ePIXfab Training Course on Silicon Photonics at ECOC 2015

Course aim: to provide insight into the field of silicon photonics, including the concepts, the technologies, the key actors, the major application domains and the approaches for fabless prototyping.

Intended audience: industrial or academic engineers or researchers who wish to acquire a general understanding of the field of silicon photonics and its potential or who have the ambition to start prototyping a silicon photonics IC in a fabless way.

Course content: the course consists of two parts.

Part1 (3 hours): Tutorial on silicon photonics: basic concepts, technologies, applications.

In this first part, the course participant will be guided through the basic technical concepts used in silicon photonics, whereby both the strengths and the challenges will be discussed, in comparison with other photonic integration platforms. The fabrication technologies will be discussed as well as the typical design and measurement approaches. The state of-the-art in the field will be covered. The application areas and market potential will be addressed, not only in the telecom/datacom field but also in the field of sensing. Provisional list of lecturers: prof. Dries Van Thourhout (Ghent University – imec), prof. Roel Baets (Ghent University – imec), dr. Iñigo Artundo (VLC Photonics).

Part 2 (3 hours): Step-by-step guide for prototyping your own silicon photonic IC.

The second part of the course engages the participants into the methodology and lifecycle of a silicon photonics prototyping project. This starts with the design approaches, from component design to circuit design and from layout to design rule checking. The access mechanisms to multi-project-wafer services are covered in detail. The key silicon photonics technology platforms that are accessible for prototyping are presented. The packaging services for silicon photonic circuits are discussed, including optical, electrical, RF and thermal aspects. Some guidelines are given to build measurement set-ups for silicon photonics. Provisional list of lecturers: dr. Abdul Rahim (Ghent University), dr. Amit Khanna (Europractice IC service), dr. Peter O’Brien (Tyndall Institute), Dr. Timo Aalto (VTT), Dr. Erwin De Baetselier (Luceda Photonics), Twan Korthorst (PhoeniX Software), Maryse Fournier (CEA-LETI) and Georg Winzer (IHP).

Practical information:

The training course is organized by the European Silicon Photonics Alliance ePIXfab. Participation is free of charge for the ECOC participants, but registration is mandatory. The two parts can be signed up for independently. The course will take place at the venue of ECOC2015 (Feria Valencia CCE) on Sunday September 27 from 10am-1pm (part 1) and 2pm-5pm (part 2). The number of seats is limited. For registration, an email should be sent to  info@epixfab.eu.

Requests for further details about the training course can also be addressed to the course coordinator dr. Abdul Rahim (abdul.rahim@intec.ugent.be, phone: +32-9-264-9959)

Content of the course:

PART I:  Basic concepts, technologies, applications of Silicon Photonics (3 hours)

Welcome (Prof. Roel Baets)

Silicon Photonics and its basic building blocks (Prof. Dries van Thourhout)

Applications of Silicon Photonics (Prof. Roel Baets)

A design-house perspective of Silicon Photonics  (Dr. Iñigo Artundo)

PART II: Silicon Photonics Design Methodology (3 hours)

Design Flow, Component Design, Circuit Design, Layout (Dr. Abdul Rahim)

Fabless prototyping through Multi-Project Wafer (MPW) service (Dr. Amit Khanna)

Packaging (Dr. Peter O’Brien)

The ACTPHAST initiative for SMEs (Dr. Eva Ryckeboer)

Talks by technology and design tool vendors

Luceda (Dr. Erwin De Baetselier)

Phoenix (Twan Korthorst)

VTT (Dr. Timo Aalto)

IHP (Georg Winzer)

Leti (Maryse Fournier)

Imec (Dr .Amit Khanna)