Molex, the major global electronics company, has agreed an acquisition that will give it direct access to silicon photonics technology designed to optimize co-packaged optics (CPO) and fiber connectivity with detachable photonic links.

Illinois-headquartered Molex says that the deal to buy Israel’s Teramount, which should be completed by the end of June, will bring in-house the detachable, passive-alignment fiber-to-chip connectivity that is already deployed in its “one-stop CPO” solution.

The technology is designed to enable faster data transfer rates for AI, cloud computing and 5G workloads.

Scalable CPO
Aldo Lopez, the president of datacom solutions at Molex, said: "Teramount's TeraVERSE technology fills a crucial gap in the CPO stack, offering an advantaged and strategic complement to our optical solutions portfolio.

“With a practical, detachable fiber-to-chip interface we are afforded a foundational element to realize mainstream CPO adoption. Combining Teramount's IP and engineering talent with Molex's innovative portfolio, manufacturing scale, supply-chain expertise and systems know-how gives customers an integrated, high-volume path to deploy scalable CPO.”

According to Teramount, which has previously collaborated with Tower Semiconductor to produce PIC wafers with photonic “bumps” enabling silicon chips to connect optically, TeraVERSE is a passively aligned approach to enabling faster data rates and lower energy consumption in hyperscale data centers.

The firm’s “Universal Photonic Coupler” uses standard semiconductor manufacturing processes and packaging flow in silicon photonics, enabling any fabless semiconductor company to expand into silicon photonics.

“Most existing solutions for silicon photonics packaging are limited to a low number of fibers and to specialized packaging equipment such as active alignment processes,” explains the company.

“Teramount’s wafer-level self-aligning optics offer large assembly tolerances optimized for assembling a large number of fibers through passive alignment protocols, enabling high-volume packaging through standard CMOS assembly lines, thus significantly improving manufacturing speeds and lowering overall cost.”

TeraVERSE links
TeraVERSE combines Teramount’s detachable photonic plug with the PIC-integrated photonic bumps using either inverse tapered waveguides (for wideband connections) or grating couplers (for narrowband links).

The technology is said to be optimized for CPO, with self-aligning optics providing huge assembly tolerances of better than ±30µm / 0.5dB for assembling fiber ribbon to a silicon photonics chip.

The modular and scalable design also allows multiple connections between PICs and detachable plugs, meaning that customers can scale up PIC density without impacting yield or adding complexity.

Following completion of the acquisition Teramount will continue to operate as a design and engineering center in Jerusalem, supported by Molex's global operations.

Teramount CEO and co-founder Hesham Taha commented: “Harnessing Molex's global scale and system-level expertise with Teramount's innovation expertise and detachable, wafer-level coupling technology creates a real pathway for scalable, high-density CPO.

“Joining forces with Molex will enable us to accelerate delivery of a manufacturable, serviceable fiber-to-chip interface that meets the pressing needs of AI and hyperscale data centers.”

(Photo credit: optics.org)

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