Samsung is moving into silicon photonics using test equipment from only two approved suppliers, which is good news for Taiwan's MPI and US-based FormFactor.

• Samsung is testing photonic chip wafers and wants its in-house evaluation finished by year-end.
• It picked probe stations from FormFactor and Taiwan's MPI — the only two vendors TSMC has cleared for this kind of testing.
• Silicon photonics uses light instead of electricity inside chips to cut heat, power use, and data bottlenecks.
• TSMC uses the same two suppliers' gear to build and check its own optical packaging platform, so their approval carries weight across the industry.

Outlook: If Samsung hits its year-end target, orders for these specialist testing tools should keep growing as more chipmakers chase optical chip designs.