2022
For foreign employees in the Netherlands, the Dutch government offers an allowance for extra costs in the form of a tax advantage. In the run-up to the Spring Memorandum, the 30% facility was discussed.
There’s no doubt about it: in the not-too-distant future, cars are going to have a lot more technology packed into them. A heck of a lot more. Could optical chip technology – aka integrated photonics – be the answer to automotive manufacturers’ combined need for smaller and more energy efficient hardware?
22 April 2022, Eindhoven – HighTechXL and PhotonDelta announce a technology partnership to build new integrated photonics start-ups, thereby strengthening the Brainport ecosystem and the Netherlands as a world leader in integrated photonics. PhotonDelta, the integrated photonics ecosystem, contributes its technical know-how and network, to which HighTechXL adds its venture building expertise.
Eindhoven, Netherlands - PhotonDelta, a cross-border ecosystem of photonic chip technology organisations, has, subject to conditions*, landed €1.1 billion in public and private investment to transform the Netherlands into the leader of next generation semiconductors.
QuiX Quantum, the market leader in photonic quantum computing hardware, today announced the commercial launch of the world’s largest photonic quantum processor. The processor was developed in the Netherlands and outperforms the current generation of processors by almost a factor of 2. The new quantum photonic processor has a record number of qumodes (20). It also has the highest operating specifications on the market. With this new product, QuiX Quantum continues to push the envelope of photonic quantum computing.
At the Optical Fiber Conference (OFC) 2022, EFFECT Photonics, a leading provider of highly integrated optical communication products is announcing that it signed a definitive agreement to acquire coherent optical digital signal processing (DSP) and forward error correction (FEC) technology as well as a highly experienced engineering team from global communications company, Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT).
Global data traffic is doubling every two years. As the growth rate is likely to increase further in the future, optical communication and networking technologies are becoming essential to accommodate this growth in an energy-efficient and sustainable manner.
Eindhoven, The Netherlands - Aircision builds high capacity free space optics (FSO) systems that can be deployed fast, cover long distances and are highly secure. In December 2021, Aircision successfully demonstrated the capabilities of their first 10 Gbps FSO system. EFFECT Photonics is a leading transceiver vendor and able to deliver the flexible, pluggable optical transceiver that is a key component of Aircision FSO system. Together, Aircision and EFFECT Photonics are looking to push the boundaries of ground-to-ground FSO technology by combining the advantages of integrated and free space photonics.
Accurate and cost-effective biosensors are expected to play a crucial role in the roll-out of point of care testing. Point of care (PoC) testing is the practice of diagnosing patients at the point of need rather than sending samples to a remote specialised medical laboratory. PoC testing therefore reduces the cost of and the time taken in diagnosis. Integrated photonics technology offers a possible solution for developing genuine PoC diagnostic devices.
Faster, lighter, more durable, and ultimately also cheaper: the advantages of photonic circuits are considerable, for a wide range of applications. And the Netherlands plays an important global role in the development and application of this key technology. In recent years, partly due to the policies of the government, provinces, and Brainport, PhotonDelta has laid a solid foundation under the Dutch photonics ecosystem. Thanks to the work of the technical universities and institutions such as TNO and Imec, there is a strong knowledge base, specialization on two essential production platforms, and a supply chain that provides prototyping and initial production.
The photonics assembly service provider PHIX builds on Nanoscribe’s high-performance 3D printing solution with alignment capabilities to offer 3D-printed standard lensed fiber arrays.
The world premiere at SPIE Photonics West in California marks expansion to North America
2021
QuiX Quantum, the market leader in quantum photonic processors, will deliver a photonic quantum computing solution to the newly established Hungarian Quantum Information National Laboratory initiative. This device represents the fifth quantum photonic processor to leave the QuiX plant. “Quix Quantum’s systems are becoming the de-facto standard in photonic quantum computing” says Dr. Jelmer Renema, CTO of Quix Quantum.
Enschede, The Netherlands - Dutch microsystems developer LioniX International announces an integrated RGB laser light engine for retinal projection augmented reality (AR) headsets. The mm scale light engine excels not only in the brightness and quality of the images projected but also in terms of compactness.
Eindhoven, The Netherlands - The open innovation program OIP4NWE launches its second voucher call for innovation support to stimulate uptake of integrated photonics technology by European-based companies. Up to 5 companies will receive innovation support from the OIP4NWE consortium.
Eindhoven - A new investment by PhotonDelta and the Smart Industries TTT Fund that is managed by Innovation Industries will help TU Eindhoven spinoff MicroAlign speed up its technology and product development. MicroAlign will use the funds to optimize the quality of optical fiber-to-chip connections at packaging and start exploring the market opportunities.
PhotonFirst International, a leading pioneer in integrated photonics sensing solutions for advanced applications, announced to have successfully closed its Series A funding. Jointly, their largest shareholder, Amsterdam-based private equity firm Active Capital Company, and new investor PhotonDelta have committed 11 million euros to fund the 5-year business plan of the company. The company, based in the Dutch cities of Eindhoven and Alkmaar, announced the steps in a press release.
Early civilizations already used optical communication. For example, mirrors and smoke were used to send messages. In recent years, the potential of optics and photonics for communication is expanding rapidly and will form the basis of future communication systems. In this article we give three examples of integrated photonics applied in the data and telecom sector and the advantages they bring.
Still a rather clunky and expensive instrument, the automotive and many other markets eagerly await the availability of an affordable and compact lidar system. Integrated photonics is coming to the rescue.
In September 2021, PhotonDelta launched its roadmap for the use of integrated photonics in the automotive sector. The roadmap was created together with various stakeholders from the industry as well as integrated photonics companies and provides an overview of the different trends in the automotive sector and list the opportunities for integrated photonics technology. Download the roadmap of Integrated Photonics for Automotive below.
Our lifestyle has evolved virtually over the last decade, causing an exponential surge in data consumption. High bandwidth data transfers, affordable data plans, cloud migrations and the increasing popularity of streaming services are all contributing to this trend.
Fundraising of EUR 158.5M in total was achieved by presenting companies from the last 3 years’ editions of Photonics event
A programme to train thousands of industry workers in the adoption and development of innovative photonics-based solutions to some of society’s biggest challenges, from environmental sustainability to healthy living and smart infrastructure, has been established by a consortium of over 50 of Europe’s top photonics competence centres.
No single integrated-photonics technology can do it all: they need to be combined for maximum functionality. The set of techniques to do that – hybrid or heterogeneous integration – is a key growth driver for the Dutch integrated-photonics industry. This article explains what heterogeneous integration is and why it matters.
QuiX Quantum, the worldwide market leader in quantum photonic processors, has delivered a 12-mode quantum photonic processor to Germany, for a collaboration with researchers from Paderborn University. This photonic processor is the most powerful in the world.
QuiX Quantum reports the realization of the largest Universal Quantum Photonic Processor in a scientific paper published today.
Global healthcare has never been under so much pressure to deliver and innovate to provide effective patient care at affordable costs to an ever increasing and ageing population. Accurate and cost-effective biosensors are expected to play a crucial role in the roll-out of Point-of-Care testing: diagnosing patients at the point of need rather than in a medical facility, reducing the time to diagnosis and improving patient care.
Dutch photonics packaging foundry PHIX B.V. and Dutch flow meter/controller manufacturer Bronkhorst High-Tech B.V. have combined their expertise in a strategic partnership to enable manufacturing of thermal mass flow sensors using PHIX’s assembly know-how and technology. While Bronkhorst’s expertise is to develop a highly dedicated chip to measure flow in its mass flow meters and controllers, PHIX is servicing Bronkhorst with process development and contract manufacturing to manufacture these sensors in volume with the highest precision possible. This collaboration between the two companies enables the best of two worlds. Bronkhorst’s unique sensor development combined with PHIX’s flexible automated assembly services and process knowledge allows for a seamless scale-up to high volumes with an unpreceded accuracy and repeatability.
Evolving photonic integration is opening up a wealth of opportunities in many application areas by enhancing functionality and spectral coverage, facilitating new applications in biomedical, environmental and industrial fields, making devices more power-efficient and bringing ground-breaking technologies within reach of entrepreneurial SMEs.
Over the past two decades, on more than one occasion the time seemed right for integrated-photonics technology to move beyond niche applications. Now finally, everything is lined up for that to happen, says Lionix International CEO Arne Leinse. It will require one more bold investment push, however.
Surfix announces an investment of € 8,5 million by a Dutch consortium consisting of companies Qurin Diagnostics and LioniX International, industry accelerator PhotonDelta and the East Netherlands Development Agency Oost NL for further development of Surfix’s plug-and-play diagnostics platform.
New Photonic Integration Technology Center (PITC) to advance innovations for global technological and societal challenges with revolutionary chip technology.
The Netherlands and Taiwan, both frontrunners in photonics research, can join forces through a new cooperation programme. Photonics is a technology that is used in many products, such as cameras in mobile phones, the Internet and lighting. Joint research should lead to photonic innovations that contribute to economic opportunities for societal challenges such as climate change. NWO, together with the Taiwanese science funding agency, is making 3 million euro available and facilitating matchmaking activities to form consortia.
QuiX, the Twente-based worldwide market leader in quantum photonic processors, has sold one of its devices to Quandela, the leading French quantum technologies firm. With this purchase, Quandela anticipates the French national quantum technologies program that was recently announced by president Macron, which will include a strong photonics component.
Data usage and, thus, data traffic over the mobile and fibre networks is growing exponentially every year. While the currently used optical transmission solutions are reaching their limits, a new technology is ready to be implemented. Traditional photonics (phos = light) use manipulation of light to generate, detect, or process information. More recently, integrated photonics has shown the advantage of squeezing complex functions into a single chip. This yields a more energy-efficient and low-cost solution. Here, Giuseppe Coppola and Jorn Smeets from PhotonDelta, and Ruben Fokkema from Brainport Development, discuss integrated photonics, the landscape and the challenges that the world faces in the upcoming years. They also explain the potential of integrated photonics and what their organisations are doing speed up the development of this technology. Boudewijn Doctor, Joost Verberk and Michiel Boermans from EFFECT Photonics discuss the advantages of using their SFP module platform with tuneable transceivers in the 5G network. Field trials are being executed in the VodafoneZiggo network and in the 5G Hub to show the performance of their transceivers. But it is not only about the results now, it is about what their technology is able to do in the future.
The Dutch companies QuiX and PHIX started a collaboration in the project Qmode to overcome the packaging challenges of connecting large-scale quantum photonic processors to the outside world.
Earlier this week, during a visit by NLdigital, the industry association of the digital sector, the 5G Hub in Eindhoven announced that EFFECT Photonics and Vodafone have started testing the integration of so-called optical SoCs in the mobile network. This optical ‘System-on-Chip’ technology is expected to offer internet providers and users many advantages in the future. This includes less delay, higher capacity, but also improved network sustainability. These chips reduce the need for hardware and will significantly reduce both energy consumption and maintenance costs. Vodafone is the first telecom provider in the Netherlands to test this technology in the current network.
QuiX, the Dutch quantum photonics company, announced today that it has sold its first quantum photonic processor. The customer is Qontrol, a quantum technologies company from the UK.
The Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology (WIN) at the University of Waterloo (UWaterloo) and the economic development agency of Brainport Eindhoven in the Netherlands have taken another step towards bringing Waterloo’s top nanotechnology innovations to the EU market.
Optics11 and Optics11 Life have secured funding from Rabobank. The funding will be used to strongly accelerate growth across global markets, to further build the team for the future and to strategically expand the high-tech product portfolios of both business units.
New H2020 project INSPIRE will revolutionize photonic integrated circuit technology by combining highest optoelectronic efficiencies in InP photonics and lowest optical loss in SiN photonics, in a single platform through wafer-scale micro-transfer printing technology.Major photonic integration platforms, i.e., silicon, silicon nitride (SiN) or indium phosphide (InP) based, are now mature and make their impact in the real world, for example by enabling our internet. The potential for wider impact in other fields, such as sensors, is clear.
EFFECT Photonics announces the first close of its Series C round, co-led by Smile Invest together with existing investor Innovation Industries Fund, exactly one year after announcing the tape-out of its Manta full photonic integration coherent PIC. Smile Invest are joined by existing investors including Innovation Industries Fund, Photon Delta, btov Partners, Brabant Development Agency (BOM) and individual investors.
Building communication links with the tremendous capacity of a fiber, without needing a fiber.The application domains range from ultra-long reach (e.g., inter-satellite, ground-to-satellite, airplane-to-satellite), medium-range (outdoor like for instance between tall buildings, 5G+ masts), to short-reach (indoor like for instance inside homes, class rooms, exhibition halls, conference halls, and aircraft cabins). In comparison to fiber links, optical beams not only offer more capacity, but also have less latency (i.e. less propagation time) which amongst others benefits machine-to-machine communication. They do not need an expensive infrastructure and offer freedom of movement. Furthermore no radio spectrum licensing is required.
Following the renowned incubator HighTechXL, PhotonDelta has recently entered into other fruitful cooperations with NLC, Philips Innovation Services and Lumo labs. The collaboration with experienced incubators, ventures builders and coaching service providers is of strategic importance to the Dutch integrated photonics ecosystem as successful startups will help to create new applications that can benefit from the technology.The most recent addition to PhotonDelta’s network of incubators is Tusholdings, which was officialy confirmed on January 12th. Tusholdings is a science & technology investment group, which has successfully built a global innovation service network with more than 300 incubators and science parks, covering more than 80 cities globally. Tuspark is Tusholdings’ platform to manage its science parks and offers incubation and investment services to high-tech enterprises.
Recently, PhotonDelta signed a partner agreement with Demcon, a leading Dutch R&D partner for high-end technology with headquarters in Enschede and offices in Best, Delft, Groningen, Maastricht, Münster and Singapore. The addition of Demcon to PhotonDelta’s ecosystem will reinforce the Dutch integrated photonic systems supply-chain with their system-level design, development and engineering services across various markets, particularly in life sciences & health and high tech systems & materials.. In return, Demcon is able to benefit from the perks of being a PhotonDelta partner. These, amongst others, include facilitated access to a wide range of companies and knowledge institutes, funding possibilities and visibility created by the PhotonDelta cluster.
The open innovation program OIP4NWE launches its innovation support fund to stimulate uptake of integrated photonics technology by SMEs. Seven SMEs will receive innovation support from the OIP4NWE consortium.By providing innovation support to SMEs across North-West Europe, OIP4NWE contributes to the competitiveness and innovativeness of European SMEs on the global markets. The pilot line has now launched its innovation support fund. Seven SMEs are eligible for receiving innovation support and working together with OIP4NWE’s partners in an open innovation framework to help mature their PIC-based products.
Together with Innovation Industries, PhotonDelta invests seed capital in MantiSpectra, a recent spin-off from Eindhoven University of Technology. MantiSpectra is developing an innovative near infrared (NIR) spectrometer technology using photonic integrated chips. Spectrometers can measure the chemical composition of a sample by using light. Current solutions tend to be bulky, expensive and need to be operated in labs by well-trained personel. By using photonic integrated chips (PICs), MantiSpectra is able to make them cheaper, smaller and easier to use, making the technology accessible to a wide range of application areas and markets. The investment enables MantiSpectra to expand the team and industrialize the product, a standalone spectrometer, targeting the agri-food sector at first and other sectors in years to come.
2020
Cambridge (USA) Eindhoven (NL), December 14 - The 2020 Integrated Photonics System Roadmap – International (IPSR-I), a global reference document that reveals the full potential of integrated photonics, has been released jointly by MIT’s Initiative for Knowledge and Innovation in Manuafcturing (IKIM) in Cambridge, which runs the AIM Photonics Academy project and PhotonDelta, based in Eindhoven, Netherlands. It charts the technology development of various branches of integrated photonics over the short, medium and long term. The authors of the IPSR-I describe the revolutionary advancements that integrated photonics will bring to the world, transforming industries and tackling global societal challenges in the years to come.
A unique ecosystem to accelerate and standardize the packaging of integrated photonics.Today Chip Integration Technology Center (CITC), Tegema, PI (Physik Instrumente) and PHIX released their new Photonics Assembly Consortium called PODIUM, funded by PhotonDelta and CITC. The name PODIUM refers to PIC Open Development Infrastructure for Universal Markets. The consortium runs a program in which optical termination technology, assembly and packaging is developed for a wide range of integrated photonic applications. As a Key Enabling Technology, photonics is the driver in many relevant innovations, for example data communication - saving lots of energy - and medical technology - saving lives.
QuiX, a photonic quantum technologies company, has demonstrated the world’s largest universal quantum photonic processor. The device is plug-and-play, compatible with all photon sources, and is commercially available. It was unveiled at a product presentation today.Quantum computing will revolutionize the way we process information. To bring this closer to real-world applications, QuiX has developed a photonic quantum processor – the device at the heart of an optical quantum computer.
Who says chemical analysis needs to be performed in a laboratory, by well-trained personnel? Thanks to a photonic-chip-based spectral sensing system being commercialized by startup Mantispectra, classifying and quantifying material composition will never be easier.
PhotonHub Europe – a new pan-European photonics digital innovation hub –has been awarded €19 million investment from the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme. PhotonHub Europe will help European SMEs and mid-caps become highly competitive digital businesses through faster and smarter deployment of photonics-based technologies, directly creating over 1.000 new high-tech EU jobs and nearly €1 billion in new revenues and venture capital by 2025.
It’s been quite the journey, but Effect Photonics is finally ready to take the telecom market by storm with its tunable optical transceivers. In doing so, it will give the Dutch Photondelta integrated photonics ecosystem a most welcome boost, too.
Although many similarities seem to exist between semicon and photonic production, there are major differences. The availability of front-end and back-end production equipment tuned to their needs, will provide the photonics industry with the tools to efficiently and reliably produce photonic devices and systems. Equipment companies on the other hand, will be involved in the growing photonics industry and can prepare for the upcoming large global equipment market, a win-win situation.
With the addition of PhotonDelta as a shareholder, PHIX further secures its position as a leading packaging and assembly foundry within the European integrated photonics ecosystem. PhotonDelta also provides PHIX with long term financing for equipment purchases necessary to ramp up production of optoelectronic modules. This is made possible by PhotonDelta’s funding partners: Brainport Development and The Province of Overijssel.
On Friday 7 August, EFFECT Photonics, a leading developer of high-performance dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) optical components based on its optical System-on-Chip technology, completed its Series-B funding with an additional 8 million Euro. The investment round, led by independent venture capital fund Innovation Industries, secured continued participation from btov partners, Innovatiefonds Brabant BV, Beek Capital and Optiverder BV, and attracted PhotonDelta as a new partner.
SMART Photonics, the independent foundry for photonic integrated circuits, today announced a €35M Series C investmentfrom a Dutch consortium led by Innovation Industries.The company, founded in 2012 and based at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, will use the funds to expand its capacityfor wafer manufacturing, accelerate the development of its photonic integration technology and firmly establish thetechnology in the marketplace through its valued customers.
Carol de Vries is already known in the PhotonDelta network for his exploration on packaging and his current work for the Photonic Integration Technology Centre. He recently started to lay down the PhotonDelta roadmap on automotive, a focal area of the PhotonDelta ecosystem. In this news item we want to give you a short introduction on Carol and his ambition with regards to the roadmap.
At the end of April, the Dutch consortia of the PhotonDelta Flagship project jointly kicked off the project. The project addresses the realization of a robust and versatile hybrid integrated photonics platform that provides scalable solutions for a suite of applications. Moreover, with two proven technology platforms within the Netherlands, InP and TriPleX, the PhotonDelta Flagship project demonstrates scalability to high-volume manufacturing aiming for space quality modules; the highest quality grade in industry. Hence, this project indirectly also supports several industry and application driven roadmaps.
PhotonDelta and its partners have initiated projects to develop bio-sensors, based on integrated photonics. A bio-sensor detects the presence or concentration of specific biomolecules, microorganisms or other biological analytes. Such a sensor is critical to bringing the detection of viruses, cancer or other diseases to the point of care of a patient at an early stage.
Surfix B.V., together with its shareholders Qurin Diagnostics B.V. and LioniX International B.V., already successfully developing bio-photonic nanochips for cancer detection and other applications, today announce an accelerated development plan to allow mass-scale COVID-19 diagnosis and immunity detection with the financial support and in close collaboration with PhotonDelta.
Photonics, or the manipulation of light by means of optical fibers and chips, has become a crucial technology in today’s society. High-speed internet, LCD and OLED screens, optical computer mouses and many sensors could not exist without photonics. Also in industry, photonics is gaining importance every day. Optical inspection enables reliable quality control, not only on completed products but also during the fabriation process. Dimensions, shapes and surface quality can be measured at nanometer resolution, and spectral techniques can identify material composition and contamination. Mechanical stress can be made visible using polarization, and infrared detection systems can see through materials which are opaque to the human eye.
From 11th to 13th of February, the second PhotonDelta Application Bootcamp was held at TU/e. Experts in the field at the Eindhoven University of Technology tried to come up with solutions for Hendrix Genetics, with the use of integrated photonics. The challenge is set on measuring conventional egg properties. The company is enthusiastic about the outcome. Together, we can create solutions!
Last Thursday the Ambassador of Ireland, Mr. Kevin Kelly, along with leaders from its two most important trade organizations, Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland, visited the Brainport region. PhotonDelta presented its strategy and its integrated photonics supply chain. In addition to that, the Irish visitors experienced a tour around Philips Innovation Centre and presentations from EIT Digital, EIT Health and HighTechXL. The meeting was a first introduction to each other’s strengths and interests. The aim of the visit was a to explore whether Ireland and the Netherlands, in particular the Brainport region, can connect in terms of innovation and trade. The discussion lead to enough mutual interest and eagerness to connect PhotonDelta, the Dutch integrated photonics cluster, to companies in Ireland, primarily those active in the medical and, growing, automotive segment,to further explore options for concrete co-operations.
2019
We look back at a successful event, with lively and good discussions on how to grow our integrated photonics industry! The team of PhotonDelta would like to express our appreciation and thank you for attending our first of many PhotonDelta days!
From 4 to 6 November, a multidisciplinary team of PhD students from the Eindhoven University of Technology has been working hard to identify possible integrated photonics based solutions to the next-generation product requirements of Storex. TU/e and PhotonDelta are initiators of this three day event, called ‘Application Labs Bootcamp’.
The Integrated Photonics Systems Roadmap – International 2020 overview, a joint initiative of AIM academy and PhotonDelta, has been released on 10-10-2019. The objective of the IPSR-I is to establish and sustain a trust based global network of Industrial and R&D partners, who are working together on defining and creating future Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) and Systems Technology and Systems Requirements. They jointly enable faster technology and application developments in this emerging business, guided by an up-to-date technology and application roadmap for future developments.
Active Capital Company (ACC), PhotonDelta and ABN AMRO support integrated photonic sensing market leader by providing financing to support growth.
EFFECT Photonics has secured €5M in funding from PhotonDelta to support its growing business. The funds will be used to further accelerate product development and business scale-up, and thereby strengthens the integrated photonics ecosystem.