Building the Fab of the Future: Scaling PIC Manufacturing Through Ecosystem Collaboration

The rapid growth of photonic integrated circuits in Europe demands that the entire PIC ecosystem matures in unison. In this co-hosted talk, we outline how SMART Photonics and Itility have joined forces to build the “fab of the future” by translating deep semiconductor manufacturing experience into a clear set of maturity levels and a structured roadmap. This roadmap spans design, manufacturing, and test & assembly, as well as communication between all players. It demonstrates how process control and data management with information systems form the backbone for achieving standardization, efficiency, and scalability with the speed of light. We highlight the key areas essential to accelerating SMART’s scaling trajectory today and share the broader insight that sustainable industry growth requires simultaneous scaling of design houses, equipment manufacturers, assembly, test partners, universities, EDA vendors and many others. Attendees will gain a clear view of the challenges faced to jointly industrialize and scale the PIC ecosystem.