The photonics foundry at A*STAR’s Institute of Microelectronics (IME) has partnered with Lumerical Solutions, a provider of photonic design software, to develop a calibrated compact model library (CML) for IME’s silicon photonics platform and process design kit (PDK).
IME offers a 25G/s-capable silicon photonics platform and PDK, which are built on validated processes and devices. The foundry service enables PIC designers to build reliable devices with state-of-the-art performance, and achieve prototyping and product manufacturing with ease.
The CML will streamline and accelerate the process for developing photonic integrated circuits (PICs), helping designers who use IME’s silicon photonics process to improve the accuracy and reliability of their designs.
PIC design is often manual and iterative, and is based on custom component libraries and workflows, which may lead to errors and multiple design revisions. Exploiting IME’s capabilities in silicon photonics process and device technology, and Lumerical’s expertise in integrated photonics device simulation and circuit design tools, the collaboration overcame these challenges by developing calibrated simulation models tailored to a standard library of elements.
The CML enables designers to accurately simulate and optimise the performance of complex PIC designs prior to fabrication. It includes 15 active and passive elements, from waveguides to modulators and photo-detectors. The library, along with process data, layer tables, cells for device layout and design rules, forms part of IME’s silicon photonics PDK.
“With silicon photonics emerging as a leading technology platform for high-bandwidth optical communication, R&D is critical in addressing the industry’s needs for increasingly complex photonic-electronic circuits. I am confident that the combined strengths of IME’s capabilities in silicon photonics technologies for integration and manufacturing, and Lumerical’s experience in innovating design tools will enable designers to produce quality photonic integrated circuits, and accelerate the production of next generation devices,” said Prof. Dim-Lee Kwong, executive director, IME.