Dendermonde, Belgium and Livingstone, United Kingdom – 8 April 2024

Luceda Photonics is proud to announce its collaboration with Alter Technology to introduce the Assembly Design Kit (ADK) for Alter’s precision assembly services dedicated to photonic integrated circuits (PICs). This partnership represents an important milestone towards enabling Luceda and Alter’s customers to design for efficient packaging – a critical step in bringing manufacturable PIC designs to market. 

The Alter ADK seamlessly integrates with the Luceda Photonics Design Platform, allowing designers to create PICs using Luceda’s IPKISS software, all while considering packaging rules and constraints right from the start. This integrated approach reduces development and manufacturing costs, accelerating time to market and reducing risks associated with new product development. 

“At Luceda Photonics, we believe that bringing awareness of assembly rules to the beginning of the design cycle is a game-changer for photonic integrated circuit design," said Pieter Dumon, CTO at Luceda Photonics. “By considering packaging rules from the outset, we empower our customers to bring efficient and manufacturable designs to market faster. The integration of Alter Technology’s packaging rules in the Luceda Photonics Design Platform represents a significant step forward in that direction.”

Matt Booker, Commercial Director at Alter UK adds “Co-design at the outset enables our customers to target a robust and deployable packaging platform, with a fast route to market. They can also avoid most of the high NRE and long development cycle usually associated with customized photonics packaging solutions”.

The Luceda ADK for Alter Technology features a packaging template, suitable for Si and InP PICs, to correctly place electrical and optical inputs and outputs on the photonic chip. This includes placement rules and specifications for DC and RF bondpads, and automatic placement of fiber loops for optical packaging. Alter’s optical packaging technology includes: 

• Multi-channel optical fiber array alignment. 

• Free-space micro-optic alignment.

• Edge coupled and grating coupled fiber align techniques.

• Laser weld or Epoxy attachment of fibers.

• Precision alignment and attachment of laser or photodiode chips to PIC devices.

For electrical interconnection of PIC devices, Alter Technology has experience with Au ball wire bonding, Al and Au Wedge, and Ribbon bonding for RF devices. 

Ready to design your next photonics-powered product? The Luceda ADK for Alter is now available for all Luceda customers. For more information and to access the ADK, click on the link below. 

ACCESS ADK

About Luceda Photonics

Luceda Photonics is a leading provider of photonic integrated circuit (PIC) design software and services. The Luceda Photonics Design Platform enables designers to design, simulate, and optimize photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and empowers photonic designers to quickly achieve their tape-out, getting their designs right the first time. For more information, visit www.lucedaphotonics.com. 

About Alter Technology (TUV NORD UK)

Alter Technology, part of the Digital & Semiconductor Business Unit of TUV NORD, is a leading provider of semiconductor assembly and test services for photonics and microelectronic devices.  Alter develops and offers complete turn-key solutions covering wafer testing, assembly, packaging, final test, and qualification. Our services also extend to equipment and systems testing and certification in fields like small satellites, drones, security, transport, nuclear. For more information, visit https://packaging.altertechnology.com.