News: Optoelectronics
7 March 2023
POET and Vanguard Automation collaborate on solutions for co-packaged optics and AI–ML applications
POET Technologies Inc of Toronto, Ontario, Canada — designer and developer of the POET Optical Interposer and photonic integrated circuits (PICs) for the data-center, telecom and artificial intelligence (AI) markets — and Vanguard Automation GmbH of Karlsruhe, Germany (the developer of 3D-nanoprinted Photonic Wire Bond and Micro-Lens technology and manufacturer of software-defined equipment for photonic integration and packaging) are collaborating to enable the integration of micro-lenses on the POET Optical Interposer to maximize coupling efficiency while maintaining POET’s wafer-level passive assembly process.
“The number-one requirement for the POET Optical Interposer is to maintain a passive, wafer-level assembly process for POET-designed optical engines and light source products. It is the key to our ability to offer significant scale and cost benefits to our customers,” says POET’s chairman & CEO Dr Suresh Venkatesan. “Our Optical Interposer, together with Vanguard Automation’s Facet-Attached-Micro-Lenses, creates a powerful platform for electro-optical engines for transceivers, co-packaged optics, light engines and sensing devices. Incorporating micro-lenses improves the coupling efficiency of light as it passes from one photonic device to another, which in turn reduces power consumption of the combined solution. The precise alignment and printing of the micro-lenses at wafer level offers significant scalability and enhances our ability to address new markets with a uniquely powerful solution,” he adds.
“The ability to print Facet-Attached-Micro-Lenses at wafer level with POET’s Optical Interposer technology offers a unique electro-optical platform and combines the complementary strengths of both companies,” says Vanguard Automation’s CEO & managing director Thorsten Mayer.
POET and Vanguard will initially collaborate to integrate the micro-lenses on POET’s LightBar products, aimed at AI–ML accelerators and bio-sensing applications to validate power efficiency improvements and the viability of chip-scale, wafer-level manufacturing using micro-lenses. POET expects to start sampling LightBar products incorporating Vanguard Automation’s micro-lenses to customers in second-half 2023.
