GloFo extends silicon photonics roadmap
Globalfoundries’ silicon photonics technologies enable the monolithic integration of optical components with electrical circuits.
The current generation of silicon photonic ICs is built using a 90nm RFSOI process that can provide 30GHz of bandwidth to support data rates up to 800Gbps and distance capabilities of up to 120km.
The technology, which had previously been manufactured using 200mm wafer processing, has now been qualified on 300mm wafers at Globalfoundries’ Fab 10 facility in East Fishkill, New York. The 90nm technology is supported by a physical design kit from Cadence Design Systems, as well as differentiated photonic test capabilities including five test sectors from technology verification and modelling to MCM product test.
Silicon Photonics market forecast. Source: Yole Developpement.
Globalfoundries’ next-generation monolithic silicon photonics offering will be manufactured on a 45nm RF SOI process with production slated for 2019. The new process is expected to extend optical transceiver bandwidth to terabit applications.
“The explosive need for bandwidth is fueling demand for a new generation of optical interconnects,” said Mike Cadigan, senior vice president of the ASIC business unit at Globalfoundries, in a statement.
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