SABIC will participate in the 2025 Optical Fiber Communication (OFC) Conference and Exhibition, with booth number #6244. At this event, the company will focus on showcasing high-performance materials, including ULTEM™ and SILTEM™ resins as well as LNP™ ELCRES™ polycarbonate copolymers. This can help customers build robust and reliable data infrastructure.

New PEI grade that can withstand 260°C reflow soldering

SABIC will also launch a new EXTEM™ RH resin grade that can withstand 260°C reflow soldering. Its enhanced properties support the high-volume production of multi-lens arrays (MLA) for optical interconnect components and subassemblies. Two EXTEM™ resin demonstrators will be showcased: a single-mode expanded beam connector assembly; and a new process using metallization to automatically align the MLA.

"Optimizing network architecture to cope with the explosive data from AI, cloud, and social and digital media requires infrastructure that can enhance transmission speed, bandwidth capacity, and reliability," said Sergi Monros, Vice President of SABIC's Polymer Specialties Business. "SABIC's specialty thermoplastics and dedicated design services can help the industry build this infrastructure on a large scale. Our materials improve the performance, accuracy, cost-effectiveness, and manufacturability of components ranging from connectors and optical interconnects to wires and cables."

The new EXTEM™ RH1017UCL resin is very suitable for emerging technologies, such as on-board and co-packaged optical interconnects. Compared to fused silica and thermosetting materials, this optically transparent material can provide greater design freedom. It can also support increased production and reduce system costs by avoiding secondary operations. This new product surpasses other EXTEM™ grades with better near-infrared (IR) transmittance, lower moisture absorption, and easier processability.

high-performance optical components

In addition to optical interconnects and transceiver lenses, SABIC will also showcase other data infrastructure applications utilizing thermoplastics, including those for external installations and data centers:

The external fiber optic box and splice tray are molded from NORYL™ resin or LNP ELCRES copolymer resin, capable of withstanding harsh outdoor conditions, including extreme heat/cold, impact, and weather.

Optical and electrical connectors can benefit from Superflow ULTEM™ resin (which enables thin-walled, miniaturized designs) and ULTEM™ EPR resin that is compatible with electroless plating processes.

As a potential alternative to fluoropolymers, SILTEM™ resins help provide high thermal performance and ease of processing in the jacketing and insulation of wires and cables.

SABIC will showcase single-mode expanded beam connector assemblies at OFC, which were co-developed with Tyndall National Institute. This application uses the new EXTEM™ RH1017UCL material, which supports micro-molding and withstands 260°C reflow soldering according to JEDEC® protocol.

EXTEM™ RH1017UCL resin will also be featured in SABIC's second demonstrator, which was co-developed with the Chip Integration Technology Center (CITC). It will showcase optical alignment of MLA using alternative interconnect technology.

OFC 2025 will be held from March 30 to April 3 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, California.