Silicon Photonics Circuit Design: Methods, Tools and Challenges

Silicon Photonics technology is rapidly maturing as a platform for larger-scale photonic circuits. As a result, the associated design methodologies are also evolving from component-oriented design to a more circuit-oriented design flow, that makes abstraction from the very detailed geometry and enables design on a larger scale. In this paper, the state of this emerging photonic circuit design flow and its synergies with electronic design automation (EDA) are reviewed. The design flow from schematic capture, circuit simulation, layout and verification is covered. The similarities and the differences between photonic and electronic design, and the challenges and opportunities that present themselves in the new photonic design landscape, such as variability analysis, photonic-electronic co-simulation and compact model definition are discussed.