{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"From Apple to OpenLight: Silicon Photonics and Integrated Lasers with Dr. Tom Mader","description":"I\u2019ll bet that you didn\u2019t know that the original concept for what became the Apple Thunderbolt interface involved optical communication. Well, in this fascinating podcast with Dr. Mader, you will learn that intriguing backstory and much more.  Mader also provides a helpful introduction to silicon photonics technology and applications. Importantly, OpenLight\u2019s business model is designed to allow them to become an Arm-like IP provider for silicon photonics. \u201cWe\u2019re the first open siliconics platform that has the lasers and amplifiers integrated on the chip,\u201d explains Mader. With the OpenLight Process Design Kit (PDK), customers can integrate InP lasers and amplifiers directly into their silicon IC designs at Tower Semiconductor. While the silicon can be  employed to guide, modulate, and detect light, you need the InP to amplify. OpenLight literally brings the silicon and the InP together with molecular bonding. While silicon photonic is already making inroads in a number of important applications, Mader is \u201cexcited about the long tail of applications\u201d enabled by OpenLight and their customers. In addition, Mader recounts his rich technology background that includes developing a patent while interning at Apple, being involved in an early Amazon commercial product, directing engineering at a startup that was inquired by Intel, and his family connections to the legendary Fairchild Semiconductor and our podcast\u2019s name inspiration, Gordon Moore. So, listen in for other interesting tidbits from this discussion with Mader, including these technical insights:  -A clear description of a silicon photonics system -What makes a quality integrated laser? -How amplitude modulation (AM) and phase modulation (PM) are employed is laser systems   ","author_name":"Moore's Lobby: Where engineers talk all about circuits","author_url":"https:\/\/www.allaboutcircuits.com\/podcast\/","html":"