IQE manufactures compound-semiconductor epiwafers and advanced wafer platforms, including indium phosphide, gallium nitride, germanium and quantum-dot epitaxy products supplied to semiconductor and photonics customers.
IQE (LSE AIM: IQE) is the compound-semiconductor epitaxy layer beneath the laser supply chain, and the June 2026 Tower agreement converts it from a general III-V supplier into a named dependency of the largest silicon photonics foundry. Under the multi-year agreement announced 2026-06-15, IQE supplies indium phosphide epiwafers across several of Tower's advanced silicon photonics platforms, covering 200 Gb/s per lane pluggable transceivers, prototyping of 400 Gb/s per lane modulators, and optical circuit switches. The structure is unusually firm: a first-year minimum purchase commitment by Tower, a reciprocal supply commitment from IQE, and minimum volume commitments thereafter. A separate agreement resolved the parties' porous-silicon IP dispute, Tower granting IQE a broad worldwide royalty-free licence and settling all litigation. Leverage is 5 because the counterparty holds USD 1.3bn of contracted 2027 silicon photonics revenue and has flagged indium phosphide starting material as constrained, putting IQE on Tower's critical path. Commercial and firepower are 2 because no IQE financials were obtained and it is a small-cap AIM company carrying the capital intensity of epitaxy.
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IQE manufactures compound-semiconductor epiwafers and advanced wafer platforms, including indium phosphide, gallium nitride, germanium and quantum-dot epitaxy products supplied to semiconductor and photonics customers. IQE (LSE AIM: IQE) is the compound-semiconductor epitaxy layer beneath the laser supply chain, and the June 2026 Tower agreement converts it from a general III-V supplier into a named dependency of the largest silicon photonics foundry. Under the multi-year agreement announced 2026-06-15, IQE supplies indium phosphide epiwafers across several of Tower's advanced silicon photonics platforms, coveri
IQE is on the AI Core watchlist list of Frontier Tech Intelligence with a score of 76 out of 100, below the Top 100.
IQE is based in Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom.
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