Sivers Press
As the leading international event for optical communications and networking, Sivers Photonics (subsidiary of Sivers Semiconductors AB) were excited to return to OFC in-person for the first time since 2019. The event, held from 06-10 March in San Diego, CA, USA, hosted approximately 8,000 participants and 430 exhibiting companies. Also offering a hybrid conference experience, it allowed for people who were unable to travel to the U.S. to participate in technical sessions remotely. Naturally the attendance was down on previous years, but despite this, there was a definite buzz and a sense of excitement amongst everyone to be back.
The Sivers team were certainly excited to be back, showcasing our latest developments on our booth, focusing on our InP100 Product Platform and talking at the technical conference. In addition to this, we had a packed meeting schedule with existing and new customers and partners.
Developments in Silicon Photonics
Silicon Photonics (SiPh) was a hot trend of the show, from the plenary sessions to technical conference and the innovations being showcased during the exhibition. During the plenary session, Professor Bowers, University of California, Santa Barbara, a pioneer in silicon photonics, set the tone as he presented exciting recent developments, from small wafers on indium phosphide to the making of photonic devices on silicon.
InP100 Product Platform for SiPh Applications
OFC was the opportunity for us to showcase our InP100 product platform to a wide audience of the most well-respected peers in our industry. We were delighted to welcome so many of you to the booth over the course of the exhibition and tell you more about our advanced 4” indium phosphide platform. Utilising established process module technology, this common design and manufacturing framework produces a broad range of active III-V photonic devices, including high-power DFB lasers and reflective SOA chips. These chips are enabling the acceleration of Silicon Photonics (SiPh) for a use in wide variety of high-volume, low-cost applications, including data center, AI and optical sensing.
Progress and Roadmap in Silicon Photonics Foundries and Supply Chains
The SiPh theme continued into the technical conference. We were delighted to be invited to take part in the session ‘Progress and Roadmap in Silicon Photonics Foundries and Supply Chains’, discussing how commercial foundry services and supply chain enablement are playing a critical role in the Silicon Photonics (SiPh) ecosystem, supporting high volume and low-cost applications.
The line-up of speakers was strong, with other speakers including our partner imec and others including Intel, GlobalFoundries, Tower Semiconductor, IHP, Advanced Micro Foundry, LIGENTEC, NeoPhotonics, InnoLight and Aifotec AG.
As part of the session, Sivers Photonics CTO, Andy McKee, spoke about the ‘Recent Advances in InP Laser Sources for SiPh Hybrid Integration’, in which we further showcased our capability to support the ecosystem with our InP100 product platform. Andy spoke about our success in integrating III-V with Si Photonics, as part of our ongoing work with imec, with volume production expected this year.
Demonstration of CW WDM MSA Compliant DFB Laser Diode Arrays
During the technical session, we also demonstrated the 8x/400GHz grid array with 50mW CW power per channel. Designed for use in CW WDM MSA compliant applications including high-density co-packaged optics, optical computing, and AI.
Over 30 CW WDM MSA Members in Attendance
As we continue to develop technology for WDM-based silicon photonics, it was great to meet members of the CW WDM MSA in-person, many of which for the first time. Being part of such an open, diverse ecosystem is essential to ensure the interoperability and success of such critical emerging silicon photonics applications.
Learn more about the CW WDM MSA, or visit www.cw-wdm.org
Conclusion
Our week at OFC was productive, fun, but admittedly a little tiring after a few years in the virtual world! In an industry that is built on collaboration and relies on a strong ecosystem, interacting with our customers and peers face-to-face proved invaluable.
We look forward to OFC 2023!
William McLaughlin
Managing Director
Sivers Photonics
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