Periodic Reporting for period 3 - InPulse (Indium-Phosphide Pilot Line for up-scaled, low-barrier, self-sustained, PIC ecosystem)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2021-07-01 do 2023-12-31
The InPulse project offers companies direct access to state-of-the-art manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) based on indium phosphide (InP). This will enable the development of PIC-enabled products for a wide range of new markets using PICs developed under the JePPIX brand. The JePPIX pilot line enables innovators to develop products fast, thus being able to focus on the manufacturability of their products rather than the technological complexity of PIC fabrication.
The JePPIX pilot line enables new entrants to take their concepts from prototype-phase to pilot and full production using industry tools and processes. The pilot line puts in place the quality control from the design process to manufacturing, testing through to packaging that is needed in order to streamline the development cycle and provide confidence in manufacturability for customer-generated designs.
JePPIX Pilot Line services were formally launched in early 2021 to integrate the open foundry supply chain services, and now include industrial project management, design, production and automated test. The tooling is brought together through systematically improving process design kits (PDKs) that bring manufacturing tolerances into the design process. These are seamlessly coupled through automated data flows and quality checks, providing an automated flow from design through to foundry production and automated known-good-die selection. The separation of design from the fabrication process through PDKs and the emphasis on quality reduces the risk for businesses embarking on PIC-enabled product development. JePPIX pilot line enables product development with the foundry tools for both small-series and volume manufacturing.
The JePPIX pilot line enables new entrants to take their concepts from prototype-phase to pilot and full production using industry tools and processes. The pilot line puts in place the quality control from the design process to manufacturing, testing through to packaging that is needed in order to streamline the development cycle and provide confidence in manufacturability for customer-generated designs.
JePPIX Pilot Line services were formally launched in early 2021 to integrate the open foundry supply chain services, and now include industrial project management, design, production and automated test. The tooling is brought together through systematically improving process design kits (PDKs) that bring manufacturing tolerances into the design process. These are seamlessly coupled through automated data flows and quality checks, providing an automated flow from design through to foundry production and automated known-good-die selection. The separation of design from the fabrication process through PDKs and the emphasis on quality reduces the risk for businesses embarking on PIC-enabled product development. JePPIX pilot line enables product development with the foundry tools for both small-series and volume manufacturing.
WP1 Project Management: The Sustainable Exploitation Advisory Board - comprising the CEOs and directors of PhotonDelta, Smart Photonics, Fraunhofer HHI, and III-V Labs - reviewed the performance metrics and business plan to ensure the project is delivering a sustainable model for foundry services with a European industrial supply chain, guaranteeing manufacturing for customers beyond the project.
WP2 Communication and dissemination: Promotion of pilot line services has been streamlined, withwell-defined interviews, videos and events, leading to a number of promising leads.
WP3 Operations management: The operational flows have been implemented and validated within the InPulse project and are now in use beyond the original consortium.
WP4 Design acceleration: PDK version control methods and procedures have been implemented and are being validated across the supply chain. This ensures traceability from design through to production and test. Data interchange formats for test and design are in place and standardized data formats are being shared through appropriate forums to enable industry-wide alignment and wider interoperability.
WP5 Measurement automation: Measurement interfaces have been defined and an instance of the interface has been implemented on a reference tool developed for automated die measurement. Reference designs and common testing environments have been defined to link the JePPIX pilot line with the PIXAPP pilot line for PIC packaging. Upgrades to accommodate enhanced throughput (time in test) and performance (RF measurements). Automatic part handling has been implemented for full-coverage, statistically-representative test and measurement.
WP6 PIC wafer production: For each of the pilot line platforms, technology adaptations have been implemented to facilitate systematic improvements in the foundry process capabilities. Systematic data collection and analysis procedures have been extended to support statistical process control (SPC) for process optimization. Optimizations are monitored through process capability indices (Cpk) and improved building block parameter tolerances. The new buried heterostructure PIC platform at III-V Lab is in development and preparations are in place to create a PDK for MPW services on this new platform, whilst at HHI, the foundry capability has been enhanced with the development of improved building blocks for high speed (56 Gbaud) modulators and polarization handling elements. Methods to reduce time in production have been implemented and proven. Wafer size has been scaled to 4” diameter.
WP7 PIC Verification: Methods have been defined across the three fabs for in-line and offline verification methods. This provides a design-agnostic validation of the foundry processes based on the basic building block properties as specified in the manufacturing-grade PDKs. Richer data allows tolerance information to be presented to the developers in these advanced PDKs using commercially maintained design tools.
WP8 Validation, and show-cases: Known good die (KGD) selection criteria are being addressed as a customer-specified quality gate for production. By using real-world PIC requirements for data communications and fiber optic sensing, the foundry processes and tools are validated, and show-cases for sensing and communications have been built. A new modular sensor platform is about to be launched. Data comm solutions are under evaluation for data centre connectivity. Customer-driven quality management aspects are identified and integrated into the operational flow.
WP9 Open Calls & Demonstrators: Support methods for pioneer businesses interested in developing InP-based projects have been established, and mechanisms to engage off-radar businesses have been identified. Application notes to raise awareness of possible application areas and technology prospects among designers and interested parties have been published. The Open Call for participation in the demonstrator program was launched and twelve businesses are already benefitting from the processes for foundry based dedicated wafer production. Tens of businesses per year using the multi-project wafer services are benefitting from the upgraded technologies.
WP10 Pilot line exploitation: The JePPIX Pilot Line has adopted the open access foundry model supported by PDKs. The open access model allows businesses of any size and from any market to develop their own products and create their own supply chain to bring in the required expertise and manage business risk. The cost model outlines costs to be expected by the customer when going from proof-of-concept (TRL4) to pilot production (TRL7).
WP2 Communication and dissemination: Promotion of pilot line services has been streamlined, withwell-defined interviews, videos and events, leading to a number of promising leads.
WP3 Operations management: The operational flows have been implemented and validated within the InPulse project and are now in use beyond the original consortium.
WP4 Design acceleration: PDK version control methods and procedures have been implemented and are being validated across the supply chain. This ensures traceability from design through to production and test. Data interchange formats for test and design are in place and standardized data formats are being shared through appropriate forums to enable industry-wide alignment and wider interoperability.
WP5 Measurement automation: Measurement interfaces have been defined and an instance of the interface has been implemented on a reference tool developed for automated die measurement. Reference designs and common testing environments have been defined to link the JePPIX pilot line with the PIXAPP pilot line for PIC packaging. Upgrades to accommodate enhanced throughput (time in test) and performance (RF measurements). Automatic part handling has been implemented for full-coverage, statistically-representative test and measurement.
WP6 PIC wafer production: For each of the pilot line platforms, technology adaptations have been implemented to facilitate systematic improvements in the foundry process capabilities. Systematic data collection and analysis procedures have been extended to support statistical process control (SPC) for process optimization. Optimizations are monitored through process capability indices (Cpk) and improved building block parameter tolerances. The new buried heterostructure PIC platform at III-V Lab is in development and preparations are in place to create a PDK for MPW services on this new platform, whilst at HHI, the foundry capability has been enhanced with the development of improved building blocks for high speed (56 Gbaud) modulators and polarization handling elements. Methods to reduce time in production have been implemented and proven. Wafer size has been scaled to 4” diameter.
WP7 PIC Verification: Methods have been defined across the three fabs for in-line and offline verification methods. This provides a design-agnostic validation of the foundry processes based on the basic building block properties as specified in the manufacturing-grade PDKs. Richer data allows tolerance information to be presented to the developers in these advanced PDKs using commercially maintained design tools.
WP8 Validation, and show-cases: Known good die (KGD) selection criteria are being addressed as a customer-specified quality gate for production. By using real-world PIC requirements for data communications and fiber optic sensing, the foundry processes and tools are validated, and show-cases for sensing and communications have been built. A new modular sensor platform is about to be launched. Data comm solutions are under evaluation for data centre connectivity. Customer-driven quality management aspects are identified and integrated into the operational flow.
WP9 Open Calls & Demonstrators: Support methods for pioneer businesses interested in developing InP-based projects have been established, and mechanisms to engage off-radar businesses have been identified. Application notes to raise awareness of possible application areas and technology prospects among designers and interested parties have been published. The Open Call for participation in the demonstrator program was launched and twelve businesses are already benefitting from the processes for foundry based dedicated wafer production. Tens of businesses per year using the multi-project wafer services are benefitting from the upgraded technologies.
WP10 Pilot line exploitation: The JePPIX Pilot Line has adopted the open access foundry model supported by PDKs. The open access model allows businesses of any size and from any market to develop their own products and create their own supply chain to bring in the required expertise and manage business risk. The cost model outlines costs to be expected by the customer when going from proof-of-concept (TRL4) to pilot production (TRL7).
The JePPIX pilot line connects leading-edge photonic design and test tools and foundries to new and emerging markets, accelerating the innovation cycle and technology maturity. This will turn Europe’s lead in open access research to a lead in open-access manufacturing capability.
The pilot line product has been launched in the early 2021 and the Open Call for participation in the Demonstrator program is running. The JePPIX pilot line is now ready to enable businesses with prototypes to move into the pilot manufacturability phase of product development and then seamlessly to production.
PIC-enabled products will have a considerable, beneficial impact on the key societal challenges recognized by the European research agenda. Embedded sensors in medical instruments open up opportunities for home-health-monitoring and point-of-care diagnostics. New sensor features are anticipated in environmental, security and safety monitoring. Communications equipment using energy-efficient InP devices provides an important route to sustainable energy use in the internet infrastructure.
The pilot line product has been launched in the early 2021 and the Open Call for participation in the Demonstrator program is running. The JePPIX pilot line is now ready to enable businesses with prototypes to move into the pilot manufacturability phase of product development and then seamlessly to production.
PIC-enabled products will have a considerable, beneficial impact on the key societal challenges recognized by the European research agenda. Embedded sensors in medical instruments open up opportunities for home-health-monitoring and point-of-care diagnostics. New sensor features are anticipated in environmental, security and safety monitoring. Communications equipment using energy-efficient InP devices provides an important route to sustainable energy use in the internet infrastructure.