The technology transfer centre Swiss PIC was founded at the beginning of January 2023. Swiss PIC will be located in the Park Innovaare, in the immediate vicinity of PSI, one of its founding partners alongside other industry and research stakeholders. The new centre aims to facilitate innovation in packaging and integration of optical systems and to make these accessible to industry.
the “Swiss Photonics Integration Center”, Swiss PIC, will offer the transfer of know-how from academic partners, putting it at the service of the photonics industry. Photonics is all about the use of light to transmit information in so-called photonic integrated circuits (PICs). The light particles – the photons – act as the equivalent to the electrons in microelectronic systems. PICs are needed in future-oriented industries, including optical communications, sensor technologies, the development of quantum computers, autonomous driving, artificial intelligence and augmented or virtual reality.
Swiss PIC will primarily focus on micro-optical hybrid photonic systems, photonic integrated circuits and quantum photonics. The technology transfer centre will primarily offer its services to start-ups and SMEs. Those services will cover a broad range, from pure consulting to design all the way to setting up a customised, comprehensive photonic packaging infrastructure, allowing customers to start small series production. Swiss PIC will thus be a valuable contact point for those companies, among others, that manufacture optical components but do not have the opportunity to test them in larger devices.
The founding partners of Swiss PIC include the non-profit association Swissphotonics, which was in charge of the project application, the Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and the Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences OST, as well as the companies Ligentec and Polariton Technologies, which specialise in integrated optics.
For more information, see here:
https://www.psi.ch/en/media/our-research/swiss-pic-to-support-swiss-pho…
