Newsletter May 2017

Issue:
May 2017

ePIXfab – European Silicon Photonics Alliance

piX4life open access platform

The European PIX4life pilot line aims to offer an open-access manufacturing platform for photonic integrated circuits, specially targeting life-science applications at visible wavelength ranges (400-850 nm). Chip fabrication will be done either through dedicated wafer runs, or most often by multi-project wafer (MPW) runs. PIX4life will also offer all kinds of additional services like photonic integration consultancy, circuit design, chip testing and packaging.

During 2017-2018 some early access MPW runs will be offered to selected external users at a subsidized cost. The first early-access MPW run by LioniX is scheduled for this summer over their TriPleX platform, and the next run by IMEC will be scheduled for this winter over their BioPIX platform. PhoeniX has developed a TripleX Process Design Kit that will be available to external users. VLC Photonics offers circuit design as a design house.
Interested parties should contact info@pix4life.com.

UPCOMING Activities

EDx COURSE

edX course offered by Prof. Lukas Chrostowski on Silicon Photonics Design, Fabrication and Data Analysis.

gHENT COURSE

Ghent University is offering Hands on Silicon Photonics design course with the support of ePIXfab in June 2017

CLEO TUTORIAL

ePIXfab is supporting the tutorial on Silicon Photonics given by Prof. Dries Van Thourhout of Ghent University at CLEO Europe on 25th of June 2017.

Luceda Photonics offers a new Filter Toolbox

The Filter Toolbox plugs into IPKISS and specifically gives device designers easy access to years of expertise and insights into AWG design, layout and simulation: you will be able to design a AWG
from high-level specs and then optimize its behavior by adjusting apertures, waveguides, the number of grating arms and much more. The end -result will be a DRC-clean device that can be deployed into libraries for circuit simulation and layout.

Conferences

Group IV Photonics 2017

The IEEE Conference on Group IV Photonics will take place from the 23rd to the 25th of August in the Grand Hyatt Berlin. This year’s plenary talks will be held by Dr. William Green from the IBM T. J. Watson Research Center and Prof. Tobias Kippenberg from the EPFL. It will be preceded by a workshop on “Silicon Photonics Design, Simulation and CAD flows” hosted by Mentor, a Siemens business, Luceda Photonics, VLC Photonics and Lumerical Solutions that will be held during the afternoon of Aug. 22nd and will be open to conference attendees.

SPIE photonics west 2018

SPIE Photonics West 2018 will be held in The Moscone Center, San Francisco, from 27 January to 1 February 2018. Also this year, there will be dedicated silicon photonics sessions.
The call for papers is now open.

Lionix international at cleo europe

In a contribution at Cleo Europe/Laser Munich LioniX International will show an integrated spectrometer based on an Arrayed Waveguide Grating for visible light.

This filter separates 50 wavelength bands in the visible range 400 to 700nm and is part of an ultra-wide band (400-1700nm) integrated spectrometer for spectral tissue sensing and a good example of how photonic integration can contribute in Life Science applications.
Photonic integrated circuit technology for visible light can also be accessed via the Multi-Project Wafer Pilot Line developed in Pix4life. Input for next run closes on July 31st.

research highlight: Neuromorphic Computing

Hewlett Packard Labs were recently able to demonstrate a silicon photonic Ising solver, i.e., a neural network equivalent to a Hopfield network, enabled by strongly driven microring resonators.

While currently in the early stages of development, all-optical neural networks carry the potential to impact computing technology majorly.

ePIXfab coordinator
Ghent University
Technology Park 15 Zwijnaarde, 9052 Ghent, Belgium
email: info@epixfab.eu

Newsletter editor
Martijn Heck (editor)
Hanna Becker (ass. editor)
Aarhus University
Denmark
email: mheck@eng.au.dk