The Optical Fiber and Communication Conference & Exhibition 2018 held at San Diego on 11 to 15 March, 2018 brought together over 700 exhibits showcasing the entire continuum of the supply chain from communications systems and equipment to network design and integration tools to components and devices. Of course, there was much interest in a growing segment and widely regarded as a disruptive technology – Silicon Photonics.

Silicon photonics has come a long way. For the uninitiated, it is the guiding of light in silicon-based material as the optical medium. The silicon is usually fabricated with very precise micro-photonics components. It operates in the infrared, typically at 1.31 and 1.55 micrometer wavelengths which is used by most fiber optic telecommunication systems. Silicon photonics enables the next generation of optical interconnects for data center and cloud applications.

CompoundTek comes at a time where the players are consolidating and strategizing how to break into and take full advantage of the silicon photonics market. Among the companies that visited our booth, more than 50 of them are excited and have strong interest in what we have to offer. What they found interesting was that CompoundTek can offer silicon photonics fabrication with a turn-around time of less than 2 months and technological capabilities that are comparable and at some points, superior to the research institutes and other commercial foundries.

In conjunction with OFC, we also published press releases about our strategic partnership with SilTerra as our world-class 200mm foundry partner and about Prof. Graham Reed joining our board of advisors. Prof. Graham Reed is a widely known as one of the pioneers and guru in silicon photonics.

CompoundTek will continue to offer the best and the latest technologies in silicon photonics fab. With strong partnership with leading research institutes, CompoundTek promises to bring unconventional solutions, continuous innovations, and robust support for the next generation silicon photonics fab process.

Paris, France – The European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) announced the membership of CompoundTek on its website, LinkedIn, and Twitter accounts effective January 19, 2018.CompoundTek is the consortium’s first and only commercial silicon photonics foundry member from Asia with process development kit (PDK) capabilities. According to Carlos Lee, Director General at EPIC, less than one percent of EPIC’s members are outside of Europe and other foundries are research organizations that offer the service commercially but not their main business. The inclusion of CompoundTek completes the value chain of the consortium.

EPIC is the largest industry association that advocates the sustainable development of organizations working in the field of photonics in Europe. EPIC currently consist of around 350 members from over 30 countries.

CompoundTek was founded by its chairman and CEO, Raj Kumar, in 2017 with a team of silicon photonics experts. It has strategic collaborations with leading research institutes in Asia. CompoundTek differentiates itself as a foundry with a fast turnaround of two months for MPWs and full reticle field, seamless porting of designs from other fabs, and the ability for electro-optic and RF testing capabilities.

“This is another milestone for CompoundTek,” said Raj Kumar. “EPIC is an avenue where one could gain recognition as an industry leader. And that’s who we want to be for Europe and the world. We are able to provide best in class foundry services in silicon photonics with the fastest possible turnaround time, enabling faster time to market. They don’t have to wait for 8 to 9 months for an MPW shuttle run. We are confident of our solution and process technologies because of our solid experience in running world class fabs and our teams’ strong technical background in silicon photonics.”

This partnership with EPIC will allow CompoundTek to expand its influence in the photonics industry, grow business opportunities, and forge strong technology partnerships.

About CompoundTek

CompoundTek provides silicon photonics enhanced foundry services to convert customer designs into reality with proprietary manufacturing processes in dedicated 8” CMOS foundry. The fab supports fast turn-around full reticle field or Multi Project Wafers (MPW), and high-volume mass production requirements. For more information, please visit www.compoundtek.com.

About EPIC

The European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) is a not-for-profit industry association established on 10 December 2003. It promotes the sustainable development of organizations working in the field of photonics in Europe.  The members encompass the entire value chain from LED lighting, photovoltaic solar energy, photonics integrated circuits, optical components, lasers, sensors, imaging, displays, projectors, optic fiber, and other photonic related technologies. For more information, please visit www.epic-assoc.com.

For further information about this press release, please contact:

Paul Chia

Head, Sales & Marketing

21 Bukit Batok Crescent, #14-77

WCEGA Tower, Singapore 658965

Tel.No. 65 6515 0170

Email: paulchia@compoundtek.com

The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) is the largest global conference and exhibition for optical communications and networking professionals. For over 40 years, OFC has drawn attendees from all corners of the globe to meet and greet, teach and learn, make connections and move business forward.

Prof. Graham Reed, a world-renowned Silicon Photonics guru, joins CompoundTek’s Board of Advisors

Singapore – CompoundTek announced today that Prof. Graham Trevor Reed from the Optoelectronics Research Centre (ORC) at the University of Southampton has been appointed as a key advisor to CompoundTek in Silicon Photonics effective from February 28, 2018.

Prof. Reed has carried out award winning work in silicon photonics for more than 25 years, and is acknowledged as one of the pioneers in this field.  His works has been widely adopted by industry, and he has received worldwide acclaim for technical contributions and international leadership roles.  He has served in many international conference committees, has over 14 patents to his name and published more than 350 papers in the silicon photonics field.

Having initiated this research field in the UK, Prof. Reed’s Silicon Photonics Group have provided a series of world-leading results since its inception, and are particularly well known for their work on silicon optical modulators.  The first silicon photonics company in the world, Bookham Technology Inc., was founded by Prof. Reed’s Ph.D. student, Dr. Andrew Rickman OBE, and adopted early research developed by the Group.  Bookham (now renamed Oclaro Inc.) is one of the leading optical sub-system companies in the world.

Prof. Reed is a board member of the MIT Microphotonics Center, and the European Optical Society.  In 2013, he was awarded the IET Crompton Medal, and in 2014 he was awarded a Royal Society Wolfson Merit Award.  In 2017, he was made Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in the UK.  He is currently the Deputy Director of the ORC at the University of Southampton, UK.

Prof. Reed’s research focuses on the design, modeling, fabrication and demonstration of novel silicon photonics devices and circuits for various silicon photonics applications.

On accepting his appointment, he said, “CompoundTek, being a provider of dedicated 8” enhanced silicon photonics commercial foundry services, is addressing both the issues of capacity & process technology gaps in the industry.  Where many fabs MPW turnaround time is 3 to 8 months, CompoundTek promise to deliver in less than 2 months, with in-house experts to support customers from MPW right through to high volume production.  Consequently, I look forward to providing guidance and direction to CompoundTek to further boost their technical know-how and capabilities so that it will benefit the silicon photonics industry.”

Prof. Reed’s appointment will further enhance CompoundTek’s competitive offerings to silicon photonics customers around the world.

“We are excited to have Prof. Graham Reed on our advisory board.  This appointment and other global collaborations we are executing in silicon photonics is for the benefit of our silicon photonics customers and the industry as a whole.  We believe in global collaborations, and win-win partnerships are what this dynamic Industry needs,” said Raj Kumar, CEO of CompoundTek, a semiconductor veteran with 28 years in the industry where he rose and held senior executive positions in Chartered Semiconductor and Globalfoundries.

About CompoundTek

CompoundTek offers the best of research institutes and commercial foundry services. Our mission is to make Silicon Photonics ICs as widely available as silicon CMOS ICs today by driving the cost down through high volume manufacturing, ensuring high yield, and bringing innovative fabrication solutions.

CompoundTek, a Singapore based company that specializes in Silicon Photonics Technologies, together with SilTerra, a world-class 200mm Si-CMOS Foundry based in Kulim-Penang, Malaysia, announce their strategic partnership in the area of Silicon Photonics (SiPh), whereby CompoundTek will bring in Next Generations Silicon Photonics Technologies to further enhance SilTerra’s current Silicon Photonics capabilities. Such capabilities include, but not limited to, 400G Si photonics Technology, Photonic Crystal with special grating, Mid-Infrared technology, non-destructive inline performance monitoring for SiPh devices, quality control with CompoundTek’s process control monitoring structures (PCM) and so on, which will be exclusively offered through CompoundTek. “We’ve been in partnership with SilTerra since 2014 on various projects and we work extremely well together with excellent high-level management alignment.” Said Raj Kumar, CEO of CompoundTek, a 28-year Semiconductor industry veteran who held senior executive positions in Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing and GlobalFoundries in the past.  “As such, our work with SilTerra on Silicon Photonics is a natural extension of our long-term partnership which will inject the latest and greatest SiPh technologies within CompoundTek’s arsenal for the greater benefits of our customers and the industry.” “The SiPh enhanced process and capabilities CompoundTek is bringing into SilTerra will not only benefit new customers but existing ones as well.”  Said Firdaus Abdullah, CEO of SilTerra.  “Our world-class Facilities and Commercial Foundry Services together with CompoundTek’s enhanced Process Design Kit (PDK) and Process Control Monitoring (PCM), we are able to offer a differentiated and unrivalled SiPh process offering that will be more superior and competitive than what is currently available in the market.” If you are interested in our process & services offering and/or more information, please contact us at enquiries@compoundtek.com. Visit us at OFC2018 BOOTH #6430 About CompoundTek CompoundTek offers the best of research institutes and commercial foundry services. Our mission is to make Silicon Photonics ICs as widely available as silicon CMOS ICs today by driving the cost down through high volume manufacturing, ensuring high yield, and bringing innovative fabrication solutions. About SilTerra SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a semiconductor wafer foundry offering fabrication and design support services in CMOS logic, High-Voltage, Mixed-signal, RF, BCD, Power and MEMS technologies down to 90 nanometer feature size.  SilTerra’s wafer fab has a design-in capacity of 46,000 eight-inch wafers per month and currently serves customers in US, Taiwan, Korea and China.  Environmentally vigilant, SilTerra delivers award-winning, world-class performance to its customers seeking flexible capacity, custom technologies, competitive advantages and around the clock customer support.  SilTerra is ISO 9001:2008 and ISO 14001 certified.  Starting commercial production in 2001, the company’s headquarters and factory are located in Malaysia’s Kulim Hi-Tech Park, with sales and marketing offices in San Jose (California) and Hsinchu (Taiwan).