SMART Photonics B.V. announced its partnership with GlobalFoundries (GF) to offer a new open access foundry service. The service combines GlobalFoundries’ silicon platform with SMART Photonics’ high-volume indium phosphide photonic integrated circuits (PICs), including lasers and modulators.
The commercial offering is described as the first of its kind. It enables designers to use both material platforms to address scaling challenges for AI data centers and to support production of pluggable optical transceivers.
GlobalFoundries provides a silicon-based cavity in which SMART Photonics’ lasers and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) are integrated using flip-chip technology. For more than a year, the companies have conducted co-engineering and development to meet technical requirements for dimensional fit and efficient optical coupling. The resulting manufacturing techniques are intended to reduce the footprint and costs of chiplet products and support faster time to market.
Johan Feenstra, CEO of SMART Photonics, said: “GlobalFoundries is a leader in silicon photonics with global reach and an extensive track record of manufacturing innovation. The combination of their technology with SMART Photonics’ leading indium phosphide-based PICs marks a significant milestone toward meeting the explosive market demand for power- and cost-efficient photonics products.”
Vikas Gupta, senior fellow for silicon photonics business at GlobalFoundries, said: “Our customers seek active components seamlessly integrated into our silicon photonics platform. By partnering with SMART Photonics to deliver this new open access foundry service, we have created a highly efficient production process to accelerate the availability of high-performance integrated optical products.”
General availability for the joint foundry service is targeted for the second half of 2027.
