Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) Secretary S. Krishnan launched two silicon photonics technology solutions — a Process Design Kit (PDK) for photonics chip manufacturing and a Universal packaged PPIC (Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuit) Test Engine — developed at the MeitY-supported Centre of Excellence at IIT Madras.
The launch was held in the presence of MeitY Additional Secretary and India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) CEO Amitesh Sinha and IIT Madras Department of Electrical Engineering Head of Department Shanti Bhattacharya.
Indigenous capability boost
The PDK, developed indigenously, comprises over 50 verified components and is expected to provide critical design enablement for industries, startups, academic institutions and defence R&D organisations working on photonic integrated circuits.
The Universal PPIC Test Engine is an automated characterisation platform designed for photonic and optoelectronic modules across a range of applications, enhancing testing and validation capabilities within the domestic ecosystem.
Strategic push
Krishnan said the development marks a key milestone in India’s silicon photonics journey and underlines progress towards technology self-reliance. He added that the next step would be to complement these capabilities with the establishment of a silicon photonics fabrication facility under the India Semiconductor Mission.
Amitesh Sinha said the technology has applications across both classical and quantum domains, and could be supported under the proposed ISM 2.0 R&D vertical for further development and commercialisation. He noted that, following successful demonstration, a dedicated silicon photonics fab with integrated packaging facilities could be established.
Roadmap ahead
Chief Investigator Bijoy Krishna Das said the centre will begin enabling multi-project wafer (MPW) fabrication runs from Q3 of the current financial year, along with offering testing, packaging and module characterisation services.
The Centre of Excellence follows a Product Research, Development and Manufacturing (PRDM) model, leveraging CMOS-compatible silicon photonics technology, with SilTerra Malaysia as foundry partner and izmo Microsystems, Bengaluru, as the packaging partner.