Luxtera and TSMC partner to produce high-spec Si-photonics platform

21 Mar 2017

US-Taiwanese pair to develop silicon-based solutions for cloud, mobile, enterprise, and high-performance computing platforms.

Luxtera, a developer of silicon photonics solutions, is partnering with TSMC (Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company) for the manufacture of next-generation silicon photonics. The partners say that this cooperation will enable the development of new technologies for for supporting cloud, mobile infrastructure, enterprise, and high-performance computing platforms.

The partners are developing an innovative Silicon Photonics technology platform that will provide more than double the optical link performance while enabling four times the raw data rate of any competing Silicon Photonics solution.

The new silicon photonics platform will also enable system-on-chip integration of an optical interconnect with the CMOS logic for applications such as network switch, storage, or compute – capabilities that are widely considered the next logical step for the optical communications sector.

Next-generation silicon photonics

Luxtera's latest platform is to be implemented in a suite of next-generation silicon photonics solutions to deliver 100G-per-lane optical interconnects, starting with 100GBase-DR and 400GBase-DR4 transceivers, launching in 2018, and expanding to include other solutions supporting 25G through to 1 terabit optical interconnects. As a companion to the new silicon photonics technologies, Luxtera will be leveraging TSMC's 7nm CMOS capabilities.

Dr BJ Woo, TSMC’s VP Business Development, commented, “We recognize the growing importance of optical interconnects for our customers. “Our collaboration with Luxtera will help to deliver a silicon photonics technology platform to address critical industry needs. We are pleased that our work together is quickly demonstrating results."

Greg Young, CEO and President of Luxtera, said, “We are excited about the partnership with TSMC, which has a stellar track record that is unmatched in the foundry industry. Together, we will enable unparalleled innovation in the silicon photonics sector."

The partners believe that Cloud computing and mobile networking will continue to drive dramatic increases in both the rate and volume of optical interconnects. Meeting these needs is expected to require mass-proliferation of silicon photonics solutions, with CMOS manufacturing a crucial ingredient for success, the partners stated.

Luxtera has a significant production history for this market, with more than one million silicon photonics transceivers already shipped, so it believes it is strongly positioned to fully utilize TSMC's technology capabilities.