Silicon photonics design
Integrated photonics is no longer a technology of the future. It’s one of the most exciting additions to today’s computing platforms. And thanks to imec’s manufacturing and design capabilities, it’s within everyone’s reach.
Autonomous vehicles, collaborative robots, personalized and predictive healthcare, ... If you’re working on these kinds of applications, you know that they share an insatiable need for processing speed. They make use of AI technology that needs to be quickly trained on massive amounts of data.
That’s why you’ve probably already considered including silicon photonics in your computing platform. The speed of light is just what you need to guide your solution to the next level.
On top of that, photonic integrated circuits are indispensable in the high-speed transceivers that are needed to handle the exploding data traffic in and between data centers.
Silicon photonics design: an opportunity that comes with challenges
The good news is that silicon photonics technology is now within reach of companies of all sizes. Even start-ups can develop integrated circuits with photonic components that multiply processing speeds without increasing energy use. Or, they can use silicon photonics elements for opto-electrical applications such as lidar systems or high-speed data center transceivers.
Still, designing and manufacturing your photonic ICs can seem daunting. Compared to the highly standardized process flow for electronic chips, silicon photonics design poses many challenges. Luckily, the team at imec USA Florida is ready to guide you through the process.
Manufacturing your silicon photonics chips
Silicon photonics is no longer an obscure technology. But that doesn’t mean you can turn to any foundry to manufacture your photonic ICs. Through the imec USA Florida design center, you have access to the 200-mm and 300-mm technology platforms in Leuven (Belgium), renowned for their expertise in silicon photonics integration.
The imec facilities offer you prototypes and low volume (MPW) runs of your photonics ICs. If needed, we can provide a path to higher volumes through a commercial foundry for 200-mm wafers.
Access to the imec facilities also includes access to a device library of basic photonic components, layout guidelines for custom devices and a full set of PDKs – all indispensable for your silicon photonics design process.
Designing your silicon photonics chips
Your collaboration with imec gives you access to all the tools you need to physically design your photonics IC. We are ready with a sizeable team of highly qualified experts to take on the job of designing even basic components such as modulators, resonators, rotators, couplers and filters.
For all these projects, the silicon photonics design team is waiting for you at imec USA Florida. Working closely with their colleagues in imec Belgium, they’re committed to working out the details of the system that fulfills your goals. Saving you time, reducing your risk.
