Photonic Chip Pilot Line: InP chip fabrication at 6-inch wafer scale

To make photonic chips widely available, they need to be produced at scale—and that’s where the pilot line comes in. It’s designed to bridge the gap between research and industrial manufacturing, focusing on InP photonic chips. At a 6-inch wafer scale, the pilot line can produce many more chips per wafer, making industrial-scale production more efficient and cost-effective. This step is crucial for turning bright ideas into practical technologies that can be used in everyday products and systems.

Reducing risk, accelerating readiness

Pilot lines play a vital role in turning new technologies into real-world solutions. They allow engineers and companies to test how production performs under realistic conditions - before scaling up. This pilot line will help reduce risks by providing valuable insights into how Indium Phosphide chips behave when produced on 6-inch wafers. It will also help assess technical feasibility, production costs, and market readiness. The pilot line ensures that innovations are validated and demonstrated in environments that closely resemble actual industrial settings.

Once up and running, the pilot line will give companies a powerful boost in developing and producing next-generation photonic chip technologies. It will speed up prototyping, support the launch of new startups, and help scale promising innovations into real-world products. TNO will host the facility for five years, after which it may be transferred to industry as a full-scale production site.

Dutch collaboration and ecosystem

The pilot line is a joint effort by leading Dutch organizations. Industrial companies such as ASML, SMART Photonics, and Aixtron will use the facility to develop and scale up their products in the InP photonic chip domain. The pilot line also supports startups, SMEs, and established companies in bringing new photonic products to market faster.

On the research side, TNO, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the University of Twente are working together within the jointly founded Photonic Integration Technology Centre (PITC). PITC combines deep expertise in photonic design, development, and industrialization, and has helped many companies in developing products for photonic chips. The pilot line will be built at High Tech Campus Eindhoven — a European hotspot for integrated photonics and home to the vibrant PhotonDelta ecosystem of startups, scale-ups, and research organizations.

PIXEurope: a European initiative

The pilot line is funded through the EU Chips Act, PhotonDelta, TNO, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, and the Ministry of Defense. It is part of PIXEurope, a major European program under the Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU). The long-term goal is to establish the world’s first fully integrated, open-access pilot line for photonic chips — right here in Europe.

PIXEurope brings together leading research organizations and industrial partners to address key technological and production challenges across the entire photonic chip supply chain. This includes advanced chip fabrication, materials integration, packaging, and testing. The program also supports the integration of photonic and electronic circuits, paving the way for next-generation semiconductor systems and strengthening Europe’s position in this critical technology field.

A strategic asset for Europe

Photonic chips — also known as Photonic Integrated Circuits — are tiny circuits that use light instead of electricity to transmit data. This makes them faster, more energy-efficient, and ideal for powering the technologies of tomorrow. From AI and quantum computing to 6G networks and advanced medical diagnostics, photonic chips are at the heart of innovation. Their ability to handle massive amounts of data at high speed with minimal energy use makes them perfect for smart sensors, autonomous systems, secure communications, and high-performance computing.

Photonic chips aren’t just a promising technology — they’re a strategic asset. They play a key role in enabling Europe’s leadership in key enabling technologies like AI, quantum, and secure communications. Integrated photonics is one of the priority key enabling technologies within Dutch National Technology Strategy. By developing this pilot line, the Netherlands strengthens its position as a European hub for photonic innovation and manufacturing. It also helps reduce Europe’s reliance on global supply chains, which have proven vulnerable in recent years due to geopolitical tensions and disruptions. This initiative supports both technological sovereignty and economic resilience.