19 October 2016

Infinera joins AIM Photonics manufacturing consortium

The New York State Photonics Board of Officers says that Infinera Corp of Sunnyvale, CA, USA, a vertically integrated manufacturer of digital optical transport networking systems incorporating its own indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs), has become the latest member of the the Rochester-based consortium AIM Photonics (American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics). Infinera will provide access to its InP photonics technology and establish InP-based foundry wafer access for AIM.

"State funding is moving ahead on schedule as is the competitive process to identify a TAP [tuition assistance program] facility," says New York State Photonics Board of Officers chairman John Maggiore. "The reasons AIM Photonics and New York were chosen by the Department of Defense one year ago to lead the country's advanced research endeavors in integrated photonics are the same then as they are now. Only New York has the skill, industry partnerships, and expertise to manage and execute such a large and important project," he adds.

"Photonic integration has revolutionized the optical networking industry and Infinera has led the way, starting with delivering the industry's first large-scale photonic integrated circuit, which started to ship in networking systems in 2005," says Fred Kish, Infinera's senior VP of development & engineering. "We are happy to be working with AIM and SUNY Polytechnic Institute as a Tier 1 industry member," he adds. "Infinera continues to advance integrated photonics to enable service providers and data-center operators to deploy networks consuming less power and space while offering the capacity required to transport data over long distances."

AIM Photonics says that it is building a membership that includes some of the USA's most innovative technology companies that each provides critical elements to the success of the institute. Infinera leads the industry in photonic integration with large-scale PICs and packet-optical convergence, which both reduce space and power requirements while simplifying network operations, it adds. The PIC combines hundreds of discrete optical functions on a single microchip, drastically improving density, power consumption, heat dissipation and reliability.

"Our partnership with Infinera dramatically expands our access to cutting-edge photonics technologies that are crucial to the success of the institute," says Michael Liehr, CEO of AIM Photonics and executive VP of Innovation and Technology for SUNY Polytechnic Institute (which leads the consortium). "Infinera is a leader in photonics innovation, and the ability to tap into its resources, as well as those of our other nationwide members, further increases the already significant potential of this Rochester-based initiative," he adds.

"AIM continues to maintain independent and robust oversight through multiple boards and the federal government," says SUNY Provost, executive vice chancellor and SUNY Poly officer-in-charge Dr Alex Cartwright. "All partners, from academia to government to industry, are working in unison to ensure AIM's mission and potential are achieved."

AIM's Integrated Photonics Institute is designed to establish a technology, business and education framework for industry, government and academia to accelerate the transition of integrated photonics solutions from technology prototypes to manufacturing-ready deployment in systems spanning multiple commercial and defense applications. Each AIM Photonics partner brings unique expertise to address an end-to-end solution to the photonics ecosystem. Infinera brings unique differentiation because of its expertise in development of the most complex commercially available photonic integrated circuits.

The New York State Photonics Board of Officers coordinates New York State's financial investments in AIM. The board consists of seven members who represent a wide array of business, programmatic and technical expertise. The Governor of New York State appoints the chairman and two additional members; SUNY Poly Institute appoints two members; and the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) and University of Rochester (U of R) each appoint one member. The Photonics Institute board of officers consists of chair John Maggiore (Governor appointee), Anne Kress (Governor appointee), Alexander Cartwright (Governor appointee), Ronald Goldblatt (SUNY Poly appointee), Paul Tolley (SUNY Poly appointee), Ryne Raffaele (RIT appointee) and Rob Clark (U of R appointee).

See related items:

PhoeniX joins AIM Photonics manufacturing institute

AIM Photonics releases integrated silicon photonics PDK

Tags: Infinera InP PICs Optical communications

Visit: www.infinera.com

Visit: www.aimphotonics.com/multiproject-wafer-mpw