Excelitas Technologies® Corp. recently announced that it has opened a new plant for its German subsidiary, Qioptiq Photonics GmbH & Co. KG, in Göttingen, Germany. The facility expands the company’s capacity for the assembly of sophisticated optomechanical systems and components for the semiconductor industry. Excelitas’ investment amounted to approximately €25 million (approximately $29 million) for facilities and an additional €5 million (~ $6 million) for capital equipment, including a photovoltaic system, a state-of-the-art automated material warehouse, and an ultrasonic cleaning system.

The new Excelitas site in Göttingen’s Science Park occupies an initial area of 4.5 acres (1.8 hectares), with room for future expansion. The newly constructed, tailor-made production facility offers 72,000 sq ft of space, including 16,000 sq ft of dedicated Class 5 cleanrooms to meet high cleanliness requirements.

Excelitas had already made substantial investments in new cleanrooms at its Qioptiq facility in Königsallee, Göttingen, in 2012, 2015, and 2017. Together, both state-of-the-art sites now provide around 28,000 sf of cleanroom production space for the assembly of optical and optomechanical systems, as well as for coating and other optical production processes.

“Our decision to invest in a new production building underscores the strategic importance of the Göttingen site within the Excelitas business,” said Robert Vollmers, Ph.D., vice president of Operations, Commercial Optics. “The new building offers optimal conditions for commissioning additional cleanroom capacities, which are essential for our further growth as a high-tech company.”

“Despite the significant complexity of this project requiring highly qualified external and internal resources in the midst of a global pandemic, all parties, including strong local government support, have worked together to complete the construction of our new facility on time and on budget,” said Joel M. Falcone, Excelitas executive vice president and chief operating officer. “On behalf of Excelitas Technologies, I would like to thank our leadership team in Germany, all of our Göttingen-based employees, and our external partners for their commitment, dedication, hard work and a job well done.”

Learn more about Excelitas at www.excelitas.com.