Lattice Materials breaks ground on Montana silicon, germanium plant

US silicon and germanium manufacturer Lattice Materials, part of The Partner Companies (TPC), has broken ground on a new 80,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Montana in a milestone in the buildout of next-generation domestic photonics capabilities.   

Held April 8 at the future site in Bozeman, the groundbreaking convened federal, state and local elected officials including Montana Governor Greg Gianforte and Senator Tim Sheehy, in a show of cross-sector support for strengthening domestic advanced manufacturing and workforce development in the region, the company said.  

The project is supported in part by an $18.5 million investment from the U.S. Department of War, translating federal funding into expanded domestic production capacity for critical optical materials. The facility will support growing demand from aerospace, defense and advanced imaging customers by improving scale, tolerances and supply chain resilience, Lattice said.    

“This groundbreaking is where strategy and investment turn into real capability,” Lattice Materials president Travis Wood said in a media release. “Bringing together leaders from government, industry and education reflects the shared importance of expanding secure, U.S.-based manufacturing while building the technical workforce needed to sustain it, further reinforcing Montana’s continued emergence as the nation’s photonics epicenter.”  

Construction is scheduled to begin in May 2026, with completion anticipated in 2027. Once operational, the facility will more than double Lattice’s footprint and enable advanced manufacturing capabilities not previously available at scale in North America, including the largest optical boule growth capacity, expanded internal processing and enhanced precision machining and metrology.  

The facility will also introduce recycling processes that allow Lattice to produce seed crystals from scrap material, which reduces dependence on imported raw materials and further strengthens supply resilience for silicon and germanium used in optical applications, the company said.