CompoundTek, STAr Technologies partner on silicon photonics wafer test procedures
Foundry services provider CompoundTek Pte Ltd. and semiconductor testing technology house STAr Technologies Inc. say they will partner to develop standards and approaches for cost-effective high-volume testing of silicon photonics wafers.
The two companies believe that the silicon photonics space suffers from a lack of common test procedures due, in part at least, from a lack of standards. This leaves most players in the space to develop their own bench systems that may meet their requirements during engineering characterization during the design verification phase but fall short for production testing. Similarly, the industry lacks an independent silicon photonics wafer test service provider with what the partners described as “a cost-efficient solution” to meet such production requirements.
“To accelerate the market wider adoption of wafer-level silicon photonics tests cost and efficiencies must be improved. To do so, we believe it is necessary to take a holistic approach by establishing partnerships that leverage expertise within the test technology value chain and that of the fabrication process. It is this synergy of measurement instrumentation, positioning, and commercialization technologies that will further standardize the way testing is done, the way the chip is laid out for ease of tests - that both CompoundTek and STAr effectively brings to the marketplace,” explained Raj Kumar, CompoundTek’s CEO.
“When you think of working in a lab on an initial prototype and spending a few hours to set up and align a single device for measurements, it seems feasible. It is not the case however, in high-volume silicon photonics manufacturing where time- and effort-intensive methods are not practical, and time-to-market is a critical factor,” added Dr Jeffrey Lam, general manager and vice president of engineering of STAr Technologies. “This has inhabited the rapid adoption of silicon photonics, a challenge we aim to effectively address with methods and strategies that have a unique relative emphasis on accuracy, throughput, and test flexibility, through our combined silicon photonics wafer test approach.”
For related articles, visit the Optical Technologies Topic Center.
For more information on optical components and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To stay abreast of optical communications technology, subscribe to Lightwave’s Enabling Technologies Newsletter.
Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.