Epiphany Design and Chilas Lasers announce a strategic collaboration to accelerate hybrid laser integration in photonic integrated circuits (PICs), combining Epiphany Design’s photonic design expertise with Chilas’ high-performance laser system engineering and manufacturing capabilities. Integrating lasers into PICs requires strong system and chip design capabilities. It demands deep understanding of laser physics, control electronics, stabilization, and system-level optimization.
Epiphany Design has platform-agnostic photonic IC design expertise and extensive experience in hybrid laser architecture development. As an independent design house, Epiphany enables customers to integrate laser functionality into custom PIC layouts without being tied to a specific foundry or technology platform.
Chilas is a Dutch manufacturer of ultra-narrow linewidth widely tunable laser systems. Its expertise lies in transforming a laser concept into a stable, controllable, and high-performance system, built on nearly a decade of engineering development.
The collaboration between Epiphany Design and Chilas is focused on bridging photonic chip-level laser design with validated, high-performance laser system implementation. This partnership reflects a flexible, non-exclusive collaboration model, with Epiphany Design continuing to focus on its core expertise in photonic design, while Chilas remains responsible for laser system realization, manufacturing, and commercial supply. The partnership is focused on combining complementary engineering expertise to accelerate innovation for customers.
The Hybrid Laser Design Module: Reducing Time-to-Market and Technical Risk
Based on this collaboration is the availability of fully assembled Hybrid Laser Design Module demonstration system implemented using Chilas laser technology. The Hybrid Laser Design Module, already presented by Epiphany Design, is a ready-to-integrate, platform-agnostic laser building block for photonic integrated circuits, derived from and aligned with a proven laser system architecture. Instead of developing a hybrid laser from the ground up, customers can integrate a validated laser architecture and control electronics directly into their PIC layout, significantly reducing time-to-market, complexity, and technical risk.
The DEMO that is now available for being sent over is a pre-built, fully assembled laser demonstration unit based on Chilas’ proprietary laser technology and Epiphany Design’s Hybrid Laser Design Module concept. These demo systems are intended for evaluation and demonstration purposes only and are not positioned as commercial trial or rental laser products. They are provided to support technical validation, system characterization, and early-stage design evaluation.
To enable rapid validation, two demonstration systems are now available: one operating at 1550 nm, particularly suited for telecom, coherent communication, and sensing applications, and another at 685 nm, addressing visible wavelength applications such as life sciences and metrology. These demo units are physically built laser systems that allow engineers to test performance within their own setups before committing to custom integration.
The collaboration also provides a clear engagement path for customers. Companies seeking complete laser systems or laser source expertise can work directly with Chilas. Organizations developing custom photonic integrated circuits and aiming to utilize hybrid laser architecture into their chip design can collaborate with Epiphany Design, with Chilas laser systems serving as the underlying system reference.
