IIT Madras launches indigenous silicon photonics solutions

IIT Madras launched indigenously developed silicon photonics solutions, marking progress in India’s efforts to build capabilities in advanced electronics on April 23.

The launch was led by S Krishnan, Secretary at the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, who introduced two key innovations, a Silicon Photonics Process Design Kit and a Universal Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuit Test Engine.

Both technologies were developed at the MeitY-supported Centre of Excellence for Compound Photonics and Photonic Integrated Circuits Systems at IIT Madras.

The Ministry of Electronics and IT described the development as a major milestone in India’s journey towards “technology sovereignty” in silicon photonics, a field that integrates optical and electronic components on a single chip.

The solutions are expected to function as a shared national facility supporting research and development across academia, industry, startups, and defense organizations.

The newly launched PDK includes more than 50 verified components, providing a design ecosystem for building photonic integrated circuits.

The PPIC Test Engine offers an automated platform for testing and characterizing photonic and optoelectronic modules across different applications.

Speaking at the event, Krishnan said India’s capabilities in silicon photonics are now approaching global benchmarks and stressed the need to complement this progress with the establishment of fabrication infrastructure under the India Semiconductor Mission.

Amitesh Sinha, Additional Secretary at MeitY and CEO of the India Semiconductor Mission, said the technology has applications in both classical and emerging quantum domains.

He noted that further development could be supported under the proposed ISM 2.0 initiative, particularly in the research and development vertical.

The next phase of the project, also announced at the event, will enable multi-project wafer fabrication runs starting in the third quarter of the current financial year.

This phase will provide integrated capabilities for fabrication, testing, packaging, and module characterization.

Developed under a Product Research, development, and manufacturing model, the initiative uses CMOS-compatible silicon photonics technology and is supported by global and domestic partners, including SilTerra Malaysia as the foundry partner and izmo Microsystems, Bengaluru, for photonic IC packaging.