Silicon carbide photonic integrated circuit training network

Objective

Photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology is an enabling technology, deemed to address the challenges (high power consumption and large RC delay caused by the line width reduction) faced by microelectronic integrated circuits (IC). The demand for the technology is at an all-time high, and it is expected to experience a steadily accelerating adoption across markets. However, the potential of PIC is not fully demonstrated in the existing material platforms yet. Silicon carbide (SiC), an emerging wide band-gap semiconductor, is promising to advance PIC technology and accelerate its wide market adoption. The SiCPIC DN will: i) Break new ground in PIC technology by unlocking the unique optical properties of SiC leveraging the advancing of nanotechnology including thin film transfer and nanofabrication; and ii) Train 15 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) with out-of-the-box thinking and an entrepreneurial mindset in the field of PIC technologies as a specific expertise, and photonic and electronic integration (i.e. semiconductor) skills, and expertise in a broader perspective (i.e, covering a full chain of materials, devices and integration, and system applications). SiCPIC, therefore, creates a platform solution ensuring European leadership in next-generation PIC technologies and delivers skills which are key for the implementation of the EU Chips Act, and for wider European semiconductor autonomy.