The Silicon Photonics Centre of Excellence - Centre for Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS) at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has partnered with SilTerra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. to jointly develop programmable silicon photonic processor chips. These chips are particularly aimed at applications in quantum computing and communication systems.
The collaboration will focus on joint R&D of innovative silicon photonic devices and circuits to create energy-efficient, high-speed interconnect solutions for data centers, high-performance computing, and AI applications. SilTerra Malaysia, a leading global semiconductor foundry, will work alongside the Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS team, which is dedicated to enhancing the Silicon Photonics PDK libraries for the SilTerra Silicon Photonics Foundry.
V Kamakoti, Director of IIT Madras, remarked that this partnership is a significant milestone, paving the way for advancements in high-performance silicon photonics technology. As India moves toward establishing commercial semiconductor fabrication facilities, there is a growing need for research and capacity development. This collaboration aims to support that goal by advancing contemporary technologies.
Bijoy Krishna Das, Chief Investigator of CoE-CPPICS and a faculty member in the Department of Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras, highlighted that the team will leverage SilTerra’s mature silicon photonics process technology from its 200 mm foundry for their R&D initiatives. In return, CoE-CPPICS will share its expertise in silicon photonics wafer-scale testing, device design, compact modeling, and circuit simulation to enrich the silicon photonics PDK library, facilitating the fabrication of advanced programmable photonic processor chips.
