As you may know, our MeasureOne Program is a commitment between FormFactor and a select group of partners to deliver performance-validated, integrated solutions to address customers’ test and measurement applications.

We’re pleased to announce that Physik Instrumente (PI), the market and technology leader for high-precision positioning technology and piezo applications, have joined us in a MeasureOne partnership to accelerate development of silicon photonics test and measurement applications.

Our relationship with PI began five years ago to bring to the market a fully automated and reliable probing system to test silicon photonics devices in wafer and die form. Silicon photonics can enable the transfer of enormous amounts of data at high speeds using optical signals instead of electrical signals. The global silicon photonics market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.7% between 2019 and 2027, according to Inkwood Research.

PI’s motion technology and fast, firmware-based optical alignment capabilities, combined with our system integration and calibration know-how, are enabling high precision and verifiable measurements out of the box. This reduces what used to take days, weeks or months to a matter of minutes.

The collaboration has produced several industry-first capabilities and other milestones in the test and measurement of silicon photonics devices. Some of these include:

  • Six-axis automated nano-precision optical fiber positioning
  • The world’s fastest photonic alignment including quick optimization of array devices, typically 100 times faster than previous technology allowed
  • Die and wafer-level edge coupling for photonic devices for measurement capability that closely simulates device operation
  • Advanced, in-situ optical calibration with our proprietary OptoVue™ and OptoVue™ Pro for faster time to accurate measurement results
  • Customized scripting and test programs to optimize the system for fast, accurate measurements

To date, our silicon photonics systems are in use at more than 20 of the world’s leading silicon photonics device manufacturers.