News: Optoelectronics
21 September 2026
SMART Photonics partners with GlobalFoundries to offer first open access foundry for integrated silicon and InP photonics
SMART Photonics B.V. has partnered with GlobalFoundries of Malta, NY (GF, the only US-based pure-play foundry with a global manufacturing footprint, including facilities in the USA, Europe and Singapore) to offer a new open access foundry service combining GF’s scalable and production-proven silicon platform with SMART Photonics’ high-volume indium phosphide (InP) photonic integrated circuits (PICs), including lasers and modulators. The first-of-its-kind commercial offering will enable designers to take advantage of these two photonics platforms to address scaling challenges for AI data centers and to provide an efficient production process for today’s pluggable optical transceivers.
Founded in 2012 in cooperation with the Eindhoven University of Technology and headquartered at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, SMART Photonics manufactures discrete and integrated photonic components.
GlobalFoundries provides an industry-proven, silicon-based cavity in which SMART Photonics’ lasers and semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) are integrated using flip-chip technology. For more than a year, the companies have done extensive co-engineering and development to meet the technical requirements of dimensional fit and efficient optical coupling. The resulting innovations in manufacturing techniques will enable product designers to reduce the footprint and costs of their chiplet products, as well as achieve faster time to market, say the firms.
“GlobalFoundries is a leader in silicon photonics with global reach and an extensive track record of manufacturing innovation,” comments SMART Photonics’ CEO Johan Feenstra. “The combination of their technology with SMART Photonics’ leading indium phosphide-based PICs marks a significant milestone toward meeting the explosive market demand for power- and cost-efficient photonics products,” he adds.
“Our customers seek active components seamlessly integrated into our silicon photonics platform,” says Vikas Gupta, senior fellow, silicon photonics business at GF. “By partnering with SMART Photonics to deliver this new open access foundry service, we have created a highly efficient production process to accelerate the availability of high-performance integrated optical products.”
General availability for the joint foundry service is targeted for second-half 2027.
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