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The American Institute for Manufacturing Integrated Photonics released its 400-page Integrated Photonics Strategic Roadmap (IPSR) at the LA Convention Center, Ca, during OFC 2017 with a goal to increase “domestic competitiveness” with a “ common platform approach.” The IPSR includes chapters created by six Product Emulator Groups and nine Technology Working Groups, each focused on issues critical to the future of integrated photonics systems manufacturing.
AIM has stated that since integrated optics technology is proprietary and is not manufactured in high volume, having multiple supply chain sources is difficult. Thus establishing an enabling silicon photonics technology as envisioned in the IPSR is a necessary step to achieving low-cost, high-volume manufacturing in this rapidly expanding market. The roadmap also states that achieving the challenging task will require strengthening the mechanisms for cooperation among industries and among researchers who are all working in advanced technologies.
According to AIM, their goal is to increase domestic competitiveness; however, in today’s global economy the IPSR must be an international roadmap that looks at the global technology needs of the integrated photonics supply chain. For integrated photonic systems to be low cost and have high-volume applications, a common platform approach is needed. The Roadmap is intended “to define the 15-year path for changing the global network, the components in it, and most of the elements attached to it, in order to meet market needs. These changes include orders of magnitude improvements in power efficiency, cost per function, and number of networked ports — all at no increase in total cost.
The Roadmap grew out of meetings with industry, government, and academia over 18 months, with input from scientists, researchers, and executives from throughout the supply chain for low-cost, high-volume integrated silicon photonics. Approximately 700 professionals from 16 countries, representing 254 private corporations, consortia, government agencies, and universities, contributed to the roadmap.
