Innolight starts early production of near-package optics at Tower

Innolight’s first near-package optics device has entered early production on Tower Semiconductor’s 200 mm PH18M process in Newport Beach. Several later products have also taped out on Tower’s 300 mm silicon photonics platform, giving the company a second manufacturing route as it develops the range.^[1]

In these systems, the optical engine sits beside the switch or accelerator rather than at the front panel, so the electrical signal travels over a shorter copper path before conversion to light. Reducing that distance can ease equalisation requirements and lower power, but it places fibres and optical connections among the processor’s power delivery and cooling hardware. The layout has to accommodate those connections without blocking access or compromising the thermal assembly.

Replacing a failed engine may consequently involve working around heatsinks and other assemblies, rather than unplugging a transceiver at the front panel. NPO keeps the engine outside the main processor package, preserving a separate optical assembly, although that separation alone says little about how easily it can be serviced. Connector placement, fibre routing and the mounting arrangement determine what actually has to come apart.

Tower says NPO devices often integrate 16 or more optical channels, with its process supporting wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing on the same die. Its broader silicon photonics offering includes modulators, germanium detectors and silicon and silicon nitride waveguides, with optical testing available at wafer level.^[1][2]

By screening those channels before assembly, the manufacturer can reject a faulty die before spending money on fibre attachment and integration with the electronics. Optical coupling then adds losses and alignment tolerances of its own, requiring another stage of measurement after assembly. Comparing results from the two stages helps distinguish a defect in the die from a problem introduced while attaching the fibre.

Innolight is initially using the established 200 mm process, while its 300 mm designs prepare subsequent generations on larger wafers. More wafer area provides room for additional die, but cost per working device still depends on defect density and optical uniformity. A small process variation that changes optical behaviour can affect several channels, making electrical yield alone an incomplete measure of production performance.

Tower identifies Innolight as a manufacturing customer across California, Texas, Israel and Japan, without specifying the location of each future NPO product. Production volumes, customers, link power and assembly cost remain undisclosed, so the announcement establishes manufacturing progress without yet providing enough information for a system cost comparison with pluggable optics.^[1]

Sources

1. Tower Semiconductor and Innolight, NPO early-production milestone, 3 November 2026
2. Tower Semiconductor, silicon photonics platform features and wafer-level optical test
3. Tower Semiconductor, 300 mm silicon photonics foundry release and PH18 background

Illuminated optical fibres. Abstract illustrative photograph for optical interconnects. Photo: Kashish Lamba / Unsplash. Photo source. Free Unsplash licence.