January 30, 2012 — Luxtera is teaming up with the new foundry service for Optoelectronic Systems Integration in Silicon (OpSIS), making Luxtera’s Silicon CMOS Photonics device library and process open to the OpSIS community, which shares the cost of fabricating complex chip-scale systems across many projects.

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In working with OpSIS, various projects can now have direct access to Luxtera’s complete technology platform and proven library of optical device elements that work with a volume 200mm silicon CMOS process. In addition, Luxtera supports a standard tool flow based on industry-leading EDA tools, supporting electronic-photonic co-design. The Luxtera PDK has been production proven in subsystem and system level opto-electronic transceiver architectures.

OpSIS’ goal is to make the processes for making optoelectronic integrated circuits available to the community at large, at modest cost, by sharing the cost of processing across many users of a single mask set. This model — called a "shuttle" — can reduce costs of building new silicon photonics devices by more than 100x. The OpSIS program will help advance the field by bringing prototyping capability within reach of startups and academic research groups. OpSIS provides design rules, device design support, and assistance with design-flow development so that even non-specialists can design and build functioning chips that integrate photonics and electronics. OpSIS coordinates regular shuttle runs and manages the relationships with its foundry partners.

This integration with OpSIS allows Luxtera to "leverage the significant investment and maturation of the world’s first production proven CMOS Photonics design flow," said Michael Hochberg, director of OpSIS and associate professor at the University of Delaware. Academic and industrial users will be able to use a full electronics PDK, as well as yield models for the key photonic components in order to accurately predict the performance and yield of complex systems-on-a-chip (SoC).

Luxtera Inc. is a fabless semiconductor company providing silicon CMOS photonics, integrating high performance optics directly with silicon electronics on a mainstream CMOS chip. More information can be found on the company’s web site: www.luxtera.com.

OpSIS is in the process of relocating from the University of Washington to the University of Delaware, and is loosely based on the model pioneered by MOSIS, the original and highly successful electronic integrated circuit multi-project wafer service, which was founded in 1981. http://depts.washington.edu/uwopsis/