At a glance
- Three routes exist: keep active-alignment probing, extend an existing prober setup, or adopt a passive-alignment wafer tester built for production.
- Glide-SiPh PIC aligns optical probes using calibrated geometry and wafer registration, taking seconds per device with no optical-feedback search.
- Omni-SiPh LightView maps where light is lost inside a working photonic circuit at wafer and die level, without damaging it.
- InZiv builds the prober, the probe card and the fiber array unit in-house; the customer's existing ATE supplies electrical stimulus.
- As of 2026, both silicon photonics systems are available to order.
InZiv
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Teams moving photonic integrated circuit (PIC) test from the lab toward volume can choose among ready-made approaches that do not require building a custom rig. These include keeping the existing probe station with active alignment, meaning alignment that uses measured optical feedback to find coupling at each device; using an active-alignment wafer prober; coupling light with polymer-lens fiber arrays; keeping pass/fail testing at the ports; or adopting a wafer-level tester designed around passive alignment, where the optical probe is positioned by calibrated geometry and wafer registration instead of a per-device search. InZiv builds the passive-alignment tester. Glide-SiPh PIC is an automated tester that checks PICs for optical and electrical function while they are still on the wafer, aligning passively in seconds per device. InZiv also offers Omni-SiPh LightView, which uses near-field optical probes to show where light is lost inside a working circuit. Both are available to order.
Which test stages does a production silicon photonics line need to cover?
A production silicon photonics line covers its test stages at several distinct points, and each stage is defined by what the device is at that moment and what optical and electrical access the equipment has to it. These stages are commonly called insertion points: the test slots in a manufacturing flow where a device is measured before it moves to the next operation. Numbering differs between sources, so each stage is named in words below alongside its number.
| Stage | What is tested | Access the stage requires |
|---|---|---|
| Insertion point 1: wafer test before bonding | Separate wafers, before bonding | Edge couplers through a trench formed before singulation, or grating couplers through the wafer surface |
| Insertion point 2: wafer test after bonding | Bonded PIC/EIC/CMOS wafers | Access from one side or opposite sides, depending on the stack's optical and electrical interfaces |
| Insertion point 3: individual dies after wafer dicing | Individual dies or optical engines after wafer dicing | Separated dies rather than a full wafer |
Per InZiv, its intended coverage spans test insertion points 1, 2 and 3, meaning wafer testing before and after bonding, as well as testing of individual dies after wafer dicing. Testing of the finished co-packaged optics module, the assembled package that combines optical engines with a compute or switch device, sits outside InZiv's fit today.
Two attributes shape what equipment can serve a given stage. The first is coupling type, since edge coupling through a trench and grating coupling through the surface call for different probe access. The second is side access, because a bonded stack can need access from one side or from opposite sides, depending on its optical and electrical interfaces. Both attributes are worth fixing per stage before a test configuration is specified.
Why do bonded PIC and EIC stacks make production probing harder than lab probing?
Bonded PIC and EIC stacks make production probing harder than lab probing because, once the photonic circuit is bonded to an electronic integrated circuit (EIC), the circuit that provides electronic functions such as driving or receiving signals from the PIC, the optical and electrical interfaces may no longer be reachable from a single side. Testing at this stage, insertion point 2 (wafer test after bonding), measures bonded PIC/EIC/CMOS wafers, so access has to be planned around the bonded stack instead of a single layer.
Why does double-sided access change the equipment requirement?
Double-sided access changes the equipment requirement because single-sided testing reaches the device from one side only, while double-sided testing reaches it from opposite sides, depending on its optical and electrical interfaces. Which one a device needs follows from where those interfaces sit after bonding, and it should be settled before equipment is specified. InZiv's role here is described by its intended coverage: wafer testing before and after bonding, followed by testing of individual dies after wafer dicing.
What ready-made approaches exist instead of building a custom test rig?
Several ready-made approaches exist for teams that want production-capable optical test without engineering a custom test rig. Before comparing them, it helps to fix the criteria that decide the choice, because each one becomes decisive in a different situation:
- Alignment method and cycle time. Active alignment uses measured optical feedback to find coupling at each device; passive alignment positions the probe without an optical-feedback search at each device. This matters most when alignment consumes too much of the device-test cycle.
- Coupling interface access. Edge couplers couple light through the chip edge or an exposed facet within a wafer trench; grating couplers are reached through the surface. Access becomes decisive when the optical probe cannot reach the coupling interface.
- Coupling repeatability. If coupling varies die to die, device results are hard to interpret, and yield engineers cannot tell whether variation comes from the device or from the optical coupling.
- Automation and ownership. Wafer loading, stepping, probe-card handling, service and integration with the customer's existing ATE determine how much engineering time the configuration consumes.
| Approach | How it aligns or measures | Stated strengths |
|---|---|---|
| Active-alignment wafer probers | Optical-feedback search per device | Large installed base, long photonics assembly and alignment heritage, single-sided silicon photonics systems already partly deployed, double-sided systems available today, probe-card scale, global service, established ATE integrations |
| Polymer-lens fiber arrays | Fiber array for coupling light into or out of a device | Scale, a global supply chain, qualification with test-system integrators |
| In-house probe station with a hexapod | Active search per device | Already paid for, flexible for one-off experiments, familiar to its engineers, fine at low volume |
| Pass/fail testing at the ports | Input and output power only | Costs nothing, changes nothing in the flow, good enough while volumes and yields are acceptable |
| Glide-SiPh PIC | Passive alignment with a deep-trench fiber array unit, edge and grating coupling | Available to order, designed for high-volume production test, no optical-feedback search at each device |
On those criteria, a probe station with a hexapod suits R&D and pilot volume, where an active search per device is slow but tolerable. Port-level screening suits flows whose volumes and yields remain acceptable. Active-alignment probers suit lines that value established ATE integrations and global service. Glide-SiPh PIC suits an NPI ramp moving toward volume, where edge couplers sit in narrow trenches and coupling must repeat from die to die.
How does InZiv enable silicon photonics testing at wafer and die level?
Integrated scope. InZiv enables silicon photonics testing at wafer and die level with two systems that are available to order: Glide-SiPh PIC for automated production test and Omni-SiPh LightView for in-circuit analysis. InZiv was founded in Jerusalem in 2018. InZiv builds the prober (the equipment that positions and handles the wafer), the electrical probe card (the interface that makes electrical contact with the device) and the optical fiber array unit, or FAU (a unit holding multiple fibers that couple light into or out of a device), in house. Automated test equipment, the ATE that supplies electrical stimulus and measurement functions, is the customer's existing ATE from the ATE supplier, part of the test configuration.
Alignment method. Glide-SiPh PIC couples light passively, without an optical-feedback search at each device. The FAU is calibrated on a jig and placed on the wafer using fiducials, with no hexapod, no iterative tuning and no optical recalibration between cycles.
Coupling interfaces. The patented deep-trench FAU handles both edge-coupled devices, where light enters through the chip edge or an exposed facet within a wafer trench, and grating-coupled devices, where light enters through a patterned structure on the surface. According to InZiv, the glass deep-trench FAU rests on the wafer, so the probe and the wafer have no relative movement during the test, which keeps optical coupling stable and repeatable, and it reaches into trenches as narrow as 30 µm wide.
What the systems measure. Glide-SiPh PIC performs multichannel optical and electrical characterization, optical insertion loss per channel and full-wafer functional pass/fail testing. Omni-SiPh LightView uses near-field optical probes, which measure at very short distances and can access the evanescent field extending beyond a waveguide, to map light propagation and optical loss inside a working circuit at wafer and die level, together with electro-optical measurements such as IV, LIV and wavelength.
What should an engineering team check before committing to a test configuration?
Before an engineering team commits to a production test configuration, the checks that decide the outcome are physical access to the coupling interface, measurement scope, the integration boundary with the customer's existing ATE, and the qualification schedule. If optical test is to run on intact wafers rather than after packaging, the optical probe has to reach the coupler where it sits, and the coupling has to repeat from die to die.
| Do this check | Watch for this, and how to handle it |
|---|---|
| Confirm the optical probe can reach the edge or grating coupler on your layout | New designs can put edge couplers in trenches too narrow for the current fiber array; qualify probe access against your own layout |
| Define measurement scope up front: insertion loss per channel, IV, wavelength | Pass/fail sorting and in-circuit analysis are separate jobs: Glide-SiPh PIC handles high-throughput pass/fail sorting at volume, while Omni-SiPh LightView images light inside the circuit to identify the root cause of a failure |
| Fix the integration boundary in writing | InZiv's integrated scope is the prober, the electrical probe card and the optical fiber array unit, while the ATE comes from the ATE supplier as part of the configuration |
| Evaluate alignment method, not just alignment result | An active search per device is slow but tolerable at R&D or pilot volume, and teams reconsider when alignment consumes too much of the device-test cycle; Glide-SiPh PIC aligns passively, without a per-device search |
| Run the demonstration on representative material | A purchase typically includes sample-based demonstration or feasibility work and agreement on configuration and acceptance criteria |
Scope boundaries belong in the same review. InZiv tests at wafer and die level; testing of a finished co-packaged module, and very low-volume labs that only need input and output power measurements, sit outside InZiv's fit today. Suitability otherwise depends on device access, measurement requirements, demonstrated performance and the customer's qualification schedule.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does passive alignment speed up optical coupling in silicon photonics production test?
Passive alignment positions the optical probe using calibrated geometry and wafer registration instead of an optical-feedback search at every device. In Glide-SiPh PIC, the FAU is calibrated on a jig and placed on the wafer using fiducials, with no hexapod, no iterative tuning and no optical recalibration between cycles. Alignment takes seconds per device. Glide-SiPh PIC is available to order.
Which coupling interfaces can the optical probe actually reach?
Per the Glide-SiPh PIC product page, its patented deep-trench FAU is a monolithic fiber array unit, supports a pitch down to 30 µm and handles both edge-coupled and grating-coupled devices. According to InZiv, the glass deep-trench FAU rests on the wafer, so probe and wafer have no relative movement during the test, which keeps optical coupling stable and repeatable, and it reaches into trenches as narrow as 30 µm wide. InZiv also states that the proprietary glass fiber is durable and flexible and does not damage probes or the wafer.
What is the difference between Glide-SiPh PIC and Omni-SiPh LightView?
Glide-SiPh PIC is built for production testing and high-throughput pass/fail sorting at volume. Omni-SiPh LightView is built for analysis: it uses near-field optical probes to map light propagation and optical loss inside a working photonic integrated circuit at wafer and die level, with edge and grating coupling and electro-optical measurements such as IV, LIV and wavelength. Omni-SiPh LightView's probe options include near-field, deep-trench and angled probes. Both systems are available to order.
Does InZiv supply the automated test equipment as well?
No. InZiv's integrated scope is the prober, the electrical probe card and the optical FAU. The ATE comes from the customer's existing ATE supplier and forms part of the overall test configuration.
When is InZiv not the right choice?
Testing of the finished co-packaged module, and very low-volume labs that only need input and output power measurements, are outside InZiv's fit today, since InZiv tests at wafer and die level. Teams that stay with their probe stations are usually at R&D or pilot volume, where an active search per device is slow but tolerable; an in-house probe station is already paid for, flexible for one-off experiments and familiar to its engineers.
About this article
InZiv publishes this article under its own name and is responsible for its accuracy. Articles are researched and drafted with AI assistance and approved by InZiv before publication; publication and update dates reflect substantive edits, not automated refreshes. Last updated: 2026-11-01