This course provides training in the design, fabrication, and test of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) targeting the imec-ePIXfab SiPhotonics passives technology. The course begins with a six-day hands-on workshop & seminar where participants: learn how to model and design silicon photonic components and circuits; learn to use the design tools (included as part of the workshop); understand the fabrication technology and design rules; and will conceive their design project. During the next several months, participants will complete a design and mask layout, with the support from and a design review with the instructors and their peers. The designs will be fabricated by imec, and participants will receive their own chips for testing.

Although a library of components is provided for those interested in designing circuits, participants can design their own advanced components such as waveguides, fibre grating couplers, directional couplers, ring resonators, Bragg gratings, optical filters, and so on. Numerous participants have published research papers based on their designs fabricated via this workshop. This workshop is suitable for first-time silicon photonic designers with a background in optics.

Recent workshops:

2023: https://www.cmc.ca/passive-silicon-photonics-fabrication-workshop-2023/

2022: https://www.cmc.ca/passive-silicon-photonics-fabrication-workshop-2022/

Packaging is viewed by industry as the single biggest technical hurdle to overcome to enable the successful commercialization of silicon photonic integrated circuits. This hands-on training provides the knowledge, tools, and opportunity to develop a packaging solution for your silicon photonic design. As part of the registration fee, participants who already have a chip(s) will be given the opportunity to get their chip packaged via one of the available packaging options, or design their own package.

The topics covered at the workshop include: the design of co-packaging for electronics and photonics; electronic-photonic circuit co-design; optical interfaces using edge and grating couplers to fibre arrays; design for test; design for packaging; ceramic carrier and printed circuit board design for DC and RF interfaces; microwave modelling; thermal management; integration of silicon photonic chip in package; wire-bonding, flip-chip bonding, and aerosol printing of interconnects. Modelling and design tools are provided

This workshop provides an opportunity for training in the design, fabrication and test of CMOS integrated circuits targeting the IBM 0.13 µm CMOS technology. Target applications include IC design for optical communications and optical sensors, including designs specifically for the participants’ own photonic chips. Participants will design CMOS circuits, which will be fabricated and packaged, and delivered.

The first day of the workshop is for first-time CMOS designers, e.g. photonics designers. Topics include a brief overview of transistors, amplifiers and bias circuits; tutorials on CMOS analog circuit design using EDA tools; schematic, simulation, layout, DRC, LVS, parasitic extraction; and a brief overview of common circuit blocks such as op-amps.

The rest of the week is focused on CMOS designs specific for silicon photonics. We begin with compact models for optical devices such as phase shifter (pin, thermal), ring and travelling wave modulators, and detectors, for which circuits are to be designed. Tutorials cover optical link budget analysis; receiver design (limiting receiver, linear receiver, trans-impedance amplifiers (TIA), limiting amplifiers (LA), input offset cancellation, AGC techniques); transmitter design (modulator drivers, termination, bias control, laser drivers); tuning circuits; packaging considerations (wire- and bump-bond and package parasitics). Advanced research topics in CMOS electronics and photonic-electronic systems will be presented.

This short course teaches students and industry professionals how to design integrated optical devices and circuits, using a hands-on approach with commercial tools. We will fabricate your designs using a state-of-the-art ($5M) silicon photonic rapid-prototyping 100 keV electron-beam lithography facility. We will measure your designs using an automated optical probe station and provide you the data. You will then analyze your experimental data.

For first-time designers, the focus project is a Mach-Zehndersilicon photonic thermo-optic switch. However, participants can design many other devices, e.g., directional couplers, ring resonators, disk resonators, Bragg gratings, photonic crystal, multi-mode interference (MMI) couplers, arrayed waveguide gratings (AWG), polarization diversity components, mode-division multiplexing (MDM), sub-wavelength grating (SWG) waveguides, slot waveguides, contra-directional couplers, etc. Example publications will be provided.

This course trains students in the design, fabrication, and test of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) targeting the AMF Si Photonics technology, available through CMC Microsystems. It can be a stand-alone learning opportunity or combined with your research and/or development. Target applications include optical communications and sensors.

Recent training:

2021: https://www.cmc.ca/passive-photonics-fabrication-course-2021/

2020: https://www.cmc.ca/passive-photonics-fabrication-course-nov2020/

This workshop teaches participants how to design, simulate, fabricate, and test their own quantum silicon photonic circuits. 

Students gain an understanding of the fundamentals of quantum optics and how photonics can be used for quantum computing, and about the types of problems that can be solved on photonic-based processors, particularly with Xanadu’s cloud-accessed quantum processor.

Recent Workshops:

2023: https://www.cmc.ca/nserc-create-bc-cmc-quantum-photonics-workshop/