Date:
19. November 2025
Catherine Barney
The German start-up aiming to create next-generation chip technology, Black Semiconductor, and global design engineering giant, Exyte, put their partnership on paper this week to start construction for FabONE—the world’s first fab designed to manufacture photonics using the 2D material graphene on a 300mm wafer.
After securing the facility earlier this year now known as FabONE, Black Semiconductor approaches the year-end, on track, with their commitment to begin cleanroom and infrastructure construction. The collaboration with Exyte marks the start of an unequivocal partnership in making this 300mm pilot fab a success.
“Exyte is exactly the right engineering and construction partner to get FabONE’s cleanroom and facilities ready—by means of timeliness and high-quality industry standards,” says Daniel Schall, Co-founder and CEO of Black Semiconductor.
A well-known name across the semiconductor industry, Exyte is a leader in engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC). The company has set industry standards for building everything from pilot line fabs to globally acclaimed mega-fabs and is trusted by some of the largest and most sophisticated semiconductor manufacturers worldwide.
“Black Semiconductor is an emerging technology company, and their solution for semiconductors can be a breakthrough that would redefine the industry. This innovation aligns with Exyte’s commitment to enabling next-generation manufacturing solutions,” says Michael Rodd, Exyte’s Senior Vice President Business Acquisition Advanced Technology Facilities.
The innovation at Black Semiconductor uses graphene-based photonics to transmit data over longer distances with minimal energy loss. This addresses critical bottlenecks in chip architectures, particularly for data-intensive applications like AI training and inference, autonomous driving, 5G networks, and high-performance computing.
Michael Rodd adds: “With FabONE, we are eager to contribute to a strengthened semiconductor and photonics ecosystem across the entire value chain in the European Union. We see strong potential for long-term growth.”
FabONE’s construction preparation has already started. The Black Semiconductor and Exyte partnership keeps the timeline on course to receive the equipment machinery in 2026.
Black Semiconductor CEO, Daniel Schall says: “Partnering with Exyte shows our continued commitment to bring a new manufacturing site for integrated photonic-electronics.”
