Tower Semiconductor announced that, in partnership with Marvell Technology, it has shipped over five million coherent photonic integrated circuits (PICs) to Marvell’s global customers.
The coherent PICs address bandwidth and efficiency demands of AI-driven data center interconnect (DCI) networks. Coherent PICs control the phase and polarization of light in addition to amplitude, requiring more stringent design and process capabilities than direct-detect chips.
Tower has collaborated with Marvell on next-generation coherent technologies. This includes process capabilities for integration of non-silicon materials, 3D integration of electronics, and advanced optical packaging such as V-Grooves to extend silicon photonics platform performance and functionality.
“As optical transceiver applications and requirements continue to evolve, photonics platforms must evolve to meet these requirements. This is especially true in the area of coherent optical transceivers,” said Dr. Ed Preisler, Vice President and General Manager of the RF Business Unit at Tower Semiconductor.
“This milestone demonstrates the strength of our collaboration,” said Dr. Radha Nagarajan, Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, Optical Engineering, at Marvell. “As one of our key ecosystem partners, we look forward to continue working with the Tower team to advance next-generation coherent technologies for scale-across data center architectures.”
