Silicon Photonics Platforms in Europe

Offering open-access silicon photonics-based technologies has played a pivotal role in unleashing this technology from research laboratories to industry. Fabless enterprises rely on the open-access of these technologies for their product development. In the last decade, a diverse set of open-access technologies with medium and high technology readiness levels have emerged. This paper provides a review of the open-access silicon and silicon nitride photonic IC technologies offered by the pilot lines of European research institutes and companies. The Abdul Rahim, Jeroen Goyvaerts and Roel Baets are with the Photonics Research Group, Department of Information Technology, Ghent University imec and Center for Nanoand Biophotonics, Ghent University, Ghent B9000, Belgium (e-mail: abdul.rahim@ugent.be, jeroen.goyvaerts@ugent.be, roel.baets@ugent.be). Bertrand Szelag and Jean-Marc Fedeli are with the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energie Alternatives, University Grenoble Alpes and CEA, LETI, MINATEC Campus, F-38054 Grenoble Cedex, France (email: bertrand.szelag@cea.fr, jean-marc.fedeli@cea.fr). Philippe Absil is with Imec, Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven (e-mail: absilp@imec.be). Timo Aalto and Mikko Harjanne are with VTT, Tietotie 3, Espoo, Finland (e-mail: timo.aalto@vtt.fi, mikko.harjanne@vtt.fi). Callum Littlejohns and Graham Reed are with Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, SO17 1BJ, UK (e-mail: c.littlejohns@soton.ac.uk, g.reed@soton.ac.uk). Georg Winzer, Stefan Lischke and Dieter Knoll are with IHP Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany (e-mail: winzer@ihp-microelectronics.com, lischke@ihp-microelectronics.com). Lars Zimmermann is with IHP Leibniz-Institut für innovative Mikroelektronik, Im Technologiepark 25, 15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany and Siliziumphotonik, Institut für Hochfrequenzund Halbleiter Systemtechnologien, Fakultät IV, Einsteinufer 25, 10587 Berlin, Germany (e-mail: lzimmermann@ihp-microelectronics.com). Douwe Geuzebroek and Arne Leinse are with LioniX International BV, Hengelosestrat 500, Enschede the Netherlands (email: d.h.geuzebroek@lionixint.com, a.leinse@lionix-int.com). Michael Geiselmann and Michael Zervas are with LIGENTEC, EPFL Innovation Park C,1015 Lausanne, Switzerland (e-mail: michael.geiselmann@ligentec.com, michael.zervas@ligentec.com). Hilde Jans and Andim Stassen are with Imec, Kapeldreef 75, 3001 Leuven (e-mail: hilde.jans@imec.be, andim.stassen@imec.be) Carlos Domı́nguez is with Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM, CSIC). Campus UAB. 08193-Bellaterra, Spain (e-mail: carlos.dominguez@imb-cnm.csic.es). Pascual Muñoz is with Photonics Research Labs, Universitat Politécnica de Valencia, c/ Camino de Vera s/n, 46021 Valencia, Spain (e-mail: pascual.munoz@upv.es). David Domenech is with VLC Photonics S.L., c/ Camino de Vera s/n, 46021 Valencia, Spain (e-mail: jose.domenech@vlcphotonics.com). Anna Lena Giesecke is with AMO GmbH, Otto-Blumenthal-Str. 25, 52074 Aachen, Germany (e-mail: giesecke@amo.de). Max C. Lemme is with RWTH Aachen University, Otto-Blumenthal-Str. 2, 52074 Aachen and AMO GmbH, Otto-Blumenthal-Str. 25, 52074 Aachen, Germany (e-mail: lemme@amo.de). Roel Baets and Abdul Rahim coordinate ePIXfab, the European Silicon Photonics alliance. Manuscript received December 21, 2018; revised Month xx, 20xx. paper also highlights upcoming features of these platforms and discusses how they address the long-term market needs.