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The only way is up for Cubic Wafer's hybrid ICs

Fiber-optic module maker Xanoptix has morphed into Cubic Wafer, and the company is now focused on three-dimensional integration of silicon and III-V chips.

A new company called Cubic Wafer is hoping to revolutionize semiconductor chip integration with a technology that is said to allow fusion of silicon and III-V devices at the wafer and die level.

Previously known as fiber-optic module maker Xanoptix, which based its products on two-dimensional VCSEL arrays, the re-branded company has moved to Austin, TX, and has just appointed a new CEO and engineering chief.

New CEO Ed Healy, previously VP of wireless products at Silicon Laboratories, takes over a company whose stated aim is to build vertically-integrated three-dimensional chips featuring devices made in a variety of material systems.

These hybrid ICs, as Cubic Wafer calls them, can be manufactured by bonding various substrates, including InP, silicon, GaAs and SiGe, at either the die or wafer level.

According to the company, its proprietary technology allows three-dimensional chip stacking and integration without the normal limitations imposed by flip-chip and wire bond approaches.

Healy says that Cubic Wafer's approach will allow the application of Moore's Law to chip integration. Leading that drive will be Abhay Misra, a colleague of Healy's at Silicon Labs, who has been hired as VP of operations and engineering.

In terms of applications for its hybrid ICs, Cubic Wafer is targeting a range of end-user markets, including the wireless industry.

For example, the company believes that it can combine digital and RF applications to create a cell-phone or wireless LAN based on a single hybrid IC chip. Other areas where GaAs devices could feature include set-top-boxes for digital television and optical networking.

Still some years away from volume production of its stacked chips, Cubic Wafer is now focused on developing partnerships with Asian semiconductor foundries, assembly and packaging companies that it hopes will end up producing hybrid ICs in high volumes.

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