Marvell Technology Inc. has acquired plasmonics-based silicon photonic device maker Polariton Technologies.
The move will strengthen Marvell’s optical technology portfolio, adding advanced modulation capabilities for coherent and optical interconnect platforms. Marvell said the deal will strengthen its end-to-end connectivity across:
- Electro-optics
- Photonics
- Switching
- Custom silicon
The company said it will combine Polariton’s plasmonics technology with Marvell’s existing silicon photonics and DSP capabilities. This will target data center architectures like coherent, scale-across and DCI optical interconnect platforms. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Plasmonics-based modulation technology is an alternative to traditional silicon photonics with higher density and massively parallel optical links with ultra-low energy per bit.
Marvell said the need for this technology comes as data center architectures need higher performance optical interconnects, specifically for scale-across and data center interconnect applications. By integrating plasmonics with silicon photonics, the technology extends the performance of optical interconnects and supports the scaling of next-generation coherent and optical interconnect offerings, Marvell said.
Polariton’s team will be added to Marvell’s photonics engineering talent and will help develop the company’s next-generation optical platforms.
