Europe backs a central foundry for photonic integrated circuits
High costs and long development times are impairing the chances of success for small companies pioneering novel devices based on photonic integrated circuits. To cater for these needs, Europe is funding the creation of an InP foundry that will use generic processes to create devices for multiple applications. Richard Stevenson discusses this venture with the project’s two coordinators, David Robbins from Willow Photonics and Meint Smit from the Technical University of Eindhoven.