Pure-play foundry GlobalFoundries (GF) has signed a strategic collaboration with Swedish photonics vendor Sivers Semiconductors AB to develop silicon photonics for high-growth AI infrastructure markets.
The move comes after GF acquired Advanced Micro Foundry (AMF) to make it what it claims to be the largest pure-play silicon photonics foundry. The AMF acquisition not just expands GF’s silicon photonics portfolio but increases its production capacity and R&D in Singapore.
What it means for GF
GF has the photonic IC platform and the packaging but it doesn’t make the lasers. Silicon cannot generate light on its own and still needs semiconductor laser sources.
Sivers just happens to make laser arrays that can now be integrated into reference designs built on GF’s silicon photonics platform. The collaboration will support a range of optical connectivity architectures like:
- Pluggable transceivers – current market
- Linear pluggable optics (LPO) – gaining traction fast
- Co-packaged optics (CPO) – the next frontier
These laser arrays will be available in GF’s silicon photonics co-packaged advanced light engineer (SCALE) platform for optical assemblies and light engine architectures.
“The rapid expansion of AI workloads and hyperscale data center architectures demand advanced photonics technologies that deliver higher bandwidth, improved energy efficiency, and scalable optical connectivity,” said Raymond Biagan, CRO at Sivers Semiconductors. “Our collaboration with GlobalFoundries positions both companies at the leading edge of silicon photonics innovation.”
