Wave Photonics announces silicon nitride process for quantum photonics
The start-up says this new release is supported by the world’s
most expansive PDK, spanning 33 wavelengths and offering flexible design technology
so that making quantum PICs is like playing with Lego
Wave Photonics, a Cambridge-based deep tech start-up specialised in integrated photonics design, has announced the availability of the SiNQ process – a silicon nitride process fabricated by CORNERSTONE for quantum systems and emitters. The process is supported by Wave Photonics’ 1056-element PDK, supporting 33 wavelengths from 493 nm to 1550 nm. The PDK is based on the company’s core computational design technology, which it says enables the production of designs which account for fabrication imperfections. According to Wave Photonics, wafer-scale measured data from the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult shows a 2x improvement in component performance uniformity relative to conventional inverse-designed components.
The PDK includes fabrication-aware S-Parameters for full circuit modelling and works out-of-the-box with GDSFactory and Siemens L-Edit, and will shortly be available in Luceda’s IPKISS. It comes with full documentation for every component and is ready to use with the turnkey QPICPAC packaging service, as well as offering built-in compatibility with the PHIX characterisation package.
“The diversity of wavelengths used in quantum technologies, spanning through the visible range and into the infra-red, has long presented a challenge for photonic integration”, said James Lee, CEO of Wave Photonics. “With the release of the SiNQ process and PDK, we’re demonstrating the power and flexibility of the design technology we’ve been building and showing that photonics design across the visible range is now a solved problem. Making a quantum photonic integrated circuit is now like playing with Lego and can be done by simply putting pre-designed building blocks together.”
Chris Goodings, VP Engineering at Oxford Ionics, said: “Integrated photonics are one of the crucial enabling technologies towards building scalable trapped-ion quantum computers. Designing photonic components at the more unusual wavelengths needed for quantum computing remains a challenge, often needing experimental iterations to centre the performance over process variation – so the ability to provide ‘right-first-time’ designs would be of great benefit both to Oxford Ionics and the wider photonic community. We were delighted to work with Wave and the broader consortium on this project, providing input and insights on specs as well as fabricating designs using our own Quantum Processor manufacturing process.”
This release builds upon the technology developed in the £500,000 Innovate UK project, Silicon Nitride for Quantum Computing, in partnership with CORNERSTONE at the University of Southampton, the Compound Semiconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, and Oxford Ionics.
