claim.

5
KBs covered
~250k
words written
daily
data refresh
100%
primary-sourced

Recent material events

cross-sector · last 30 days
2026-04-29 COHR Coherent Corp. KB launched · merchant InP EML duopoly partner to Lumentum (renamed from II-VI Sept 8 2022 after $7.01B Coherent Inc. acquisition + $3.2B Finisar 2019); Mar 2 2026 NVDA $2B common-stock investment (vs LITE’s parallel $2B Series A Preferred); Sherman TX 6-inch InP entered production Sep 2025 — world’s first 150mm InP fab; CEO Jim Anderson since Jun 3 2024 from Lattice; joint OFC 2026 420 Gb/s PAM4 demo with Tower PH18. 2026-04-29 LITE Lumentum Holdings KB launched · merchant InP EML/VCSEL leader; Mar 2 2026 NVDA $2B Series A Convertible Preferred (paired with $2B common-stock investment in Coherent same day); Greensboro NC fab acquired from Qorvo Mar 26 2026; CEO Michael Hurlston since Feb 2025; CPO source-laser partner to NVDA Spectrum-X / Quantum-X. 2026-04-29 TSEM Tower Semiconductor KB launched · second 200mm foundry-layer coverage; PH18 silicon-photonics, the Mar 11 2026 LWLG development agreement, Tower-ST Agrate 300mm JV, and the Aug 2023 Intel-deal collapse context. 2026-04-29 GFS GlobalFoundries KB launched · foundry-layer coverage of the AI-photonics value chain; Fotonix 45CLO/9WG, AMF Singapore acquisition (Nov 17 2025), photonics customers (LWLG GDSFactory PDK live, NLM, Marvell, Ayar Labs). 2026-04-29 LWLG Michael Best & Friedrich engaged as outside IP counsel · Am Law 200 firm; partners Jeffrey Peterson (IP Business Solutions / licensing) + Molly Lawson (Patent Prosecution); CTO Chowdhury frames as "licensing-friendly ecosystem" build for foundries; PR confirms no active or pending IP litigation. 2026-04-27 POET Marvell-Celestial AI cancels all POET purchase orders · alleged confidentiality breach; stock −46% on 199M-share day; class actions filed. 2026-04-21 MRVL Polariton acquisition closes · ETH-Zurich-spinout POH modulator IP enters MRVL's custom-silicon stack — direct optical-interconnect bridge to LWLG's polymer. 2026-04-15 LWLG Short interest at 14.67M (~10% of float) · settlement-date FINRA print pre-Russell rebalance; concentration into Apr 30 Rank Day. 2026-01-23 POET $150M registered direct @ $7.25 · 5th raise in 14 months; share count 67M → 152.7M (+128%); F-3ASR shelf still open.

Sector universe — value chain

covered · planned · referenced · adjacent ·

Every entity in the optical-interconnect commercialization value chain. Click a covered tile to open its KB. Planned + referenced tiles show one-line context on hover. Adjacent layers (custom silicon, hyperscalers, EDA, equipment) have a primary home in another sector hub and are shown here for cross-reference only.

Universe boundary: pure-play silicon-photonics commercialization. Adjacent sectors (AI silicon, networking, EDA, equipment) get their own hubs — companies appear in multiple hubs but each has one canonical KB.

Coverage roadmap

Tier 1 — covered 7

Full KB at <ticker>.primarysourced.com. Daily data refresh, falsifiable thesis, source log, dashboards.

LWLG · MRVL · POET · GFS · TSEM · LITE · COHR
Tier 2 — planned ~10

On the coverage queue. Selection criteria: clean public filer, sector-strategic position, mentioned in ≥2 existing KBs.

AAOI · FN · CIEN · …
Tier 3 — referenced ~30

Named in covered KBs but no standalone site. Useful for cross-context; not currently scheduled for full coverage.

private · acquired · pre-IPO · niche

Primary sources

SEC filings, company press releases, conference materials. Every load-bearing claim traced to a citable source or flagged with explicit confidence.

Falsifiable theses

Each thesis is structured around named conditions that would make it wrong — tracked over time, not just the bull case.

Open disagreements

Where our reading conflicts with company statements, sell-side, or community consensus, we name the disagreement and the evidence on both sides.