SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, will exhibit at the 2025 Optical Fiber Communications (OFC) Conference and Exhibition, in Booth #6244. At the event, the company will highlight high-performance materials, including Ultem and Siltem resins and LNP Elcres polycarbonate copolymers, which can help customers build robust and reliable data infrastructures. SABIC will also introduce a new Extem RH resin grade that withstands 260°C reflow soldering and whose enhanced properties support high-volume production of multi-lens arrays (MLAs) for optical interconnect assemblies and sub-assemblies. Two Extem resin demonstrators will be featured: a single-mode expanded beam connector assembly; and a novel process using metallization to auto-align MLAs.
“The optimization of network architecture to handle the explosion of data from AI, cloud, and social and digital media requires infrastructures that can boost transmission speed, bandwidth capacity and reliability,” said Sergi Monros, vice president, SABIC Polymers, Specialties BU. “SABIC’s specialty thermoplastics and dedicated design services can help the industry build these infrastructures at scale. Our materials enhance the performance, precision, cost-effectiveness and manufacturability of components ranging from connectors and optical interconnects to wire and cable.”
New Extem RH1017UCL resin is well suited for emerging technologies like onboard and co-packaged optical interconnects. Compared to fused silica and thermosets, this optically transparent material can deliver greater design freedom, support scaled-up production and reduce system costs by avoiding secondary operations. This new product surpasses other Extem grades with improved near-infrared (IR) light transmission, lower moisture uptake and easier processing.
Besides optical interconnects and transceiver lenses, SABIC will display other data infrastructure applications - for external installations and data centers - which leverage thermoplastics:
- External fiber optic closures and splice trays are molded from Noryl resin or LNP Elcres copolymer resin, which can withstand harsh outdoor conditions including extreme heat/cold, impact and weather.
- Fiber optic and electrical connectors can benefit from Superflow Ultem resins, which enable thin-wall, miniaturized designs, and from Ultem EPR resins, which are compatible with electroless plating processes.
- As a potential alternative to fluoropolymers, Siltem resins help deliver high heat performance and easy processing in wire & cable jacketing and insulation.
Demonstrating Breakthrough Technologies
SABIC’s single-mode expanded beam connector assembly, to be showcased at OFC, was co-developed with the Tyndall National Institute. This application uses the new Extem RH1017UCL material, which supports micro-molding and withstands 260°C reflow soldering according to the Jedec protocol.
Extem RH1017UCL resin will also be featured in SABIC’s second demonstrator, co-developed with the Chip Integration Technology Center (CITC). It will showcase the use of an alternative interconnect technology for the optical alignment of MLAs.
OFC 2025 will be held at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Calif., from March 30 through April 3.
