Electronic Products & Technology

Silicon photonics service provides path to prototyping

Stephen Law   

Semiconductors Engineering

Innovators across Canada’s National Design Network and around the world now have access to a new service for design and fabrication of silicon photonics circuits.

CMC Microsystems is offering a comprehensive Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) service that enables silicon photonics innovators in academia and industry to reduce the cost of prototyping their circuit designs by sharing the costs of  a silicon fabrication run based on the A*STAR Institute of Microelectronics (IME)’s 25G Silicon Photonics platform.

IME’s silicon photonics platform includes a full suite of library elements such as high speed modulators, photo detectors and passive elements, which are necessary for telecom and datacom applications.

“This enhanced service builds on our multi-year relationship with IME, which since 2012 has led to the fabrication of more than 120 designs from research groups and industrial innovators,” says Dan Gale, vice-president and chief technology officer of CMC.

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Clients of this service also have access to related resources, including engineering expertise, process technology infrastructure and packaging, from CMC Microsystems.  Prototyping is a critical step in developing innovations in silicon photonics. As part of its offering to clients, CMC’s photonics engineering team can review and provide feedback on new designs.

“Silicon photonics is one of our flagship technologies and we have supported the training and growth of a large community of researchers, graduates, and industrial collaborators who are advancing knowledge and applications in this rapidly growing field,” says Gale. “Thanks to the participation of IME, this enhanced service offering provides silicon photonics innovators with a cost-effective, seamless path from design to prototype, and ultimately to volume manufacture.”

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