By invitation: Professor Roel Baets on Silicon Photonics 4.0

Roel Baets, Emeritus Professor at Ghent University and former Group Leader at imec gave a plenary talk on 'Silicon Photonics 4.0' at the recent ECOC conference. "It will be important for silicon photonics to make use of smart and agile manufacturing, a notion associated with Industry 4.0," said Professor Baets, explaining the title.

In a guest piece, he explains his thoughts and discusses what he saw at ECOC. He also has a request.

Source: ECOC

One of the things I discussed in my ECOC plenary talk was the large gap between research and product development for new applications of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) on the one hand, and product sales and new industrial process flows on the other.

Among many reasons for this gap, one stands out: the major barriers that fabless start-ups face when developing a product based on a still immature industrial supply chain.

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Lumentum jolts the industry with Oclaro acquisition

Lumentum announced on Monday its plan to acquire Oclaro in a deal worth $1.8 billion.

The prospect of consolidation among optical component players has long been mooted yet the announcement provided the first big news jolt at the OFC show, being held in San Diego this week. 

Alan Lowe“Combined, we will be an industry leader in telecom transmission and transport as well as 3D sensing,” said Alan Lowe, president and CEO of Lumentum, on an analyst call discussing the deal.

Lumentum says their joint revenues totalled $1.7 billion with a 39% gross margin over the last year. And $60 million in synergies are forecast in the second year after the deal closes, which is expected to happen later this year. 

The $1.8 billion acquisition will comprise 56 percent cash and 44 percent Lumentum stock. Lumentum will also raise $550 million to help finance the deal.

“This is a big deal as it consolidates the telecom part of the component market,” says Daryl Inniss, business development manager at OFS Fitel and former market research analyst.

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Elenion unveiled as a silicon photonics PIC company

•  Elenion Technologies is making silicon photonics-based photonic integrated circuits
•  The company has been active for two and a half years and has products already deployed  

A privately-owned silicon photonics company that is already shipping products has dropped its state of secrecy to announce itself. Elenion Technologies is owned by Marlin Equity Partners, the investment firm that also owns systems vendor, Coriant.

“We are in the [optical] engine business,” says Larry Schwerin, CEO of Elenion Technologies. “We are developing a platform leveraging silicon photonics but we have other capabilities.” 

Larry SchwerinElenion’s expertise includes indium phosphide, radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs), packaging, and driver and control electronics circuit design. The RFIC expertise suggests the company also plans to address the mobility market.  

The company will detail its first products prior to the OFC show next March.

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US invests $610 million to spur integrated photonics

The US government has set up its latest manufacturing initiative, the sixth of nine, to address photonic integrated circuits (PICs). The $610 million venture is a combination of public and private funding: $110 million from the Department of Defense, $250 million from the state of New York and the rest private contributions.

Prof. Duncan Moore

Dubbed the American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics (AIM Photonics), the venture has attracted 124 partners includes 20 universities and over 50 companies.

The manufacturing innovation institute will be based in Rochester, New York, and will be led by the Research Foundation for the State University of New York. A key goal is that the manufacturing institute will continue after the initiative is completed in early 2021.

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