Enabling Robust Manufacturing of Photonic Integrated Circuits for the AI Revolution

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSMUz-hy-LE

Summary

TL;DR — The AI revolution is driving an unprecedented demand for data center traffic, necessitating robust manufacturing of Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs). This webinar brings together key players across the value chain to discuss challenges and solutions in scaling PIC production for AI applications.

Key points

• The Advanced Photonics Coalition (APC) is working to standardize and lower barriers for new PIC technologies, with active working groups on silicon photonics, multi-core fiber, core package optics, and optical waveguide interconnects.

• Foundries like Global Foundries are developing flexible platforms (GFotonix) and wafer-level processing techniques to enable high-volume, cost-effective manufacturing of PICs.

• Advanced packaging solutions, including co-packaged optics (CPO), are crucial for bridging the gap between compute and interconnect bandwidth, with IBM highlighting breakthroughs in high-density optical interconnects.

• Contract manufacturers like Jabil are essential for scaling production, focusing on reducing time-to-market and ensuring robust manufacturing processes through automation and standardization.

• Companies like Ayar Labs are developing novel optical chiplets, such as the 8 Tb/s UCI chiplet, pushing the boundaries of bandwidth and requiring integrated laser sources and advanced packaging.

• Testing is a critical enabler for reliability, with Teradyne and others focusing on wafer-level, die-level, and package-level testing, including optical and electrical characterization, to ensure known good die for CPO integration.

Takeaway — Collaboration across the entire PIC ecosystem, from design and manufacturing to packaging and testing, is essential to meet the demands of the AI revolution and enable robust, high-volume production.