India Launches Indigenous Silicon Photonics Solutions at Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras)

Key facts

• The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) launched indigenously developed Silicon Photonics solutions at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-Madras) in Chennai.
• The launch introduced two key innovations: a Silicon Photonics Process Design Kit (PDK) and a Universal Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuit (PPIC) Test Engine.
• Both technologies were developed at the MeitY-supported Centre of Excellence for Compound Photonics and Photonic Integrated Circuits Systems (CoE-CPPICS) at IIT-Madras.
• The PDK includes more than 50 verified components for building advanced photonic integrated circuits.
• The PPIC Test Engine is an automated platform for testing and characterising photonic and optoelectronic modules.
• The initiative was developed under a Product Research, Development and Manufacturing (PRDM) model using CMOS-compatible Silicon Photonics technology.
• The project is supported by SilTerra Malaysia as the foundry partner and izmo Microsystems, Bengaluru, for photonic IC packaging.
• Multi-project wafer (MPW) fabrication runs are scheduled to start in the third quarter of the current financial year.
• The CEO of the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), Amitesh Sinha, stated that the technology has applications in both classical and emerging quantum domains.