Sumitomo Chemical Begins Mass Production of 4-Inch Indium Phosphide Epitaxial Wafers in Japan, Targeting Tens of Billions of Yen in Sales

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 31, Sumitomo Chemical announced the establishment of a mass-production system for 4-inch indium phosphide (InP) epitaxial wafers at its Ibaraki Plant (Hitachi City, Ibaraki Prefecture) and the commencement of sales. As one of the few specialized manufacturers in Japan capable of stably mass-producing InP epitaxial wafers, Sumitomo Chemical aims to support the development of next-generation digital infrastructure, including AI data centers.

InP epitaxial wafers are core materials for realizing high-performance optical semiconductor devices, enabling efficient conversion between electrical and optical signals. With the proliferation of generative AI and the expansion of IoT, cloud services, and communication network infrastructure, demand for high-speed, large-capacity data processing continues to grow across various sectors. AI data centers face two global challenges—power consumption and information processing load—and photonic-electronic convergence technology is regarded as a key solution. The application of InP epitaxial wafers in next-generation data centers and high-speed networks is rapidly expanding.

InP epitaxial wafer manufacturing requires precise control of material composition and surface conditions during high-temperature epitaxial growth, involving complex process management such as handling of source gases. Sumitomo Chemical has applied the composition control, thin-film stacking, and crystal growth process control technologies accumulated over more than 25 years of mass-producing gallium arsenide (GaAs) and gallium nitride (GaN) epitaxial wafers to InP epitaxial wafer production, achieving both high quality and high productivity.

Sumitomo Chemical aims to achieve sales of 10 billion yen from its InP epitaxial wafer product line by the mid-2030s. The company plans to incorporate InP epitaxial wafers into its existing compound semiconductor materials product lineup (including GaN substrates, GaN epitaxial wafers, and GaAs epitaxial wafers), further expanding into growth markets such as wireless communications, power semiconductors, and data centers.

At the industry competition level, Sumitomo Electric, another Sumitomo Group company, announced in July 2026 an investment of 18 billion yen to expand InP substrate production, targeting a 3.1-fold increase in capacity by 2028 compared to 2024. Meanwhile, China's Wuhan Tianyuan Environmental Protection acquired a 60% stake in Zhongxun Semiconductor for 7.5 million yuan, entering the InP substrate market, with plans for an additional investment of 67 million yuan. The industry's capacity race is intensifying.