Samsung Accelerates Silicon Photonics Development

According to industry sources, Samsung Electronics has selected the same probe-station equipment manufacturers as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) for its silicon photonics technology development. Samsung plans to complete internal testing of silicon photonics integrated circuit (PIC) wafers by the end of this year.

Industry sources said on September 7 that Samsung is using probe stations from U.S.-based FormFactor and Taiwan-based MPI to test silicon photonics PIC wafers. Both companies have reportedly received TSMC certification for test equipment used in co-packaged optics (CPO) and silicon photonics applications.

“Samsung Electronics is conducting its own evaluation of PIC wafers, with the goal of completing the process by the end of the year,” an industry source said. “The company is using probe stations from the two equipment manufacturers, both of which have been certified by TSMC for CPO and silicon photonics testing.”

TSMC uses probe stations from FormFactor and MPI to develop and validate its silicon photonics-based CPO platform, COUPE (CO-Packaged Universal Photonic Engine). The two companies are currently the only probe-station manufacturers reported to have obtained TSMC certification for CPO-related testing equipment.

Since last year, Samsung has outsourced PIC wafer validation to external organizations, including Belgium-based semiconductor research institute imec. The company has now established its own testing environment and is conducting additional evaluations internally. Samsung is currently optimizing its process by assessing PIC wafer performance based on its initial designs and feeding measurement results back into the design process.

Samsung is also preparing for customer evaluations. At its first-quarter earnings presentation, the company said it had secured a project from a major optical communications module company, establishing a foundation for its silicon photonics business. Mass production under the project is expected to begin in the second half of this year.

Samsung plans to launch silicon photonics foundry services in 2027. The offering is expected to include optical device process technologies, optical device libraries, and process design kits (PDKs). Customers will use these technologies to design photonic integrated circuits, while Samsung Foundry will manufacture the PICs at the wafer level.

Samsung also began developing optical engines that integrate electronic integrated circuits (EICs) with PICs this year and plans to begin testing the integrated technology next year. The move highlights Samsung's growing focus on silicon photonics and CPO as optical connectivity becomes increasingly important for AI data centers and high-performance computing systems.