Keysight, FormFactor and CompoundTek to collaborate

Silicon photonics benefit industrial segments such as intra-data center communication and data center interconnects (DCI), telecom, 5G and automotive connectivity, high-performance computing, light detection and ranging (LIDAR), as well as sensing and medical applications. In a press release, the trilateral collaboration to be led by CompoundTex would include the FormFactor CM300xi-SiPh, with automated wafer level photonics positioning combined with Keysight’s industry standard IL/PDL engines and N7700A Photonics Application Suite to support wavelength repeatability of ±1.5 pm at two-way sweeps up to 200 nm/s within 1240 nm to 1650 nm to ensure accuracy and repeatability from O-band to L-band. Additional inclusions are Keysight’s N4373E 67 GHz Lightwave Component Analyzer, offering bandwidth for both optical receiver testing and optical transmitter testing with guaranteed specifications for electro-optical S-parameter measurements for device traceability, KeySight’s PathWave software platform, and FormFactor’s SiPh software. “Innovation in optics is critical to connect the world and help the industry to monetize 5G, as well as data center and telecom services,” said Dr. Joachim Peerlings, vice president of Network and Data Center Solutions at Keysight Technologies said in the press release. “Advancing in speed as well as power and cost efficiency requires a tightly connected eco-system to jointly solve the challenges ahead. We are pleased with our partnerships and progress of enabling this eco-system through our unmatched photonics test expertise.” As part of the effort, CompoundTek will establish a state-of-the-art silicon photonics testing services hub in Singapore. Chief operating officer, K.S. Ang said, “With added on-wafer level, automated Si photonics Optical/Electrical/RF testing with this solution, customers will be able to limit packaging costs to avoid module packaging level testing turn-around time losses. This test solution complements our current services in mass production volume with fast cycle-time, offered alongside world-class commercial foundry capabilities that accelerate time-to-market to achieve customers’ commercialization goals.” “FormFactor’s industry-leading silicon photonics wafer test capability allows our customers to obtain repeatable, consistent results with unsurpassed throughput,” said Claus Dietrich, vice president and general manager of the Systems Business Unit at FormFactor. “The system’s automated and high-speed calibration and optical alignment, as well as precision measurement capability in collaboration with Keysight, enable CompoundTek to offer customers faster time to market.”