Jul 28 2010
European Silicon Photonics Cluster announced that the consortia of 10 European research and development projects will collaborate to allow the transfer of technology and knowledge. Thus the consortia will improve the capability of the electronics industry of Europe to compete worldwide.
The 10 research projects included in the cluster are Boom, Sabio, Wadimos, UK Silicon Photonics, SOFI, Platon, PhotonFAB, Intopsens, Helios, and Historic.
The projects of the European Silicon Photonics Cluster will work together to create awareness of the silicon photonics’ potential among the start-ups, end-users, chip foundries, and other companies. These projects will also train novice researchers, engineers, and scientists in the silicon photonics field. The members will also help in widely distributing their project results, and conduct a silicon photonics workshop in 2011.
Silicon photonics uses CMOS techniques for integrating optics technology into chips. In contrast to the current photonics technologies, silicon photonics can significantly minimize the power consumption, size and cost, while enhancing the performance of the device. CMOS photonics technology may help produce cost-effective solutions for different applications such as biological, optical sensing, optical signal processing, and optical communications.