AIM Photonics unveils support for datacom and telecom optical bands with new silicon photonics PDK

The Rochester-based consortium AIM Photonics (American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics) - an industry-driven public-private partnership advancing the USA’s photonics manufacturing capabilities - and Analog Photonics of Boston, MA, USA (which has expertise in the design and verification of silicon photonics components and systems) have announced the release of the AP SUNY Process Design Kit v2.5a (APSUNY_PDKv2.5a).

Analog Photonics (AP) has expanded the comprehensive set of silicon photonics integrated circuit (PIC) component libraries within SUNY Poly’s process capabilities to address the needs for O+C+L-band applications. Combined with multi-project wafer (MPW) runs, this updated PDK will give AIM Photonics’ members access to silicon photonics components for the development of optical transceivers or systems used in all levels within data centers and high-performance computers.

The silicon photonics PDK includes design guide, design rule check deck, technology files, active and passive component documentation, abstracts, schematics and compact models for the development of PICs.

The key features of the APSUNY_PDKv2.5a are:

O-band modulation, detection and coupling support;
C+L-band modulation, detection, filtering, switching, monitoring and coupling support;
single-level and multi-level modulation format support at 50Gbps, namely NRZ and PAM-4; and
continued multi-vendor electronics-photonics-design-automation (EPDA) support with integrated EPDA PDK flow for hierarchical design and system-level simulation.

“We are thrilled to continue to expand the offerings of our state-of-the-art PDK to meet the needs of our more than 100 signed partners and other interested collaborators who can gain access to our unique capabilities,” says Dr Michael Liehr, AIM Photonics CEO and SUNY Poly executive VP for Innovation and Technology. “This also dovetails perfectly with our effort to efficiently process our multi-project wafers in the fab, with processing time decreasing from 130 days in 2016 to fewer than 90 days as we simultaneously add additional mask levels and functionality and continue to achieve world-class quality,” he adds.

The combined APSUNY_PDKv2.5a and MPW offering provides access to PIC systems for companies that desire a reduction in the time to market, product development risk and investment. By incorporating the design, verification and process development within the PDK, interested organizations can rapidly modify their designs while reducing cost.

“The IEEE standards and multi-source-agreements (MSAs) for communications compatibility are key for our PDK component library,” says Dr Erman Timurdogan, director of PDK Development at Analog Photonics. “These standards require optical components to operate at O band (1260-1360nm), C band (1530-1565nm) and L band (1565-1625nm),” he adds. “With the PDKv2.5a component library, we are enabling components that cover all these bands in a single fabrication flow, and we look forward to the advancement of this library while innovating to meet industry needs.”

In the near future, the PDK will be empowered by laser and CMOS integration with an interposer, a capability that will be made possible at AIM Photonics’ Test, Assembly and Packaging (TAP) facility in Rochester, NY. Additional releases of the AP SUNY Process Design Kit are planned over the next several years each quarter, with improved statistical models, optical components, and PIC systems.

“We are seeing customers take advantage of our repeatedly characterized and proven devices in the APSUNY PDK,” says AIM Photonics Design Center offering director Barton Bergman. “With this valuable resource, which is validated on our 300mm advanced semiconductor toolset, customers are able to rapidly address global standards, shrink their design sizes, and most importantly, reduce their time to market.”

AIM Photonics is leveraging SUNY Poly’s facilities for three total full-build/passive MPW runs that incorporate the PDK updates, with an interposer MPW run anticipated later in 2018. To ensure space for all interested parties, AIM Photonics is accepting reservations for these MPW runs. Those interested in participating in any of the AIM Photonics 2018 MPW silicon photonics runs should contact Chandra Cotter at ccotter@aimphotonics.com to guarantee a spot on the new silicon photonics offerings. Interested parties can also sign up for the 2018 runs by visiting www.aimphotonics.com/mpw-schedule.

PDK and MPW fab access is solely available through the AIM Photonics MPW aggregator, MOSIS. Contact MOSIS for access to the most current PDK version release at www.mosis.com/vendors/view/AIM.

See related items:

AIM Photonics and Analog Photonics unveil silicon photonics PDK

AIM Photonics releases integrated silicon photonics PDK

Tags: silicon photonics PICs Optical communications EDA software

Visit: www.aimphotonics.com/mpw-schedule

Visit: www.analogphotonics.com/pdk