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CMC Microsystems has partnered with Singapore-based manufacturer of silicon photonics integrated circuits Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF) to develop a new design automation platform for silicon photonics. The new development would allow Canadian university researchers take the lead in developing innovations in light-based technologies.
Photonics technology encodes data on light, rather than in electrical signals, leading to technologies and devices that are faster, more powerful, more secure and less energy-intensive. But photonics R&D to date has been hampered by inefficiencies and disconnects in existing design environments.
The new CMC-AMF Silicon Photonics Platform allows innovators to design and prototype photonics-based technologies faster and more successfully. It includes a design kit, developed by AMF with partner Luceda Photonics, access to AMF’s fabrication services, and design tools from Luceda and Mentor Graphics. CMC will provide platform users with engineering support, reference guides and training, and will coordinate manufacturing of designs via its cost-effective Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) program.
A key value-add of this platform is its physical design kit (PDK), which is one of the most advanced created for photonics R&D. It enables unprecedented first-time-right design of more complex systems more quickly and its industrial approach speeds up time to market.
CMC is providing the platform to academic researchers and industry across Canada’s National Design Network, as well as internationally. It expects to begin making the platform available in June 2018.
