Facilitating photonics innovation, through a modular, integration technology platform

ended

The Telecom sector is predicted to explode over the next few years, driven by data from IoT sensing solutions, games, autonomous driving, gaming and AI-technologies. Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs) on Indium Phosphide (InP) will play a critical role in providing the superior functionality demanded. Today. only few companies can produce integrated chips but do so exclusively for their own vertically integrated production lines, making it impossible for many thousands of other companies in sensor and data technology to tap into this technology. SMART Photonics has developed a suite of world class functional photonic modules based on InP, which can be combined together as “building blocks”. It simplifies the design of photonic circuits and allows SMART complete flexibility to quickly build up functional PICs to meet any given application. SMART has calculated its specific obtainable market in the data&telecom and sensing markets of €350m by 2021 and €1.16bn by 2023 respectively. Two first customers are ready to enter volume manufacturing in 2019/2020. By 2023, SMART plans €210m revenues at a gross margin of 70% and employ 120 staff. The Phase 2 project will help industrialize the manufacturing processes and prepare for scale-up. The project is strategic to the company as it will develop the processes needed for reliable volume production, set-up a pilot line (1.000 wafers/year) and develop a Process Design Kit – a software tool – that will empower customers to design chips with custom functionality based on SMART’s technology platform. At the end of Phase 2 SMART will: • be positioned as the only independent foundry for InP PICs. • have achieved readiness necessary build a commercial scale facility at 20,000 wafers/year • have new building block capabilities allowing new applications in new, yet untargeted, markets SMART is run by an experienced team with deep technical and commercial semiconductor and photonics backgrounds.