Photonic Solutions Enewsletter

Synopsys Photonic Solutions Supports Learning and Research Through Its Academic Programs

Synopsys Photonic Solutions highly values learning and research and supports them through its academic programs. We provide students and academic institutions in North America and Europe with access to the most advanced photonic design software available. Our educational licensing programs provide the next generation of engineers the opportunity to learn industry-standard optical and photonic design software, using the same versions as the professionals. We encourage you to contact us today to learn more. Be part of driving the PIC revolution!

Synopsys Has Unveiled a New Era of Photonic Integrated Circuit Design: OptoCompiler

Making Photonic Design as Productive as Digital

OptoCompiler is the industry's first unified electronic and photonic design platform that combines mature and dedicated photonic technology with Synopsys' industry-proven electronic design tools to enable engineers to produce and verify complex PIC designs quickly and accurately. By providing schematic-driven layout and advanced photonic layout synthesis in a single platform with full AMS capability, OptoCompiler bridges the gap between photonic experts and IC designers to make photonic design as productive as digital design. 

Learn more

New Application Note: Polarization Volume Gratings

Polarization Volume Gratings (PVGs) have attracted increasing attention in photonics for their beam steering applications. Due to their very high (nearly 100%) diffraction efficiency, large diffraction angle, polarization selectivity, and simple fabrication process, PVGs have found potential in a wide range of novel photonic applications including near-eye displays for AR/VR, optical switching, and laser beam steering. In this article we describe  the simulation of a PVG working at optical wavelengths.

Read the full application note

New Tech Talk Video Available

Photonic Chip Design Made Easy with AutoRouting

Creating connections between components can be a time-consuming layout task for any integrated circuit design project. This is also an increasing factor for PIC designs, as the overall number of components being deployed in PICs is increasing, and both optical as well as electrical connections must be made. The routing rules for PICs are significantly different than for digital CMOS ICs. Photonic connections are made using waveguides that are curvilinear in nature to reduce light loss, reflections, and dispersion. During this webinar, we discussed Synopsys’ approach to implementing fast, accurate electrical and optical interconnections in a PIC design using AutoRouting.


What you learn:

  • How to implement AutoRouting design capabilities in different PIC technologies such as silicon photonics, III-IVs, and PLCs.
  • How to optimize electrical connections with multi-layer metal Manhattan-style routing for DC and low-speed RF routing.Originally presented: October 21, 2020

Watch now

New Software in Motion Video Coming Soon

Accelerating Photonic Design with Photonic Layout Autorouting

Routing is error prone and time consuming. The Autorouting module removes the tedium of manual routing, freeing up the layout engineer to explore more options for creating optimal placement and circuit design. This software in motion video shows how the OptoDesigner AutoRouting module provides the capability to perform both optical and electrical multi-net autorouting on a chip.

Look for the video on LinkedIn and Twitter on November 30.

Industry Publication: PIC Magazine

Synopsys PAM-4 Transmitter Design Using Segmented Electrode Modulators

Photonic integrated circuits (PIC) are rapidly bringing their size, performance, and energy-saving advantages to data center operations. PIC Magazine invited the experts at Synopsys to share their insights into designing PIC-based PAM-4 modulators that reduce bandwidth requirements while also helping to reduce electricity consumption (pages 24-30). 

Read the article

New Synopsys Glossary

Synopsys Photonic Solutions supports the development of skills and human talent in photonics and integrated photonics. As part of this ongoing effort, we created a set of glossary pages that present basic concepts and terms that are widely used in the integrated photonics community. 

See the glossary

New Blog Article: OptoCompiler Accelerates Photonic IC Product Development

Why OptoCompiler? Widespread implementation of PICs has, until now, been impeded because many design tools were intended for electronics rather than photonics. As a result, photonic design has largely been the domain of experts. OptoCompiler addresses this challenge by merging schematic-driven layout, advanced photonic layout synthesis, and analog/mixed signal design in a familiar and feature-rich environment. With OptoCompiler, photonic design can be as productive as digital design.

Continue reading

Synopsys to Present at ECOC 2020

Synopsys Photonic Solutions R&D Director Twan Korthorst will present OptoCompiler during the Market Focus at ECOC 2020. The presentation will be broadcast on Tuesday, December 8, from 7:20 – 7:40 a.m. ET.

View the full program

Enter Our 2021 Student Design Competition

We invite you to participate in our Robert S. Hilbert Memorial Optical Design Competition, which recognizes excellence in optical design projects completed by students.

To participate, students can enter an optical design class assignment or thesis work completed during the 2020-2021 academic year using any of our optical software tools: CODE V, LightTools, LucidShape, RSoft Photonic Device Tools, Photonic System Tools, and PIC Design Suite. Awards totaling $10,000 will be granted. The entry deadline is June 15, 2021. Winners will be announced in August.

View the competition rules or frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Upcoming Events

ECOC 2020

Virtual exhibition: December 6-10, 2020
Register here

 

ECOC 2020 Market Focus

Industry's First Unified Electronic and Photonic Design Platform

December 8, 2020 7:20-7:40 a.m. ET

Speaker: Twan Korthorst

 

For a complete list, please go to our Events Page.

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