Bridging the Challenge of Laser Integration via a Unified Design Kit and Fabrication Process

As demand for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) expands in and beyond datacom applications, so grows demand for pluggable and co-packaged PIC solutions offering higher levels of laser integration and scalability. Such integration, however, presents both a design and a manufacturing challenge, and will therefore require unified solutions that bridge both phases of PIC development.

OpenLight’s Mader describes an emerging fabrication process, developed in conjunction with Tower Semiconductor, that enables fully integrated lasers on III-V and silicon photonic platforms. The technology achieves high-yield, cost-effective, custom PICs fabricated in end-to-end large-scale manufacturing by leveraging Tower’s BiCMOS process. Key to the success of this process is the development of an open process design kit (PDK) that offers parameterized device cells, fully validated device models, and electro-optic cosimulation capability for high-speed design and validation — all of which lowers the barrier to adopting this advanced technology and shortens the design and product cycle.

About the presenter
Tom Mader, Ph.D., earned a doctorate in electrical engineering, and his experience spans 27 years across the photonics and consumer electronics industries. Prior to the formation of OpenLight, he led the same team within Juniper Networks. Mader’s previous experience includes six years at Intel, where he founded Light Peak, which became Thunderbolt. He drove innovation at Amazon for six years, creating several new devices and features, such as the Amazon Dash Button. Mader has been an executive at four previous startups, including LightLogic, Picarro, Radiient, and Klue.