Partners tout benefits of photonic wire bonding

Feb. 17, 2022

As the name implies, the technology promises to bring benefits to photonics and photonic integrated circuits similar to those electrical wire bonding brings to electrical designs.

Stephen Hardy

Three companies are collaborating to develop photonic wiring bonding and promote its use.

Vanguard Automation, Quebec’s MiQro Innovation Collaborative Center (C2MI), and optical technology developer AEPONYX are collaborating to further the development and use of photonic wire bonding. As the name implies, the technology promises to bring benefits to photonics and photonic integrated circuits similar to those electrical wire bonding brings to electrical designs.

Developed by Karlsruhe, Germany based Vanguard Automation, photonic wire bonding is designed to enable low-loss, 3D free-form connections between optical components. Enabled via nano-print technology, photonic wire bonding is automatable and provides significant design flexibility, the collaborators say.

Vanguard Automation offers machinery, software, and fabrication process “solutions” for photonic wire bonding. C2MI, an innovation center for microelectronics, has added the process to its photonics fab/assembly/test production flow roadmap. AEPONYX is working with the other two companies to enable what it calls “product development accelerations” to apply photonic wire bonding to their base of Silicon Nitride photonics and enable hybrid integration.

“Hybrid integration enables us to test concepts with best-of-breed optical components, with speed not possible before,” commented Philippe Babin, CEO of AEPONYX. “It has been a thrill working with Vanguard and C2MI on this development.”

“We are delighted to not only see our machines used as innovation drivers,” said Thorsten Mayer, CEO of Vanguard Automation, “we are also excited to see them going into photonic production lines.”

“This would be a significant expansion of our capabilities, offering interesting technological avenues. We are already working in collaboration with customers and partners on photonic wire bonding concepts with great commercialization potential,” added Marie-Josée Turgeon, general manager of C2MI.

The three companies will describe photonic wire bonding and discuss its benefits in a Lightwave webinar March 1, 2022. Vanguard Automation and AEPONYX also will discuss the approach at OFC 2022 in San Diego.

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About the Author

Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave

Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.

Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.

He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.

You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.