Capture the Light with Integrated Photonics

Capture the Light with Integrated Photonics
by Mitch Heins on 07-03-2017 at 7:00 am


I wrote up a quick article in the weeks before the Design Automation Conference (DAC) letting readers know that Integrated Photonics were indeed coming to DAC again this year. As a follow up, I attended the DAC presentation, ‘Capture the Light. An Integrated Photonics Design Solution from Cadence, Lumerical and PhoeniX Software’,… Read More


Photonics at DAC – Integrated Electronic/Photonic Design Flow to be Presented at Cadence Theater

Photonics at DAC – Integrated Electronic/Photonic Design Flow to be Presented at Cadence Theater
by Mitch Heins on 06-09-2017 at 12:00 pm


I recently wrote an article on SemiWiki talking about the integrated Electronic/Photonic Design Automation (EPDA) flow that is being developed by Cadence Design Systems, Lumerical Solutions and PhoeniX Software and how that flow is now expanding into the system level through SiP (system in package) techniques.

Up till recently,… Read More


AIM Photonics Catching Its Stride as They Move into 2nd Year

AIM Photonics Catching Its Stride as They Move into 2nd Year
by Mitch Heins on 06-02-2017 at 7:00 am

AIM Photonics held its 2017 Proposers Meetings on May 24[SUP]th[/SUP] in Rochester, NY. The meetings included a review of AIM’s progress and strategic direction by their TRB (technical review board) and a session targeted at PIC (photonic integrated circuit) design for multi-project wafer (MPW) runs. While these discussions… Read More


Integrated Photonics Accelerates with Entrance of TSMC and TowerJazz Foundries

Integrated Photonics Accelerates with Entrance of TSMC and TowerJazz Foundries
by Mitch Heins on 04-05-2017 at 12:00 pm


I’m writing this from the Boston airport on my way home from four straight weeks of PIC (photonic integrated circuit) related travel. It’s been a grueling but very rewarding four weeks and the big take away from this month is that there are now many more signs in the market that integrated photonics is reaching a real tipping point.… Read More


Synopsys and PhoeniX Demo Photonic IC Flow Using AIM PDK at OFC

Synopsys and PhoeniX Demo Photonic IC Flow Using AIM PDK at OFC
by Mitch Heins on 03-08-2017 at 12:00 pm


Synopsys has long been known for its leading position in the digital logic synthesis world. More recently however, the company started delving into the world of photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design. Synopsys started down this path from the system level with a 2010 acquisition of Optical Research Associates and their CODE… Read More


Plasmonics Integrates Photonics and Electronics

Plasmonics Integrates Photonics and Electronics
by Mitch Heins on 02-21-2017 at 7:00 am

In the last year we have seen a marked increase in activity around the integrated photonics space, especially around silicon-based photonics. Last year the American Institute for Manufacturing of Photonics (better known as AIM Photonics) was started to boot-strap U.S. efforts in integrated photonics. We also saw multiple … Read More


Fabless and IDMs Training up on Integrated Photonics

Fabless and IDMs Training up on Integrated Photonics
by Mitch Heins on 11-28-2016 at 12:00 pm

I had the good fortune to be able to attend a very informative five-day photonic integrated circuit (PIC) training this last week in Santa Clara, CA. The training was organized by Erik Pennings of 7 Pennies consulting and hosted by Tektronix. Several ecosystem partners from the design automation, photonic foundries and photonic… Read More


A Peek Inside the Global Foundries Photonic Death Star!

A Peek Inside the Global Foundries Photonic Death Star!
by Mitch Heins on 11-03-2016 at 12:00 pm

Last week I wrote about the Photonics Summit and hands-on training hosted by Cadence Design, PhoeniX Software and Lumerical Solutions and in that article I mentioned that Ted Letavic of Global Foundries laid out a powerful argument for why integrated photonics is a technology that is going main stream. This article dives into … Read More


Score 1 for IDMs vs Fabless Intel King of the Photonics Hill in Data Centers

Score 1 for IDMs vs Fabless Intel King of the Photonics Hill in Data Centers
by Mitch Heins on 08-18-2016 at 12:00 pm

For those of you waiting with baited breath to see the Fabless community with the likes of Broadcom or Qualcomm challenge Intel in the data center space, you were just dealt a significant blow. Intel debuted their long awaited silicon photonics modules for what they called “lightning-fast” connectivity in data centers. Intel … Read More


Fabless Photonics Gets a Boost with Aurrion Acquistion by Juniper Networks

Fabless Photonics Gets a Boost with Aurrion Acquistion by Juniper Networks
by Mitch Heins on 08-07-2016 at 12:00 pm

It was announced this week that Juniper Networks is acquiring integrated photonics fabless supplier Aurrion for an undisclosed amount. Aurrion was founded in 2008 by Dr. Alexander Fang of ex Intel and IBM fame and specializes in Indium Phosphide (InP) based transceivers for long-haul communications.

The twist that made Aurrion’sRead More