Solid-state lidar sensor developer Quanergy Systems Inc. has opened a new production factory in Sunnyvale, California.

The cutting-edge facility produces Quanergy’s patented S3 solid-state lidar sensor. With the commissioning of this facility, Quanergy is now the only company to mass produce solid-state 3D lidar sensors. It features a high-capacity, fully automated production line in a clean room environment. The line features state-of-the-art semiconductor handling and packaging equipment including high-precision photonic integrated circuit processing tools and a conveyor system connecting the machinery that turns a silicon wafer cassette into finished lidar sensors.

The facility also includes calibration and final testing, enabling Quanergy to oversee the entire production process and provide high quality and reliability in an industry that has thus far relied mainly on manual labor to build mechanical lidars. The manufacturing facility also has the capability to expand to increase capacity based on market demands.

“This manufacturing facility represents our most significant milestone to date in realizing Quanergy’s goal to bring capable, reliable and affordable electronically steered solid-state lidar sensors to mass market,” said Louay Eldada, founder and CEO of Quanergy. “We fully expect that these sensors will play an integral role in bringing self-driving vehicles to the road, as the unparalleled solid-state reliability and silicon CMOS cost make them only viable sensors for the production of Level 4 and Level 5 – highly and fully automated – passenger vehicles and will also contribute to groundbreaking applications in industrial automation and security.”

Quanergy is a sensing technology developer for the optics, photonics, optoelectronics, artificial intelligence and control fields.