Singapore/Toronto, August 2023 – Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF) and Ascenta Technologies (Ascenta) announce a new milestone in the advancement of Silicon Photonics across visible wavelengths: The AMF Visible + Infrared (IR) multi-project wafer (MPW) series. A long-standing collaborative endeavour between AMF, a leading Silicon Photonics foundry, and Ascenta, a spin-off led by researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics and the University of Toronto, brings a versatile and functional Visible + IR platform to the photonics community.
The visible platform was built using AMF’s extensive expertise in low-loss SiN platform technology. Leveraging a unique multi-layer silicon nitride and silicon stack, this platform enables the creation of high-and low-confinement single-mode waveguides, effectively spanning a wavelength spectrum of 400 nm to 1600 nm, as well as active functionalities including photodetectors and highly efficient phase shifters.
AMF partnered with Ascenta to develop a comprehensive library of Visible and IR photonic components on AMF’s silicon nitride technology platform. The library includes a suite of devices such as low-loss waveguides, fiber-to-chip couplers, photodetectors, thermo-optic phase shifters, MEMS structures, and modulators. This collaborative offering paves the way for further innovation in this space by empowering optical designers with the necessary tools to design complex PICs with confidence.
Both companies are actively aggregating users for MPW runs in 2024. The AMF Visible MPW offering holds the promise of advancing visible product development in fields ranging from LiDAR, optical computing, health, and augmented reality.
AMF CTO, Dr. Patrick Lo remarked “I am very excited to see the interest from the community to utilise the wide space of visible applications. AMF is very proud to partner with Prof. Joyce Poon & Ascenta to provide access to this platform via MPW to support the community and grow the market”.
Ascenta CEO, Mr. Ilan Almog added “The Ascenta team is grateful for our partnership with AMF and thrilled to share the VIS+IR silicon photonics platform with MPW participants. The platform is the same fundamental technology Ascenta is using to develop its products, in the 3D sensing space and beyond. We are excited to enable the wide range of applications brought forth by the creativity of the community, leveraging the capabilities in the platform”.
For more information on the platform, please contact sales@advmf.com or info@ascenta.tech.
About Advanced Micro Foundry
Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF) is the world’s first specialty Silicon Photonics foundry based in Singapore. A Pioneer in Silicon Photonics technology, the company offers manufacturing, prototyping & testing services on technology platforms developed and manufactured from its facility in Singapore. The state of art technology platforms benefits from its proprietary application driven PDK strategically tailored for Telecom, Data Centres, LiDAR, and sensor products. AMF’s focus on advancing technology while delivering quality services in volumes has played a pivotal role in seamless scaling of multiple Silicon Photonics products.
Website: www.advmf.com | Contact: sales@advmf.com
About Ascenta Technologies
Ascenta Technologies (Ascenta) is developing products and services based on visible and infrared silicon photonic integrated circuits. Founded by former members from Prof. Joyce Poon’s research group, the Ascenta team has deep expertise in silicon photonics design, integration, and test. The team has successfully developed platforms and executed designs in numerous foundries. Ascenta’s visible and infrared spectrum photonic technology are based on nearly a decade of research and development at the Max Planck Institute of Microstructure Physics (Germany), the University of Toronto (Canada), and Advanced Micro Foundry (Singapore). Ascenta aims to empower life with integrated photonics.
Website: www.ascenta.tech | Contact: info@ascenta.tech