We make the photonic chips inside optical interconnect.
Ynot Photonics designs photonic integrated circuits for AI optical interconnect. We sell transmit and receive chips to the teams that design optical modules and near-package optical engines.
What we build
Photonic ICs on a mature CMOS process with Mach-Zehnder modulation, on a platform for 200G and 400G per lane. We build the parts to the IEEE 802.3dj port definitions for pluggable modules and to the Open CPX MSA for near-package optics.
Available now
- DR8 TX chipDR8
- FR4 TX chipFR4
In development
- DR8 RX chipDR8
- FR8 RX chipFR8
- 6.4T NPO TRx chipOpen CPX MSA
How to work with us
- 01
Tell us the part
Use the contact form or select a part on the Products page. The form arrives with that part already selected.
- 02
An engineer reads it
Requests go to the people who build the parts, not to a queue. You can also write to hi@ynotphotonics.com.
- 03
Datasheet or evaluation
For a part that is available now, we send the current datasheet. For a part in development, we discuss your evaluation needs and timing.
We also publish Insights: industry analysis with every figure sourced and every model open to check.
Why the name
Y is the Y-junction, the simplest element in silicon photonics. NOT is the simplest gate in logic. The name, like the mark, puts the architecture in two symbols: light connecting compute.
Y + NOT
The architecture
The Y-junction is the simplest building block in silicon photonics. It splits light. NOT is the simplest gate in logic. Together they are the company in one line: photonic interconnect serving electronic compute. Electrons interact strongly, which makes them natural at logic. Photons ignore one another, which makes them superb carriers. Compute with electrons. Connect with light.
Why not?
The bet
Say the name aloud. "Why not photonics" is the wager the company is built on. As electrical reach collapses, light is not the exotic option but the obvious one, and worth committing to early. The reason is loss. In copper it rises steeply with frequency, and in fiber it barely rises at all.
Why not.
The culture
The same two words describe how the team works. We act before we are asked, and we take ownership of the problem in front of us. We think for ourselves and test conventional wisdom instead of accepting it. When someone says "this is how it has always been done", we ask: why not another way?
The direction
The long arc of this industry is simple to draw and hard to build. With every generation of the machine, the handoff from electrons to photons moves closer to the die. We build the parts that make each step of it manufacturable, and let the datasheets speak when they are ready.
Pluggable
In the front-panel cage, so a failed module is swapped in the aisle in about a minute.
Energy per bit
15–20 pJ/bit
Near-package (NPO)
On the board beside the ASIC. As lane rates rise, a shorter electrical channel costs less power to drive.
Energy per bit
Not published
Co-packaged (CPO)
On the same substrate as the ASIC. The electrical hop is millimeters, but a failed engine can mean reworking the switch assembly.
Energy per bit
5–10 pJ/bit