Photonic integrated circuits (PICs) use photons to transmit and process signals. International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) 2.0 has listed silicon photonics technology as one of the key technologies because it can realize high-speed photoelectric conversion, transmission and spectral signal processing functions, and has significant advantages of greatly reduced module size, reduced power consumption and cost. Its application has been extended from optical communication optical transceiver module to advanced optical sensing systems (defense, aerospace, energy, transportation, medicine), Internet of Things, quantum computing, and biomedical fields. PICs will become the next industry focus . Taiwan is among the beat in both semiconductors and optoelectronics industry in the world. In particular, the integrated circuit manufacturing and packaging capabilities are leading the world, which is especially good for the development of photonic integrated circuit technology and its commercialization. 

This research program integrates the research resources of the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Center, the packaging and measurement services of ITRI, the fabrication services of semiconductor foundries with the academia research teams. The application of optoelectronic wafers in the system based on photonic integrated circuit technology is aimed at achieving technical applicability and industrial application potential. The Long-range goals include to improve the optoelectronic chip design capabilities, to establish the optoelectronic IC design industry, to establish an eco-system for photonics IC, and to provide a photonic IC fabrication platform.    

This four-year program support five research teams for developing the applications of silicon PICs in different application fields, including 1.6 Tb/s optical transceivers for data center interconnect, transmission and beam steering for 5G mobile networks, Coherent optical transceivers, gyroscope, and bi0-medical sensing module. The core technology development and chip design will be completed in the first two years, the system integration and performance optimization will be completed in the third year, and the system integrated prototype will be demonstrated in the fourth year for promoting industrial applications.