What we do and a brief company history

ficonTEC is an innovative high-tech company that has rapidly established itself in a highly-specialized market. With continued growth and innovative development since 2001, we are the recognized market leader when it comes to automated assembly and testing of opto-electronic components and (hybrid) photonic devices.

The core team at ficonTEC consists primarily of development engineers from the specialist fields of optics and photonics, from electrical, mechanical and mechatronic engineering, as well as from software development. These developers are supported by experienced technicians possessing a wide variety of skills.

Our technical competence, global customer base, and – importantly – the will to understand our customer’s needs and to find individual and optimum solutions, together make us a competent business and development partner.

LIGENTEC is a B2B company manufacturing Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) for customers in high-tech areas such as communication on ground and space, Quantum technologies, LiDAR and Biosensors. LIGENTEC commercialises the all-nitride-core technology. With the all-nitride-core technology LIGENTEC enables the customers to develop their products in the industrial revolution 4.0.

At Luceda Photonics, we enable photonic IC designers to enjoy the same power as electronic IC designers.

We automate and integrate the complete photonic design flow. Our Python-based platform enables design teams to easily share and reuse their photonic design IP using a standard language.

We leverage more than 50 years of photonic experience to help our customers create manufacturable designs. Our design products bundle our expertise to enable our customers to quickly achieve their first tape-out and get their design right the first time.

If you've ever seen a rocket launch, flown on an airplane, driven a car, used a computer, touched a mobile device, crossed a bridge, or put on wearable technology, chances are you've used a product where Ansys software played a critical role in its creation. Ansys is the global leader in engineering simulation. Through our strategy of Pervasive Engineering Simulation, we help the world's most innovative companies deliver radically better products to their customers. By offering the best and broadest portfolio of engineering simulation software, we help them solve the most complex design challenges and create products limited only by imagination. Founded in 1970, Ansys is headquartered south of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. Visit www.ansys.com for more information.

As the pioneer and market leader in high-precision additive manufacturing, we are your reliable partner for microfabrication systems, software, and solutions. Our 3D Microfabrication technology with high-precision alignment capabilities is driving photonic packaging by auto-aligned printing freeform microoptics directly onto optical fibers or photonic chips. Founded in 2007 as a spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), we are a vibrant, award-winning company and part of the BICO Group since June 2021. With our field-proven systems, straightforward 3D printing workflows and all-in-one solutions, our more than 3,000 system users are driving future-shaping applications that are published in over 1,300 peer-reviewed journals. 

Physik Instrumente (PI) with headquarters in Karlsruhe, Germany, is the market and technology leader for high-precision positioning technology and piezo applications in the market segments: Industrial Automation, Semiconductor Industry, Photonics, Microscopy, and Life Sciences. In close cooperation with international customers, PI's approximately 1,400 specialists have been continuously pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible for more than 50 years and developing both standardized and customized solutions. More than 400 granted and pending patents underline the company's claim to leadership. PI operates on a global scale, with nine production sites in Europe, North America, and Asia as well as 16 sales and service subsidiaries.

Synopsys, Inc. (Nasdaq: SNPS) is the Silicon to Software™ partner for innovative companies developing the electronic products and software applications we rely on every day. We are accelerating the adoption of photonic IC technologies with industry's first unified platform, which includes the OptoCompiler™ electro-optical IC design solution, the OptSim™ signal level simulation solution, and Photonic Device Compiler for photonic device design and PDK development. With this seamless and unified design platform Synopsys supports IC designers and photonic engineers to develop and manufacture photonic ICs and systems for consumer, health, and industrial applications. We have 35 years of leadership in electronic design automation, combined with a legacy of photonics innovations for 25+ years. Learn more at https://www.synopsys.com/photonic-solutions.html.

VPIphotonics provides professional design software and services for integrated photonics, optoeletronics and fiber-based components, optical transmission systems and networks. VPIphotonics off-the-shelf and customized solutions are valued for their powerful and comprehensive simulation capabilities and high degree of flexibility. They are applied in research and development, product design and marketing by hundreds of companies, and for teaching and research at over 160 academic institutions worldwide.

VTT is a visionary research, development and innovation partner for companies and the society. We bring together people, business, science and technology to solve the biggest challenges of our time. VTT is one of the leading research organisations in Europe with more than 2,000 professionals and 80 years of experience in cutting-edge research and science-based results. 

Research and development of state-of-the-art integrated photonics solutions forms a central part of VTT’s research and development work. Since 1997, VTT has developed silicon photonics solutions with micron-scale SOI waveguide technology. 

We support our customers and partners throughout the entire PIC development cycle from innovation to design, prototype manufacturing and small scale manufacturing in our in-house cleanroom (2600 m2). Our expertise also includes heterogenous integration, packaging and testing. The key advantage of our SiPh platform is the unique combination of ultra-low losses with dense integration and small polarization dependency, which can be exploited in applications like communication, computing, sensing and imaging.

Vanguard Automation (VA) combines a decade of research in integrated photonics with 20 years of experience in building high-precision assembly machinery to propel photonic integration and packaging. Headquartered in Karlsruhe, Germany, VA develops process technology and machines for creating low-loss photonic connections between passive and active optical components leveraging its unique IP portfolio for Photonic Wire Bonding and facet-attached micro-optics. Augmenting nano-print technology, VA’s solutions enable high packaging density, increased design flexibility and fabrication throughput.

With the exponential rise of PICs, VA serves a growing global customer base helping to solve next generation photonic integration and packaging challenges.

CREATING THE NEXT GENERATION CHIPS

Integrated photonics uses the power of light to create energy-efficient, faster, and more accurate microchips. The technology is set to play an essential role in finding and developing solutions for the world’s challenges, such as reducing energy consumption, improving healthcare, fighting food waste and our continuous hunger for information. 

As a foundry for integrated photonic circuits, SMART Photonics offers solutions for data and telecommunication, as well as for sensing – such as Lidar – and medical applications. And it doesn’t stop there.

SMART Photonics aims to be the leading foundry for integrated photonics, creating innovative products that improve people’s lives.

Cadence enables electronic systems and semiconductor companies to create the innovative end products that are transforming the way people live, work and play. Cadence® software, hardware and semiconductor IP are used by customers to deliver products to market faster. The company’s Intelligent System Design™ strategy helps customers develop differentiated products—from chips to boards to intelligent systems—in mobile, consumer, cloud data center, automotive, aerospace, IoT, industrial and other market segments. Cadence is listed as one of Fortune Magazine's 100 Best Companies to Work For. Learn more at www.cadence.com

Fibre optic test & measurement specialist for DWDM, silicon photonics, patch cords & cable assemblies. Santec's swept-wavelength tunable laser portfolio has been extended with optical power meters, return loss meters & optical switches from JGR Optics & Optotest. DWDM passive components include tapped photo-detectors, variable attenuators, tunable filters & high channel count power monitoring products for data centres.

Fraunhofer HHI does research on communications since nearly 90 years. Nowadays, about every second bit transported in the internet touches HHI technology on its way to the receiver. With a strong focus on InP, we also develop polymer waveguide based hybrid integration and silicon photonics. We focus on Telecom and Datacom, with strongly increasing activities in sensor systems. HHI offers foundry services with or without design support in InP, and custom designed Polymer Hybrid PICs.

Axetris is a leading manufacturer of customized micro-optics and diffractive optical elements used in high-speed data/telecom transceivers/switches, 3D sensing and Lidar, both in discrete and integrated photonics approaches. We also offer wafer-level micro-fabrication and MEMS processes, which allow to add features for assembly and integration or as post-processing on customer CMOS wafers. We will support you with highest quality from prototypes to high volumes out of our own fab in Switzerland.

PHIX supplies the photonics industry with assembly and packaging services for Photonic Integrated Circuits (PICs). We specialize in the manufacturing of hybrid assemblies, using multiple chip materials and fiber arrays to create maximum functionality. By offering our knowledge in the chip design stage, we ensure ease of scale up for volume manufacturing. Chip-to-chip and fiber-to-chip interfaces, polarization maintaining fiber assemblies and high-power applications are among our core competencies. From PIC prototype to assembly and scale-up to high-volume manufacturing: PHIX is your partner in photonics. We offer a one-stop-stop fully tailored to your needs. That’s how we prepare your products for tomorrow’s society, today.

Optica serves and represents organizations engaged in the business of optics and photonics—from start-ups to Fortune 500s. In support of our member companies, we promote and protect the business of optics and photonics in driving innovation, creating jobs, and accelerating growth around the world. We provide exclusive roadmap reports and market data for the industry, serve as the voice of the industry to government and academia, act as a liaison with several trade associations worldwide and provide a network for the exchange of ideas and information within the optics and photonics community.

Based in France, SET is a world leading supplier of Flip-Chip Bonders excelling in high-end, demanding applications.

Since 1975, we have accompanied laboratories and industries, which look for a high precision and an important reliability in the assembly of their components. We accelerate their developments of the chips of future thanks to our robust and precise Flip-Chip Bonders.

With Flip-Chip Bonders installed worldwide, we are globally renowned for the high post-bond sub-micron accuracy and the high flexibility of our equipment.

Ranging from manual loading version to fully automated version, our systems cover a wide range of applications and offer the unique ability to handle both fragile and small components onto substrates and wafers up to 300 mm.

GoPhotonics.com is a website for the Photonics Industry. It is the largest searchable database of Photonics products on the internet. GoPhotonics have developed a product search tool for the industry enabling engineers to find products from the leading manufacturers by specifications. In addition to this, it also keep users up to date with the latest Industry news, new product releases and upcoming events.

EPIC is the industry association that promotes the sustainable development of organisations working in the field of photonics in Europe. We foster a vibrant photonics ecosystem by maintaining a strong network and acting as a catalyst and facilitator for technological and commercial advancement. EPIC publishes market and technology reports, organizes technical workshops and B2B roundtables, coordinates EU funding proposals, advocacy and lobbying, education and training activities, standards and roadmaps and pavilions at exhibitions.

SUSS MicroOptics produces high-quality refractive and diffractive micro-optics for fiber coupling, collimation and beam homogenizing based on extensive experience in optical design, engineering, wafer-level manufacturing, metrology and packaging. SUSS MicroOptics is automotive qualified and key supplier for innovative photonic solutions in telecom, datacom, life science, laser, semiconductor equipment and automotive lighting.

Imec is the world-leading research and innovation hub in nanoelectronics, energy, and digital technologies. The combination of our widely acclaimed leadership in microchip technology and profound software and ICT expertise is what makes us unique. By leveraging our world-class infrastructure and local and global ecosystem of partners across a multitude of industries, we create groundbreaking innovation in application domains such as healthcare, smart cities and mobility, logistics and manufacturing, energy and education. As a trusted partner for companies, start-ups and universities we bring together close to 3,500 brilliant minds from over 70 nationalities. Imec is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium and has distributed R&D groups in the Netherlands, Taiwan, USA, China, and offices in India and Japan. In 2016, imec's revenue (P&L) totaled 496 million euro.