Abstract
Bay Photonics is an innovative photonic packaging solutions provider enabling rapid prototyping and pilot production for the next generation of photonic integrated circuits (PICs). With over 15 years of industry experience, Bay Photonics offers open access photonic assembly and packaging services, supporting customers from design to volume manufacturing. Located in the thriving photonics innovation cluster in Paignton, UK, Bay Photonics is uniquely positioned to accelerate photonic product development and empower photonic innovators.
Introduction
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are set to revolutionize various application areas and industries, from healthcare and quantum technologies to autonomous vehicles and communications. PICs integrate multiple photonic functions onto a single chip, providing enhanced capabilities in a miniaturized footprint ideal for the devices and systems of tomorrow. However, successfully commercializing an innovative PIC design requires overcoming daunting packaging and manufacturing challenges. Bay Photonics is an agile photonic assembly and packaging solutions provider dedicated to accelerating PIC innovation by offering open access to expertise and capabilities for rapid prototyping to pilot production.
Based in Paignton, UK, Bay Photonics was founded in 2007 by photonics industry veterans Glenn George and Larry Clarke. The company specializes in assembly, packaging, and manufacturing process development for PICs and other photonic components. With extensive in-house expertise and capabilities, Bay Photonics provides concept-to-system product development, supporting customers from design and simulation through volume manufacturing. The company's open access model promotes collaboration by providing innovators affordable access to Bay Photonics' skills, experience, and state-of-the-art facilities.
Bay Photonics excels at creating innovative PIC packaging solutions tailored to meet customer requirements. Leveraging over a decade of experience supporting diverse application areas, the company can develop optical, mechanical, electrical, and thermal packaging optimized for the customer's needs. Located at the Electronics & Photonics Innovation Centre (EPIC) in Paignton's expanding photonics cluster, Bay Photonics can also tap into the broader UK photonics ecosystem to access additional capabilities required for a project. The company's breadth of experience and strong industry network position Bay Photonics as an ideal partner for organizations seeking to accelerate development of innovative photonic technologies.
In-House Expertise and Capabilities
Bay Photonics' team of approximately 30 employees possesses over a century of collective expertise in photonics packaging, manufacturing, and product development. Areas of specialization include:
Photonic semiconductor processing: die attach, wire bonding, hermetic sealing;
Photonic packaging: butterfly, TO can, chip-on-board, optical alignment;
Opto-electronic design: optical, electrical, thermal, mechanical;
Reliability testing and qualification;
Manufacturing process development and transfer.
To support its packaging, assembly, and manufacturing services, Bay Photonics operates a 475 m2 cleanroom and prototyping facility equipped with the latest automated packaging and test equipment. Key capabilities and equipment include:
Class 7 (ISO Class 10,000) cleanroom;
Die bonding: manual, semi-automatic, and fully automated;
Wire bonding: manual, semi-automatic, and fully automated;
Hermetic sealing: seam sealing and projection welding;
Optical alignment stations with nano-positioning;
Reliability testing: thermal cycling, burn-in, etc.
Metrology: SEM, optical imaging, X-Ray, etc.
By providing open access to such extensive expertise and advanced facilities, Bay Photonics empowers customers to accelerate development and commercialization of innovative photonic technologies.
Product Development Approach
Bay Photonics supports PIC product development from concept through volume manufacturing using a flexible, customizable approach tailored to each customer's specific needs. While projects vary, the company's development methodology generally includes:
Conceptual and Feasibility Evaluation: Assess customer requirements, evaluate design concepts, identify risks and challenges;
Prototyping and Process Development: Design, assemble, and package prototypes while developing optimized fabrication processes. Conduct reliability testing;
Pilot Manufacturing: Transfer processes to automated tools and fabricate small batches to validate manufacturability;
Volume Manufacturing: Transition process to high-volume production, either in-house or at partner facilities;
Testing, Qualification, and Post-Manufacturing Support: Ensure products meet specifications and reliability requirements. Continue improving manufacturing processes. Provide warrantee and maintenance services.
This structured yet adaptable approach allows Bay Photonics to provide any combination of services required to transform an idea into a high-volume product. The company's open access model provides affordable access to Bay's expertise and capabilities at each stage, enabling innovators to commercialize PIC innovations without major capital outlays.
Industry Applications and Technology Areas
Leveraging over a decade of industry experience, Bay Photonics supports PIC packaging development across a diverse range of applications and technology areas including:
Quantum technologies: quantum key distribution, quantum computing, single photon detection;
Biophotonics: optical coherence tomography (OCT), biosensors;
Telecommunications and datacommunications: transmitters, receivers, transceivers;
Lidar and remote sensing: distance and motion measurement, gas detection;
Aerospace and defense: ruggedized and rad-hard packaging;
Automotive: driver assistance systems, autonomy, safety.
The company has worked with various materials and semiconductor platforms such as:
Indium phosphide (InP): ideal for optical comms and sensing from visible to mid-IR;
Silicon photonics (SiPh): leverages CMOS manufacturing for high-volume applications.
Bay Photonics' technology agnosticism and platform expertise allow the company to develop advanced packaging solutions optimized for each customer's particular PIC materials and architecture.
Partnering Within the UK Photonics Innovation Ecosystem
Bay Photonics is strategically located at EPIC within the Paignton photonics cluster, enabling close collaboration with other stakeholders across the UK photonics supply chain. Cluster members include Plessey Semiconductors, Artemis Optics, and the University of Plymouth, while neighboring Torquay hosts businesses like Lumentum and Gooch & Housego.
This nationally recognized photonics innovation hub provides access to semiconductor fabrication, specialty optics manufacturing, testing services, and advanced research capabilities. By leveraging these regional assets, Bay Photonics can provide customers a "one-stop shop" for developing PIC-enabled products without having to manage dozens of suppliers and partners independently.
The company is also an active member of the European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC), Europe's premier industry association for photonics innovation. Through conferences, workshops, and extensive networking activities, EPIC connects Bay Photonics with the broader European optics and photonics ecosystem, enhancing access to capabilities and partnerships across the continent.
Empowering Tomorrow's Photonic Innovations
PICs are poised to drive transformative breakthroughs in communications, computing, healthcare, and many other spheres central to human progress. However, commercializing PIC innovations requires extensive development efforts to create practical prototypes and establish manufacturable processes. Through open access to its packaging expertise and capabilities, Bay Photonics empowers organizations to overcome these innovation barriers and accelerate PIC-enabled technologies from lab to market. By providing concept-to-system product development services backed by over a decade of industry experience, Bay Photonics fulfills a vital role in the photonics supply chain - bridging the gap between photonic inventions and volume manufactured products that change the world.
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