Swiss startup LIGENTEC, the leading supplier of high-performance, low-loss, silicon nitride Photonic Integrated Circuits, is a key partner in the European initiative “photonixFAB”. The project aims to establish a European photonics device value chain and initial industrial manufacturing capabilities. The 3.5-year project has a budget of Euro 48 million.
Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) are ready to repeat the success of electronic integrated circuits (ICs) and are expected to play a key role in tomorrow’s infrastructure in communication, advanced and quantum computing, sensing and transportation. An agile and resilient silicon photonics supply chain with leading performance is crucial for Europe to enable quick learning cycles and rapidly transfer technologies from research to industry.
The newly launched pilot line initiative photonixFAB aims to establish a path towards a European photonics value chain and initial industrial manufacturing capabilities. The consortium covers the main part of the silicon photonics value chain, from design automation via foundry service to end users and includes two major European research institutes.
Within the project, LIGENTEC will focus on advancing its low-loss Silicon Nitride PIC platform, originally developed at EPFL in Switzerland, recently installed at X-FAB and now commercially accessible as 200mm wafer technology. A vital outcome of the project and LIGENTEC’s collaboration with its strategic partner X-FAB will be an improved offering for agile prototyping with a seamless transfer to volume production. Further, LIGENTEC will work within the consortium on the integration of lasers, high-speed modulators and detectors by adding III-V material-based active devices and electro-optical materials like Lithium Niobate to the low-loss SiN PIC platform.
Global players in the consortium
Besides LIGENTEC, the photonixFAB consortium comprises major public and private enterprises, plus highly respected research institutes focusing on developing and producing. These partners are SMART Photonics, PHIX Photonics Assembly and Luceda Photonics, plus application developers Nokia, NVIDIA, Aryballe, Brolis Sensor Technology and PhotonFirst, as well as the major research organizations CEA-Leti and IMEC.
The project is being supported by the Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking (KDT JU), with funding from the EU and the national authorities. Information for Swiss companies about KDT JU can be found on the Innosuisse website.
The combination of this funding and the investments being directly made by each consortium member comes to a total of Euro 47.6 million. A major part of this 3.5-year project will be conducted at X-FAB’s foundry operation in Corbeil-Essonnes, France, with additional activities also undertaken at the numerous other partners’ sites across Europe.
(Press release)
Photo: Ligentec
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