Technology overview
Tower’s process portfolio spans RF/SiGe BiCMOS, BCD power, CMOS image sensors, MEMS, mixed-signal CMOS, non-volatile memory, and silicon photonics. For the photonics-research scope the load-bearing platform is PH18.
PH18 — silicon photonics
PH18 is Tower’s 200mm silicon-photonics process, hosted on the Newport Beach Fab 3 line (the legacy Jazz Semiconductor 8-inch SiGe BiCMOS facility). PH18 is a process-design-kit-driven monolithic SiPh node with passive waveguides, modulators, photodetectors, edge couplers, grating couplers, and SiGe-BiCMOS electronic integration.
For Lightwave Logic, PH18 is the carrier of the Perkinamine electro-optic polymer integration under the March 11, 2026 development agreement (announced via LWLG press release; LWLG stock +30-41% intraday). PH18 sits opposite GlobalFoundries Fotonix (300mm 45SPCLO + 9WG) in the AI-photonics foundry-tier duopoly — Tower’s 200mm asset has lower wafer-cost overhead but lower density than Fotonix’s 300mm monolithic CMOS+photonics.
Other photonics-relevant processes
| Process | Node | Description |
|---|---|---|
| TS18SL | 180nm | SiGe BiCMOS — driver/TIA platform that pairs with PH18 for transceiver builds |
| SBC18S5 | 180nm | High-speed SiGe BiCMOS, 250 GHz f_T — high-frequency optical I/O |
| 65nm RF | 65nm CMOS | RF/mmWave platform for mixed-signal next-gen builds |
Sub-pages
- PH18 process detail — node specs, PDK contents, foundry-design-licensing constructs
- Tower-ST Agrate 300mm — capacity-extension JV with STMicroelectronics (announced Jun 24 2021)
- Tower’s North American 8-inch footprint — Newport Beach Fab 3 (from 2008 Tower-Jazz merger), San Antonio Fab 9 (2016 Maxim acquisition), and the Sep 2023 $300M Intel Fab 11X capacity-services arrangement
- Patents overview — Tower IP position (RF, BCD, MEMS, SiPh)