PIC Summit Europe 2024: day 1 afternoon round-up

AI might be the buzzword of the day, but it’s actually been a long time in the making. In many ways, integrated photonics is on a similar journey. Post-lunch, the afternoon sessions took a deep dive into some of the key business challenges facing the integrated photonics industry today through a series of breakout sessions, including panel discussions and presentations. Here’s what you may have missed. 

Investment challenges and strategies for success

Europe is strong in integrated photonics, but it needs to grow the level of industrialisation and productisation. That was the message from the Philips Hall, where panellists from deep tech and investment took the stage. 

Sander Verbrugge from Innovation Industries highlighted the importance of finding the right go-to-market partner and building relationships based on trust. The nature of deep tech also means you have to bring tangibility to the table, lifting the pressure by setting realistic milestones, added Stefan Hengesbach from QuiX Quantum. 

Bert Gyselinckx of imec.xpand highlighted the importance of patience and selling a vision, adding that: “The companies in our portfolio that have the biggest return are photonics companies.” However, it was noted that investment in deep tech is a long-term venture. A lot of funding is needed, so managing risk can be a challenge. Liz Duijves of Invest-NL Capital recommended leaning into industry expertise through market research. 

Flo Pattiwael of PhotonVentures spoke about IP-strategy and the defendability of technology from a due diligence perspective. He also zoomed in on the wider need for ‘good people’ as well as ‘good tech’.

Collaboration across Canada

In her presentation, Annie Dallaire from C21MI demonstrated the reality of development from ideation to production. Giving Canadian start-up Aeponyx as an example, she unpacked the collaborative network behind the Canadian integrated photonics ecosystem. 

In partnership with notable semiconductor innovation centres and facilities in Canadian universities, C2MI innovation centre helps accelerate the commercialisation of next gen electronics products.

Push and pull

Stepping into the Jupiter room, all eyes were on Sytze Kampen of Airbus Netherlands and Cees Links from SuperLight Photonics. They started by explaining their relative products, and it soon became clear that this session would be a fantastic insight into both sides of the market: Airbus as an end-user and SuperLight Photonics as a developer.

Slightly tongue-in-cheek, Sytze started his session by confessing, “I don’t know anything about integrated photonics, but I do know I need it.” After a few slides, it was clear he most definitely knew a lot about integrated photonics and why integration into the laser communication system at Airbus NL is so important.

Cees highlighted the importance of growing broader awareness of PIC-products to build trust and make adoption easier, which would in turn help PIC-developers grow their own offerings.

Asked if he saw a breakout for integrated photonics products on the horizon, Cees Links of SuperLight Photonics said, “Yes, for fundamental reasons: electrons are heavy and consume a lot of power, and Moore’s Law is running out of steam. Photons can innovate the whole development cycle.”

Business models in the era of heterogeneous integration

On the journey of photonic integration, the focus on fewer platforms has opened the door to multi-project wafer runs. In a session on heterogeneous integration, five notable panellists shared their insights with Martijn Heck from Eindhoven University of Technology. 

Joni Mellin of XFAB Group explained that when it comes to fabrication, nobody can do everything on their own – you need expertise from different partners. Vikas Gupta of GlobalFoundries also highlighted how silicon as a material has its limitations, adding: “It does require a different way of thinking.”.

The million-dollar question? How will electronics and photonics go together in a system? As Vikas Gupta pointed out – there are no magic solutions. There has to be an organic push to get these systems in place. 

What’s driving PIC adoption for the rest of the decade?

After a quick intro from Abdul Rahim, we were sent diving into the topic of increased PIC adoption and the market five years from now. It was the opinion of Roy Rubenstein of LightCounting Market Research that communications will still be the main market for PICs in 2030 as it is now. 

Other sectors and topics mentioned by the panel included LIDAR, sensor tech, as well as quantum systems, but there was a caveat from Wim Bogaerts of Ghent University: while there is a broad range of potential applications, there will need to be volume for it to be successful in areas other than communications.

Day 1 – at the close of play 

Reconvening in the Philips Hall, panel leaders gave a summary of their sessions. 

• Laura Grana Suarez shared learning about photonics funding in different countries. 
• Abdul Rahim explored future applications and the Airbus approach to development. 
• Lauren Weers found common ground between VCs on funding photonics. 
• Martijn Heck dove into heterogeneous integration and the way forward.
• Ivan Stojanovic looked forward to what’s ahead in the PIC markets of the future. 

The day closed with dinner after Peter van Arkel, CTO of PhotonDelta, gave the audience a sneak preview of tomorrow’s line-up. 

Stay tuned for updates on Day 2!