IPSR-I Presents: Spring Meeting 2022 Round-Up

With the next IPSR-I Roadmap Meeting scheduled for November 2022 at the PIC Summit Europe in Eindhoven, we provide a round-up of the spring meeting, and take a look ahead at what’s to come this autumn.

Join the IPSR-I Roadmap Meeting on November 8th by registering via PIC Summit Europe.

The previous IPSR-I Roadmap event in June 2022 brought together experts from the electronics and photonics industries to commission the roadmap for integrated photonics. Electronic-photonic package integration was a key focus for many chapters. During the two-day event, held at MIT in Cambridge, experts shared the latest innovations and took part in collaborative workshops.

Overseeing the updates is Peter van Arkel – the roadmapping director for the IPSR-I. In this post, Peter, shares his overview of the two-day event, alongside key learnings.

Introduction to the IPSR-I

Organised by the Microphotonics Center at MIT in the US and PhotonDelta in Europe, the Integrated Photonic Systems Roadmap International (IPSR-I) is a joint initiative designed to establish and sustain a trusted global network of industrial, and research and development partners. It aims to deliver a clear industry roadmap by the end of 2023.

The IPSR-I 2022 Spring Meeting focussed on some of the key challenges facing the integration of photonics and electronics.

• The first day saw keynote speakers deliver presentations on a variety of relevant topics related to packaging. From the challenges of co-packaged optics to glass interposers and waveguides for electronic-photonic integration.

• The second day was a workshop-driven event focussed on the different market needs for integrated photonics in 2022 and beyond. The focus was up to 20 years into the future, in line with the timeline of the IPSR-I 2023 Roadmap.

Spring Meeting Day 1

The IPSR-I Roadmap meetings are one of the few global events where leaders in both photonics and electronics can get together to deepen pre-competitive collaboration, and generate future value for customers in the supply-chain. Much of the first day was geared towards integration at both a technical and an industry level over an extensive timeline.

Many of the keynotes explored the challenges in co-packaged optics (CPO), the inputs and outputs, and how to scale beyond a high data rate in data and telecom. One of the main issues facing electronic and photonic integration is that both technologies need to be well aligned in order to get the best performance. For example, electronic signals need to interconnect a photonic chip in the right way to avoid distortion. At the same time, the key question is how to best align, and combine, the two technologies in terms of keeping their footprint, and cost to a minimum, as well as make them as efficient as possible.

As photonics is dependent on electronics, it could be viewed as an amplifier. From a physics perspective, it has much better performance, from a manufacturing point of view it has added complexity. For the electronics industry, photonics has the potential to produce faster and more reliable applications to fulfil the needs of the market. 

Key takeaways from Day 1:

• Getting inputs and outputs from electronics to photonics is an ongoing challenge.
• Electronic IC sets the standard for transistors and interconnection.
• Improvements are needed in assembly and packaging to reduce loss and cost.

Spring Meeting Day 2

The second day drilled down into the specifics of the IPSR-I. Focussing on four key applications: transceivers, radio frequency photonics, biochemistry sensing, and 3D imaging.

In the morning, around 70 participants contributed to a series of workshops, building on the learning from the first day. They discussed the critical market needs of these technology sectors, and what is needed from integrated photonics to fulfil those needs 5 to 10 years into the future.

Although the roadmap covers the next 20 years, many of the key performance indicators are ongoing as market needs steadily increase. For example, input/output density is a challenge today and will continue to be so in the next 5 years, 10 years and beyond. For the purpose of a workable roadmap, the key is to uncover and align the critical needs across different sectors.

The event was an opportunity for industry leaders to share ideas and information around the future of integrated photonics. It was fully aimed at gathering input for the 2023 roadmap release. Knowledge generated from the workshops was then disseminated to working groups for online collaboration on the roadmap.

The working groups consisted of representatives from universities, research institutes, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and large enterprises.

Key takeaways from Day 2:

• Multiple applications are driving the development of integrated photonics.
• Different types of sensing and 3D-imaging have their own critical needs.
• With integraged photonic technologies, it’s not a ‘winner takes all’ market.
• Together, electronics and photonics can optimize performance and reduce cost.
• Photonic Chiplets have the potential to integrate and optimize different functionality.

Looking Ahead To The IPSR-I Autumn Meeting And Beyond

At PIC Summit Europe in Eindhoven this November, the IPSR-I 2022 Autumn Meeting will convene to develop the draft of the roadmap, filling in any blanks from the spring session. At this point, the IPSR-I will be at the halfway stage, because the future market needs will be more fully recognized.

The event is an opportunity for the global PIC community to come together in Europe. The first day will consist of high-level keynote speeches. Followed by a second day of 12 workshops on different modules and application areas.

Following the keynotes, a series of workshops will provide a platform for PIC technologists and application builders to interact and understand the challenges ahead. These findings will fuel the next edition of the IPSR-I 2023 Spring Meeting, 2023 in Boston, MA.

After November’s IPSR-I Roadmap Meeting, the technical work begins. During 2023, there’s a chance for partners in the integrated photonics supply chain to update and re-align their own roadmaps, so they can take a more market-driven approach.

Looking to play your part in shaping the future of this technology by collaborating on the roadmap for PICs and the electronic-photonic manufacturing supply chain?

The IPSR-I 2022 Autumn Meeting takes place on Tuesday 8th November at PIC Summit Europe, Eindhoven. IPSR-I members can get a 50% discount by using a code they have received by e-mail. Didn’t receive a code and would you like to contribute to IPSR-I? Please contact Jorn Smeets.

The IPSR-I 2022 Autumn Meeting takes place on Tuesday 8th November at PIC Summit Europe, Eindhoven.