Flexcompute and GlobalFoundries Enable Integrated Design and Simulation on GF Silicon Photonics Platform

Collaboration integrates GlobalFoundries' technology stack into PhotonForge, streamlining silicon photonics design and simulation

BOSTON, March 17, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Flexcompute, the physics company, today announced collaboration with GlobalFoundries (GF) to integrate GF's silicon photonics technology stack into PhotonForge, its photonic design and simulation platform powered by the Tidy3D multi-physics engine. The integration provides designers with direct access to GlobalFoundries' process stack within PhotonForge, aligning simulation workflows with the foundry's manufacturing parameters.

Silicon photonics devices rely on precise layer definitions, material properties, and fabrication constraints defined by the foundry process. Traditionally, designers must manually reconstruct these stack definitions inside simulation tools, a time-consuming and error-prone step that can introduce inconsistencies between simulated and fabricated devices. By supporting GF's technology stack in PhotonForge, Flexcompute and GlobalFoundries make it significantly easier for engineers to align their device simulations with the intended manufacturing process.

"Foundry-aligned design infrastructure is critical to the future of silicon photonics," said Vera Yang, President and Co-Founder of Flexcompute. "By embedding the verified technology stack of a leading foundry like GlobalFoundries directly into our platform, we are strengthening the connection between simulation and manufacturing and laying the groundwork for scalable, production-ready photonic innovation."

With the stack integrated, designers can work directly within PhotonForge to design and simulate devices using process-aligned layer definitions and material parameters. This streamlines iteration cycles, improves confidence in results, and reduces the overhead typically required to prepare simulation models for silicon photonics development on GlobalFoundries' platform.

"Designers working on GF's silicon photonics process can now go from technology definition to simulation results in minutes," said Prashanta Kharel, Technology Strategist at Flexcompute. "By integrating the verified stack directly into PhotonForge, we remove a key friction point in silicon photonics workflows and allow engineers to focus on building better devices."

"We are pleased to collaborate with Flexcompute to bring accurate simulation capabilities to our  silicon photonics customers," said Vikas Gupta, Fellow, Silicon Photonics Business at GlobalFoundries. "Providing designers with tools that leverage our verified technology stack helps strengthen the ecosystem supporting advanced photonic innovation on our platform."

This collaboration reflects Flexcompute's broader strategy to integrate foundry manufacturing processes directly into its photonic design infrastructure. By connecting process definition and high-accuracy 3D electromagnetic simulation within a unified environment, Flexcompute is helping establish a more reliable and scalable foundation for next-generation silicon photonics development.

PhotonForge PDK support for the GlobalFoundries silicon photonics technology stack is available now to qualified GlobalFoundries customers. Contact support@flexcompute.com to request access.

Media Contact         
Steve Defibaugh: steve.defibaugh@flexcompute.com

SOURCE FlexCompute Inc.