New Origin To Collaborate With Imec To Scale Photonic IC Manufacturing In Industrial Environment

New Origin, a specialised pure-play Photonic ChipTech Foundry, will work closely with imec, a world-leading research and innovation organisation in advanced semiconductor technologies, to address the need to scale silicon nitride-based Photonic IC (PIC) manufacturing in an industrial environment. This collaboration strengthens the European photonics supply chain and enables New Origin to scale up imec’s LPCVD silicon nitride technology platform to meet customer demand.

Imec (Leuven, Belgium) will transfer its proven LPCVD silicon nitride PIC platform to New Origin to support growing demand for photonic chips for consumer, health, datacom, defence, and quantum applications that require the unique properties of silicon nitride technology. Furthermore, imec will help scale the manufacturing on 200mm wafers using state-of-the-art photolithography in New Origin’s industrial and flexible facilities, which also support non-CMOS-compatible processes and materials. Together, the two organisations will continue to develop PIC technology based on silicon nitride, as well as integrate new materials and processes.

Twan Korthorst, CEO of New Origin: “We’re excited about this collaboration, which allows us to shorten the time to volume production for customers, and it strengthens the industrialisation of PIC technology in Europe. What we do at New Origin is rooted in decades of research and innovation within the Netherlands and Europe. With this partnership, all that knowledge and experience, combined with that of imec, will be brought to the global marketplace. With our plans to develop towards a manufacturing capacity of 50.000 wafers per year, New Origin will strengthen the European supply chain of photonic integrated circuits and unlock the next wave of innovations across many industries and domains.”

“Over the past years, imec has demonstrated that silicon nitride photonics can unlock exceptional performance and scalability. Our SiN platform can deliver ultra-low loss in a wide wavelength spectrum ranging from visible to short-wave infrared, making it ideal for applications in (bio-)sensing, AR/VR and datacom, as well as quantum applications on the horizon. With a proven track record on manufacturability in imec’s state-of-the-art fab, with New Origin, we can accelerate photonics innovation and bring next-generation solutions to market. This milestone reflects imec’s commitment to bridging research and industry, ensuring that cutting-edge SiN technology is accessible for commercial deployment,” says Philippe Absil, VP IC-Link / imec Silicon Solutions at imec.

Photonic IC technology gained significant traction to support the hyperscale datacenter and AI market, which requires scalable, fast and power-efficient optical data-communication. In addition, a second wave of innovation is coming, requiring silicon nitride technology for applications demanding very low waveguide losses and operating at wavelengths outside the tele- and datacom ranges. Silicon nitride photonic chips are needed for large-scale applications in consumer applications, autonomous vehicles, drones, and robotics, as well as for wireless and secure optical communication, biosensors, augmented reality, advanced lasers, and quantum applications. This calls for scaling manufacturing in an industrial environment, driving this collaboration between New Origin and imec.