Photonics foundry has process with integrated lasers

Author: EIS Release Date: Jun 14, 2022

Synopsys and Juniper Networks have formed a photonics foundry company called OpenLight.

 

The foundry will use a process at Tower Semiconductor which integrates the lasers.

 

The process has passed qualification and reliability tests on Tower’s PH18DA production process. OpenLight expects the first open Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) shuttle run on the PH18DA process as well as 400G and 800G reference designs with integrated lasers to be available in Summer 2022.

 

A challenge for silicon photonics has been laser integration and the high cost associated with adding discrete lasers, including the manufacturing, assembly, and alignment of those lasers. This becomes more important as the number of laser channels and the overall bandwidth increases.

 

By processing the Indium Phosphide (InP) materials directly on the silicon photonics wafer, the PH18DA platform reduces the cost and time of adding lasers, enabling volume scalability and improved power efficiency. In addition, monolithically integrated lasers improve overall reliability and simplify packaging.

 

“OpenLight is paving the way for the new generation of silicon photonics by enabling the scalable integration of lasers in pluggable and co-packaged optics,” says Synopsys vp Aveek Sarkar.

 

OpenLight operates under the tagline, “Open. Integrated. Scalable.”  The open platform includes integrated lasers, optical amplifiers, modulators, photodetectors, and other key photonic components to form a complete solution for low-power, high-performance photonics ICs. In addition, OpenLight offers select PIC designs and design services to accelerate time-to-market.