Lasers & Sources

Finisar expands VCSEL production with new facility in Texas

July 17, 2018

Finisar completed a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its new manufacturing facility in Sherman, TX.

Finisar CEO Michael Hurlston cuts the ribbon at the company's new Sherman manufacturing plant on July 9, 2018.

Finisar (NASDAQ:FNSR), communications components and subsystems manufacturer, as well as a manufacturer of VCSEL (vertical cavity surface-emitting laser) devices for 3D sensing applications, completed a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate its new manufacturing facility in Sherman, TX. Finisar will use the site to increase production capacity of its VCSELs and related 3D sensing technologies. The ribbon-cutting event was held on Monday, July 9^th with speakers from Finisar's executive management team, including CEO Michael Hurlston, as well as local community leaders.

Finisar has been working diligently to prepare the site for operations. The building, formerly owned by MEMC and SunEdison, has been under renovation since December 2017 and is on target to commence production by the end of this calendar year. It is currently certified as clean room operational and the first production tooling has been installed and qualified. The company has hired nearly 200 employees, including the operations and support staff necessary to begin production. Finisar expects to expand hiring further later this year to support the anticipated ramp to high-volume production.

"Finisar is excited to unveil this new state-of-the-art facility which will expand critical production capacity of our VCSEL products needed to support customer requirements," said Michael Hurlston, Finisar's CEO. "We are also pleased to create hundreds of manufacturing jobs in the US and to hire talent from the local area as we work together to make Sherman the VCSEL Capital of the World."

Originally used by Finisar in its optical communication products, VCSEL technology is extending the possibilities of consumer and scientific applications including 3D facial recognition, augmented reality, automotive in-cabin sensing, and automotive lidar. Finisar's history and expertise in this technology spans more than two decades of engineering research, development, design and manufacturing experience. Finisar says it has produced more than 300 million VCSEL die over its history.

SOURCE: Finisar; http://investor.finisar.com/news-releases/news-release-details/finisar-expand-3d-vcsel-production-capacity-its-new-sherman?_ga=2.87924689.871553745.1531763184-615610341.1531763184 and KTEN news; http://www.kten.com/story/38601462/finisar-cuts-the-ribbon-at-new-sherman-plant

About the Author

Gail Overton | Senior Editor (2004-2020)

Gail has more than 30 years of engineering, marketing, product management, and editorial experience in the photonics and optical communications industry. Before joining the staff at Laser Focus World in 2004, she held many product management and product marketing roles in the fiber-optics industry, most notably at Hughes (El Segundo, CA), GTE Labs (Waltham, MA), Corning (Corning, NY), Photon Kinetics (Beaverton, OR), and Newport Corporation (Irvine, CA). During her marketing career, Gail published articles in WDM Solutions and Sensors magazine and traveled internationally to conduct product and sales training. Gail received her BS degree in physics, with an emphasis in optics, from San Diego State University in San Diego, CA in May 1986.