Wafer fabrication and micromachining
Silicon wafer processing, deep silicon etching and micromachined device manufacture for sensing and detector customers.
Regional cluster
The Northern Ireland semiconductor cluster
A small but genuinely industrial cluster combining silicon wafer fabrication near Belfast, photonics and detector manufacture in County Antrim, and large-scale advanced manufacturing in Londonderry.
What is the Northern Ireland semiconductor cluster known for?
The curated Semiconductor.co.uk company index currently holds 6 published records in this cluster — 5 dedicated semiconductor businesses and 1 diversified company with semiconductor capability alongside other activity, across 6 capabilities. The count moves as records are verified, and is a count of published records rather than an estimate of every company in the region.
Wafer fabrication, photonics and detectors. Northern Ireland holds silicon wafer fabrication and micromachining capability in Belfast, semiconductor laser and photonics device manufacture in County Antrim, scientific camera and detector manufacture, radio frequency and millimetre-wave design, and nanophotonic sensing.
It also carries research weight in hardware security. The 2026 Government sector study identifies Northern Ireland for a nationally influential hardware security research base alongside integrated photonics and nano-manufacturing capability, and for large-scale advanced manufacturing in data storage components.
- 6
- Published records in this cluster
- Curated index, verified individually
- 5
- Dedicated semiconductor businesses
- Semiconductors are the core activity
- 1
- Diversified companies
- Semiconductor capability alongside other work
- 6
- Distinct primary capabilities
- From the controlled capability vocabulary
At a glance
- Silicon wafer fabrication and micromachining in Belfast
- Semiconductor laser and photonic device manufacture in County Antrim
- Scientific detector and camera manufacture
- Radio frequency and millimetre-wave design capability
- Hardware security research at Queen's University Belfast
- Large-scale data storage component manufacturing in Londonderry
What this cluster specialises in
Semiconductor lasers and photonics
Laser diode and photonic device manufacture, including mid-infrared and sensing applications.
Detectors and scientific imaging
Low-noise scientific cameras and detector systems for astronomy, life sciences and industrial imaging.
Hardware security and RF design
Research-led hardware security capability alongside radio frequency and millimetre-wave circuit design.
Capabilities recorded here
- Detectors / Imaging Devices1
- Foundry / Wafer Fabrication1
- Front-End Semiconductor Manufacturing1
- MEMS / Sensors1
- RF / MMIC Design1
- Semiconductor Lasers1
Companies recorded in this cluster
Drawn live from the central company index and listed alphabetically, with no ranking or paid placement. A cluster is only recorded where the operating location genuinely sits inside the cluster geography, so companies elsewhere in the same region are not listed here.
Showing 6 of 6
Brolis Photonics Solutions
DedicatedLarne operation developing mid-infrared and near-infrared semiconductor laser diodes and electro-optical devices for defence and security applications.
Semiconductor Lasers · Larne
UK operation of Brolis Defence Group (Lithuania)
WebsiteCauseway Sensors
DedicatedBelfast company manufacturing nanofabricated plasmonic sensor chips that detect surface binding events, used for bioprocess and drug-quality monitoring; a Queen's University Belfast spin-out.
MEMS / Sensors · Belfast
WebsiteICEMOS Technology
DedicatedBelfast company providing silicon wafer processing and foundry services, including deep reactive-ion etching, MEMS structures and specialist substrate products.
Foundry / Wafer Fabrication · Belfast
WebsiteMMIC-LAB UK
DedicatedNorthern Ireland fabless company designing gallium arsenide and gallium nitride monolithic microwave integrated circuits and discrete radio-frequency devices for millimetre-wave applications using external foundries.
RF / MMIC Design · Annalong
WebsiteRaptor Photonics
DedicatedLarne designer and manufacturer of high-performance imaging cameras built on silicon and compound semiconductor sensors, including electron-multiplying CCD, short-wave infrared and x-ray detection technologies.
Detectors / Imaging Devices · Larne
WebsiteSeagate Technology (Springtown)
DiversifiedData storage manufacturer operating a wafer fabrication plant at Springtown, Northern Ireland, producing recording head components for hard disk drives.
Front-End Semiconductor Manufacturing · Londonderry
UK operation of Seagate Technology Holdings plc (United States/Ireland)
Website
Search the full UK company index · Report a correction or a missing company
Manufacturing and fabrication capability
Northern Ireland is one of the few UK regions where a small cluster still contains real front-end capability. Silicon wafer fabrication and micromachining in Belfast, laser and photonic device manufacture in Larne, and detector and camera manufacture give the region a production base rather than a purely research profile.
The largest advanced manufacturing operation in the region is in data storage components at Londonderry, recorded in our index as diversified because semiconductor processing is part of a wider manufacturing operation.
Universities and research
Queen's University Belfast is the principal research institution, with the Centre for Secure Information Technologies providing the hardware security capability cited in the Government sector study, alongside nanofabrication, photonics and plasma research.
Ulster University contributes through nanotechnology and biomedical engineering research, including thin-film and sensing work relevant to semiconductor devices. Invest Northern Ireland supports company growth and inward investment across both.
Investment and programmes
Investment in the region combines corporate manufacturing investment, Invest Northern Ireland support for indigenous companies and inward investors, and research funding into secure hardware and photonics at Queen's University Belfast.
National semiconductor policy applies as elsewhere in the UK: the 2023 National Semiconductor Strategy's emphasis on compound semiconductors, research and security-relevant capability, and the UK Semiconductor Centre announced in 2025 as the national coordination point.
Cluster and industry organisations
Invest Northern Ireland
Regional economic development agency supporting company growth, inward investment and innovation funding.
Centre for Secure Information Technologies, Queen's University Belfast
Research centre for cyber and hardware security, cited in the Government sector study as a national strength.
UK Semiconductor Centre
National coordination point for scale-up support and international engagement.
How this cluster fits the UK sector
Northern Ireland shows that cluster significance is not a function of size: with a small number of published companies it retains wafer fabrication, laser manufacture and detector production, plus a research strength the Government study treats as nationally important.
Its capability is concentrated in a handful of sites, so the regional picture is more exposed to individual company decisions than in the larger clusters.
The 2026 Government sector study identifies 12 regional semiconductor clusters across the UK. The national clusters overview sets out all twelve, each with its own resource and live company count.
Sources
Facilities, programmes and funding described above are drawn from the following first-party and institutional sources. Figures published by a cluster organisation or company are attributed to them in the text rather than presented as official statistics.
Queen's University Belfast
Centre for Secure Information TechnologiesInvest Northern Ireland
Sector and investment supportDepartment for Science, Innovation and Technology
National Semiconductor Strategy
Continue reading
All 12 UK semiconductor clusters
The national picture, region by region, from the 2026 sector study.
UK company index
Search every published record by capability, region and cluster.
Investment and policy
Public programmes and private capital behind the sector.
Semiconductor glossary
Definitions for epitaxy, foundry, compound semiconductor and more.