AIM Photonics gains process modeling firm Coventor as new member

The Rochester-based consortium AIM Photonics (American Institute for Manufacturing Photonics), an industry-driven public-private partnership advancing the USA’s photonics manufacturing capabilities, has announced Coventor Inc of Cary, NC, USA, which provides automated design software tools for developing semiconductor process technology and micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), as its newest member. Coventor will provide access to its unique, physics-driven 3D modeling technology to improve the performance and manufacturability of complex integrated photonic designs.

“AIM Photonics partnership with Coventor is another key building block in expanding this vital ecosystem,” says John Maggiore, New York State photonics board of officers chairman. “We are creating nothing short of a revolution in integrated photonics for our members, companies in NY’s Photonic Valley, and across the USA,” he reckons.

“Tasked with fostering advanced research in integrated photonics to enable the United States to achieve global manufacturing leadership, AIM Photonics is building a membership that includes the country’s most innovative technology companies,” says Robert Duffy, chairman of the AIM Photonics Leadership Council. “Coventor’s process modeling capabilities are strategic to our success and will help ensure the manufacturability of photonic designs produced in the USA.”

Managed by SUNY Polytechnic Institute, AIM Photonics was established in 2015 as part of the National Network for Manufacturing Innovation, a federal initiative designed to foster innovation and deliver new capabilities that can ultimately create a nationwide manufacturing infrastructure for integrated photonics.

Coventor’s SEMulator3D modeling and analysis platform provides a complete virtual fabrication environment that models actual semiconductor processes and parallels the capabilities of actual fabs. It enables photonic device designers to perform fast ‘virtual’ fabrication of their devices and accurately predict downstream ramifications of process changes that would otherwise require build-and-test cycles in the fab.

“Building upon our commercial experience in the semiconductor industry, we see our membership in AIM Photonics as essential to our mission in supporting the design and manufacturing of next-generation photonic integrated components,” says Coventor’s president & CEO Michael Jamiolkowski.

“Coventor’s expertise in process modeling brings value to AIM Photonics and its membership and is key to scaling and integrating photonic design into commercial applications,” comments Dr Michael Liehr, CEO of AIM and executive VP of technology and innovation for SUNY Poly. “We look forward to working with Coventor on next-generation electronic-photonic design platforms that support first-pass, high-yield manufacturing of advanced silicon photonic devices.”