IIT Madras, SilTerra Malaysia partner to develop programmable silicon photonic processor chips

NEW DELHI: The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and SilTerra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. have joined hands to develop programmable silicon photonic processor chips. This partnership will focus on quantum computing and communication system-level applications.

The other key aspects of the partnership include joint research and development on novel silicon photonic devices and circuits for energy-efficient high-speed interconnect solutions for data centres, high-performance computing, and for artificial intelligence and machine learning applications, the institute said.

The Silicon Photonics Center of Excellence (CoE) at the Center of Propulsion and Power Integrated Circuits (CPPICS) team at the IIT Madras, India, will contribute its expertise to enhance Silicon Photonics Process Design Kit (PDK) libraries for the SilTerra Silicon Photonics Foundry, aiming for mutual benefits, the institute further said.

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As per the official press release the agreement is signed between Manu Santhanam, dean of IIT Madras and Albert Pang Shu Koon, CEO at SilTerra Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. The partnership will benefit India's National Semiconductor Mission (NSM) and National Quantum Mission (NQM) initiatives. It will also provide IIT Madras students and researchers with experience in IP generation and entrepreneurship, Bijoy Krishna Das, chief investigator of CoE-CPPICS said.

Speaking about this collaboration, the director of IIT Madras, V Kamakoti, added, “This agreement signed between SilTerra and the Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS IIT Madras marks a significant milestone and opens up avenues for innovation in high-performance silicon photonics technology solutions. With Bharat moving towards establishing state-of-the-art commercial semiconductor fabrication facilities, there is an imminent need to augment the same with Research and Human Capacity development efforts.”