For Immediate Release: Thursday, October 4, 2018
Contact: Steve Ference (AIM) | sference@sunypoly.edu | (518) 956-7319

New Analog Photonics and SUNY PDK Enables Partnering Companies to Gain World-Class Technological Capabilities in O+C+L optical bands

ALBANY, NY, and BOSTON, MA – The American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics) and Analog Photonics (AP) today announced the release of the AP SUNY Process Design Kit v2.5a (APSUNY_PDKv2.5a). In this latest release, Analog Photonics (AP) 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 world-class 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.
• 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. This also dovetails perfectly with our effort to efficiently process our Multi-Project Wafers (MPW’s) 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,” said Dr. Michael Liehr, AIM Photonics CEO and SUNY Poly Executive Vice President for Innovation and Technology.

The combined APSUNY_PDKv2.5a and MPW offering provides unmatched access to PIC systems for companies who 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. These standards require optical components to operate at O band (1260nm-to-1360nm), C band (1530nm-to-1565nm) and L band (1565nm-to-1625nm). 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,” said Director of PDK Development at Analog Photonics, Dr. Erman Timurdogan.

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, located 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. 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,” said AIM Photonics Design Center Offering Director Barton Bergman.

AIM Photonics is leveraging SUNY Poly’s state-of-the-art 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 in order to guarantee a spot on these exciting new silicon photonics offerings. Interested parties can also sign up for the 2018 runs by visiting the initiative’s website at the following link: http://www.aimphotonics.com/mpw-schedule/

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

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About AIM Photonics

AIM Photonics is one of a number of Manufacturing Innovation Institutes, an industry-driven public-private partnership that focuses the nation’s premiere capabilities and expertise to capture critical global manufacturing leadership in a technology that is both essential to national security and positioned to provide a compelling return-on-investment to the U.S. economy. For more information about AIM Photonics, visit http://www.aimphotonics.com/

Analog Photonics

Analog Photonics is a leading expert in the design and verification of silicon photonics components and systems with the capability of industry oriented custom optical solutions while maintaining a small footprint, low power and low cost. For more information about Analog Photonics, visit http://www.analogphotonics.com/pdk/ or contact at pdk@analogphotonics.com.