PITTSBURGH, PA, Mar 28, 2025 – Ansys and GlobalFoundries collaborated to certify four Ansys photonic solvers, allowing engineers to simulate passive and active photonic components with high-fidelity in the GF Fotonix platform. Ansys and GlobalFoundries enable access to reliable multiphysics simulation solutions that address design challenges for a range of high-capacity chips — including those used in generative AI, autonomous vehicles, hyperscale data center communications, and IoT.
GF Fotonix is a silicon photonics platform that allows the integration of photonic and electronic components on a single chip. It also supports a photonics-only flow. The platform includes elements such as Mach-Zehnder and micro-ring modulators, germanium photodiodes, and passive components like splitters, interferometers, phase shifters, tapers, bends, and filters in wavelength division multiplexing. It enables designers to help build custom solutions for optical communication systems that require high data rates, low latency, and reduced power usage.
GF Fotonix has certified four Ansys Lumerical solutions for the GF Fotonix platform: FDTD, MODE, CHARGE, and HEAT. The certifications cover a range of capabilities, including passive and active photonic component design and modeling how electrical and thermal factors influence optical behavior. Ansys and GlobalFoundries have benchmarked the solvers against accurate measurement data, ensuring high-fidelity simulations for mutual customers.
“The certification of Ansys solutions for the GF Fotonix Platform Development Kit establishes an array of physical design capabilities – including optical, thermal, and electrical – that are critical for our customers,” said Ziv Hammer, senior vice president of design platforms and services at GlobalFoundries. “We are happy to partner with Ansys to help our customers overcome challenges in photonic chip design and empower them to develop tomorrow’s technologies.”
“The benefits of photonic communication are immense, but designing PICs is time consuming, costly, and offers no room for error once they go to manufacturing,” said John Lee, vice president and general manager of the electronics, semiconductor, and optics business unit at Ansys. “Naturally, the demand for such high-capacity chips has skyrocketed due to the emergence of compute-heavy technologies like AI. Ansys’ Lumerical solutions are versatile enough to keep pace with these evolving customer needs, empowering them to respond to design challenges with agility and confidence.”
Source: Ansys
About Ansys
Ansys, founded in 1970, specializes in engineering simulation software. It offers a comprehensive suite of tools for structural analysis, fluid dynamics, electromagnetic field simulation, and more, enabling industries to design and test products virtually. Ansys software has enabled innovators across industries to push boundaries by using the predictive power of simulation. Serving sectors such as aerospace and defense, automotive, energy, industrial equipment, materials and chemicals, consumer products, healthcare, and construction, Ansys supports innovation across diverse fields. As of 2023, the company reported annual revenues exceeding $2.3 billion and employed over 6,200 people worldwide. Headquartered in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania, Ansys continues to advance engineering simulation technologies, empowering organizations to enhance product development processes.
About GlobalFoundries
GlobalFoundries is a leading semiconductor foundry that provides advanced manufacturing services for integrated circuits. It offers a range of technologies, including CMOS, RF, embedded memory, silicon photonics, and FinFET, catering to automotive, communications, defense, data center, industrial, and consumer electronics applications. Founded in 2009 after being spun off from AMD, GlobalFoundries has over a decade of experience delivering tailored semiconductor solutions. The company supports fabless chipmakers with design enablement, IP services, and process technologies to accelerate innovation and meet global demand. Headquartered in Malta, New York, it operates manufacturing sites in the U.S., Germany, and Singapore. As of 2023, GlobalFoundries reported an annual revenue of approximately $7.4 billion and continues to play a critical role in global supply chains. The company focuses on unique technologies designed to meet the needs of growing markets. It supports new digital applications that require energy efficiency and dependable performance.