• The 8^thWorkshop on Photonic Integrated Circuits at OFC
• Wednesday March 9^th, 2022 from 5:45pm to 8:30pm (with registration opening at 5:15pm)
• Room 29ABCD at the San Diego Convention Center

The advent of 100Gbps and beyond in both long haul as well as datacom marked the breakthrough of photonic integration in a broader sense. As a result of this, PICs are now also being used e.g. in sensing, life sciences, and military applications and there is thus a growing group of people that are starting to design and use photonic chips.

However, the PIC value chain can be complex as one needs to make choices for the material system, the foundry and/or broker, the design and layout software, packaging solutions and so on. The aim of the PIC workshop is to bring together all the relevant players independent of material system and to provide an in-depth overview that allows you to make the right trade offs and to get to know the key PIC service providers. There will be a particular focus on multi-project wafer (MPW) shuttles together with the accompanying Process Design Kits (PDKs), since these substantially lower the cost of developing a PIC, provide a complete solution, create first-time right, and reduce the PIC development time.

The PIC workshop starts with a detailed overview of everything that you need to know in order to design, fab, and package a photonic chip. Subsequently there is a networking break during which you can interact with the key PIC service providers, who have table tops and provide useful information. During the break, food will be served and there will be drinks. After the break, there are several use case presentations by companies that are using photonic ICs and that are sharing their experiences.

OFC 2022 marks the 8^th PIC workshop at OFC. Each year, we tried to improve the format and content of the workshop. Partly as a result, the OFC PIC Workshops have been able to attract well over 350 attendees. Starting in 2018, the group of supporting companies has widened by including more vendors of design and software solution as well as now also including providers of test & measurement equipment. This year, the use case section will focus on key trends and questions in photonic integration and there will be a dynamic panel discussion.

For any questions about the PIC workshop, please contact Erik Pennings at erik@7pennies.com or (848) 228-0807.

The PIC Workshop will be held on Wednesday March 9, 2022 from 5:15pm to 8:30pm, i.e. right after the conference and exhibition end for that day. The workshop takes place as part of the OFC conference and is held in Room 29ABCD of the San Diego Convention Center.

5:15 PM – 5:45 PM: Buffet Opens, Sponsor Tabletops and Networking

5:45 PM – 7:00 PM: Keynote Presentation “Latest Trends in Photonic Integration and How to Use the PIC Ecosystem to Develop a PIC Cheaper and Faster”

• Market Trends for Photonic Integration (Erik Pennings, 7 Pennies Consulting)
• Design Houses (Inigo Artundo, VLC Photonics)
• Dielectrics/PLC-Based Integrated Photonics (Carlos Barragan, Ensure)
• InP-Based Integrated Photonics (Moritz Baier, HHI)
• Design, Simulation, and Layout Tools (Eugene Sokolov, VPIphotonics)
• Packaging (Jeroen Duis, PHIX)
• Test and Measurement (Brig Asay, Keysight Technologies)

7:00 PM – 7:40 PM: Networking Break with Buffet and Sponsor Tabletops

7:40 PM – 8:10 PM: Use Cases and Key Topics in Photonics Integration.

• Update on the Integrated Photonic Systems Roadmap – International by MIT and PhotonDelta
  Stefano Aina, Smart Photonic
• Programmable Photonics and their applications
  Wim Bogaerts, Ghent University and IMEC
• Fault-tolerant photonic quantum computing
  Zachary Vernon, Xanadu
• Hybrid photonic integration for next-generation wireless communications
  David de Felipe, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute

8:10 PM – 8:30 PM: Panel discussion

• Question & answer on key PIC topics with panel consisting of all speakers and/or panelists from sponsoring companies

The workshop is supported by a wide group of service providers to the PIC industry. It includes foundries for many relevant material systems, providers of simulation and layout software, packaging houses, test and measurement, as well as providers of turn-key PIC design solutions. The common denominator for most companies is that they support multi-project wafer (MPW) runs and process design kits (PDK), which are a great and cost-effective way to develop PICs.

Since 2002, Ensure has produced premium connectivity components as part of the HH group, delivering premium solutions, partnering with internationally renowned telecom and ISP operators. Our in-house manufacturing and steep commitment to R&D and quality control enables us to supersede the market standard, oversee the entire production chain, and scale and adjust to meet the most demanding and specific customer requirements.

Ensure invests heavily in specialized equipment, manufacturing our own PLC wafers and chips, plus ceramic ferrules with high concentricity at both ends, guaranteed by laser-precise extrusion and machine processes. Our signature PLC splitters are crafted with various bandpass, splitting ratios, fiber types, and connector and packaging options. Innovation is intrinsic to our passive network components, with customized solutions for advanced FTTx applications plus a full package of WDM products for core, metropolitan, and access networks. Ensure offers integration & assembly of customer components within our facilities, with optional white-label design and packaging, whilst expert warehousing & shipping facilities guarantee reliable, pristine components delivered on time, worldwide At Ensure, we collaborate to build a better-connected tomorrow. Visit our website for a deeper dive.

PHIX offers assembly services and contract manufacturing for photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and MEMS. We build optoelectronic modules based on all major PIC technology platforms, such as Indium Phosphide, Silicon Photonics, Silicon Nitride, and Planar Lightwave Circuit. We specialize in chip-to-chip hybrid integration, coupling to fiber arrays, and interfacing of DC and RF electrical signals. By offering our knowledge already at the chip design stage, we ensure ease of scale-up for volume manufacturing. PHIX provides a one-stop-shop for PIC and MEMS assembly, from design to volume production. We have a state-of-the-art production facility located at the High Tech Factory in Enschede, the Netherlands, supporting the global industrial development of PIC and MEMS enabled modules.

VPIphotonics sets the industry standard for end-to-end photonic design automation comprising design, analysis and optimization of components, systems and networks. We provide professional simulation software supporting requirements of integrated photonics, optoelectronics and fiber optics applications, optical transmission system and network applications, as well as cost-optimized equipment configuration. Our team of experts delivers professional consulting services addressing customer-specific modeling and design requirements. VPIphotonics’ award-winning off-the-shelf and customized solutions are used extensively at hundreds of corporations worldwide; over 160 academic institutions joined our University Program. For further information, please visit us at www.VPIphotonics.com.

Photon Design was started in 1992 in Oxford UK to provide professional quality software to the photonics industry. Since that time it has introduced many innovations to photonics modelling, and now provides World-leading tools for the modelling of active and passive photonics components and circuits. Photon Design products are now in use in 30+ countries, 100s of research labs and contributed to 1000s of leading research publications, helping to develop the next generation of datacom components and innovations in micro and nano-optics. We are also able to provide custom solutions based on our standard products and our experts with decades of simulation experience are available for consulting. (https://www.photond.com)

As electronics become smaller and more capable, they become more complex. Necessary innovation must be met with ever-advancing technical capability. Tektronix designs and manufactures the test, measurement and monitoring solutions that break through the walls of complexity, to accelerate global innovation. Tektronix solutions have supported many of humankind’s greatest advances of the past 65 years. Health. Communication. Mobility. Space. We are committed to the scientists, engineers and technicians around the world who will define the future, and rely on us to embrace the technological challenge, as partners in their innovation (www.tek.com).

EXFO is a manufacturer of laboratory type fiber optic test instrumentation, not limited to, but primarily used in telecom type applications. Applications range from PIC design, research and development to manufacturing and production. EXFO’s product portfolio consists of high dynamic range tunable laser sources, automated wavelength dependent passive optical component testers, optical spectrum analyzers, tunable filters, and multipurpose modular test platform OSICS with modules ranging from tunable laser sources to switches, attenuators, DFB sources and more. 
(https://www.exfo.com)

VLC Photonics aims to be a complete but flexible partner in photonic integration, thanks to its deep expertise in the whole integration process, from the preliminary feasibility studies, to fabrication platform selection, optical chip design, foundry and packager brokerage, and chip characterization and test. VLC Photonics has been working for more than 14 years in the field, with experience in all major international fabs (+15) in all main material substrates (silicon photonics, InP, GaAs, PLC, SiN, TriPleX, etc.). Our know-how includes multiple passive and active components like AWGs, MMIs, Echelle gratings, modulators, lasers, switches, filters, etc. Our field of expertise is mostly in optical telecommunications, datacom and optical interconnects, microwave photonics, quantum optics, and sensing systems like fiber sensor interrogators or biophotonics lab-on-a-chip. (http://vlcphotonics.com)

Innovations for the digital society of the future are the focus of research and development work at the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute HHI. In this area, Fraunhofer HHI is a world leader in the development of mobile and optical communication networks and systems, fiber optical sensor systems as well as the processing and coding of video signals. Together with international partners from research and industry, Fraunhofer HHI works in the whole spectrum of digital infrastructure – from fundamental research to the development of prototypes and solutions. The institute develops standards for information and communication technologies and creates new applications as an industry partner. (www.hhi.fraunhofer.de)

Keysight Technologies Inc. is the world’s leading electronic measurement company, transforming today’s measurement experience through innovations in wireless, modular, and software solutions. With its HP and Agilent legacy, Keysight delivers solutions in wireless communications, aerospace and defense and semiconductor markets with world-class platforms, software and consistent measurement science. The company’s nearly 10,500 employees serve customers in more than 100 countries. (Keysight Technologies)

SMART Photonics, located in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, is a Pure Play Foundry offering III-V production services for both discrete- as well as integrated- Indium Phosphide based photonic components. We use our knowledge, experience and the dedicated equipment to create and produce the photonic designs of our customers. We offer the complete production process from Epitaxial growth, processing, re-growth and polishing of wafers up to dicing and coating of the sides of the chips. Next to the production support, in either the proof of concept (POC) phase or the full production phase, we also offer single- or combined- process steps to complete, or back-up, the production processes of our customers. (www.smartphotonics.nl)

Optica, formerly OSA, the society advancing optics and photonic worldwide, is a leader of excellence, delivering high-quality scientific and technical information that is authoritative, accessible and archived. The new brand, Optica, builds on our history of discovery and innovation. Since 1916, the society has been the world’s leading champion for optics and photonics, uniting and educating scientists, engineers, educators, technicians and business leaders worldwide. Optica currently serves 432,000 customers from 181 countries. (https://www.optica.org)

Please find below here the bios, pictures and logos for the keynote speakers, the use case speakers, as well as the panel participants for the PIC Workshop OFC 2022.

Stefano Aina has joined SMART Photonics in January 2021. He is responsible of Sales, Marketing and Product Management. Stefano started his career as researcher in the field of optical fiber telecommunications in Pirelli Optical, a company developing state-of-the art DWDM systems. He has worked for leading telecommunication system manufacturers like Cisco Systems, where he was Director of R&D in the IP/Optical Business, and Juniper Networks, where he was Director of EMEA Systems Engineering and Professional Services organizations.

Wim Bogaerts is professor in silicon photonics at Ghent University and IMEC. Between 2000 and 2010 he pioneered the use of CMOS technology for photonic circuits, leading to IMEC’s state-of-the-art silicon photonics platform and the first multi-project-wafer offerings through ePIXfab. During that period, he also developed the design framework IPKISS, with which he co-founded Luceda Photonics in 2014. Since 2017 he has been researching programmable photonics, supported by a consolidator grant of the European Research Council (ERC). He is a senior member of OPTICA and SPIE, and a fellow of IEEE.

Zachary Vernon is the Head of Hardware at Xanadu, where he leads a team of over 40 physicists and engineers building the world’s first photonic quantum computers. Zachary holds a PhD in Physics from the University of Toronto and has expertise in integrated photonic technologies for generation, control, and measurement of quantum light.

David de Felipe received the Telecommunications Engineering degree from the Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, in 2010. David joined the Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute (HHI) in 2011 as a research associate, and in 2020 he obtained his PhD degree from the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, for his work on hybrid polymer-based integrated tunable lasers. He is currently working as a project manager in several national and European projects, and his research is focused on hybrid photonic integrated circuits for a broad range of application fields such as telecom/Datacom, next-generation wireless networks, sensing, and life sciences. David is author/coauthor of more than 50 scientific publications and conference papers.

Carlos Barragan is the International Business Director for Ensure, Advanced PLC Manufacturer, and serves on the board of directors. Carlos leads the business’ international operations worldwide, and oversees the company’s ongoing expansion efforts into high-growth and emerging markets.

Carlos has fifteen years’ worth of managerial experience within the telecommunications industry, specialized in the optical field, with 10 years’ elevated expertise working from within China. Prior to being named International Business Director in 2012, Carlos honed his proficiency within the telecommunications, information and technology industries, working for companies such as Dell EMC and Indra, curating a portfolio ideally catered towards his current position today. Such opportunities were made possible thanks to Carlos’ esteemed education, earning his master’s degree in Business from the University of Oxford, and a master’s degree in Engineering from prestigious universities across Europe, including Paris, Copenhagen, and Madrid.

Jeroen Duis graduated from Technical University of Rijswijk in the major of Photonics. He used to work in TE Connectivity for 16 years as the technical engineer and team leader of Technology Incubator. Before joining PHIX, he used to work in SMART Photonics as the business development manager, which is a Dutch company engaging in Indium Phosphide wafer manufacturing. He has abundant experiences in engineering, research, technology scouting and management. Jeroen joined PHIX B.V. as the Chief Commercial Officer at PHIX Photonics Assembly where he is responsible for the commercial activities and the strategic direction for the hybrid packaging. He is the author and co-author of several publications and holds 15 patent applications in the field of optical interconnection technology.

Inigo Artundo (CEO): Obtained the M.Sc. in Telecom Engineering at the Universidad Publica de Navarra (Pamplona, Spain) in 2005, and received his Ph.D. in Applied Physics and Photonics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Brussels, Belgium) in 2009. He has been involved in several national and European research projects and networks of excellence focused on reconfigurable optical interconnects, the design, fabrication and characterization of micro-optic devices, and on flexible access and in-building fiber network architectures. He has worked as a reviewer for several scientific journals and national funding agencies. He holds specializations in Business Financing, Commercial Management and Research, and Strategic Marketing. He is a member of IEEE, SPIE and COIT.

Eugene Sokolov is a Principal Application Engineer at VPIphotonics. He joined the company in 2010 and is currently part of the US Solutions Center team. Eugene has over 10 years experience in the development of industry leading photonic design automation (PDA) products and particularly in the modeling of next generation photonic integrated circuits (PICs), photonic and optoelectronic devices. He leads in the development of the standardized Process Design Kits (PDKs) and interoperability between circuit-level simulators and mask layout/electronic design automation (EDA) tools. Eugene received his MSc. Degree in Physics (Laser Physics) from the Belarusian State University. You can reach him at eugene.sokolov@vpiphotonics.com.

Moritz Baier received his BSc and MSc at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2010 and 2013, respectively, including stays at Institut Fresnel (Marseille, France) and Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Barcelona, Spain). Also in 2013, he joined Fraunhofer HHI where he received his PhD degree in 2018. Since then, he is heading the InP Foundry Group at HHI that commercializes a generic technology for photonic integration in InP.

Dominic Gallagher was born in Swansea, UK in 1962. He received a BA and PhD from the University of Cambridge in 1984 and 1987 respectively, and afterwards as a Research Fellow studying optical logic elements in laser diode-based devices. Afterwards he spent two years at the Fraunhofer IAF in Germany, working on high speed laser diodes and grating devices. In 1992 he returned to the UK to found Photon Design. He is currently CEO of Photon Design – a company developing photonicssoftware which is used in over 30 countries around the World. He has published 30+ journal articles and authored chapters in several photonics books.

Dr Spiros Mikroulis has been working with technology/research providers and industrial end-users on system/subsystem and device level specification and development (Optical Transport, Data Centers, 5G). Extensive experience in project management/leading and experimental research on converged system architectures (Fiber/Wireless), future and emerging technologies, subsystem and photonics/electronics component design, with special focus on optical and wireless segments. Currently @ Smart Photonics,Eindhoven, Netherlands, Principal Scientist. Previous @

• Huawei R&D Munich, Germany (2016-2020), Project manager/ Senior Scientist
• UCL, London, UK (2013-2016), Principal Researcher/Marie Curie Research Fellow

Brig Asay is currently a Sr. Director of Product Planning and Marketing for Keysight. He joined Keysight Technologies in 2005.  During his time with Keysight, he has held the following positions:

• Infiniium Oscilloscope Marketing Manager, where he managed marketing strategies and planning for the Infiniium Oscilloscope lineup.
• Marketing Operations Manager, where he oversaw the marketing budget and managed the technical support and learning products teams.
• Marketing Product Manager where he launched key oscilloscope new products.

Previously to Keysight, Brig worked at Micron Technologies, Inc.  Brig graduated with an MBA from Northwest Nazarene University and BS Electrical Engineering from the University of Wyoming.  He has published numerous articles.

Pavel Zivny is a high speed serial data Domain Expert with the wide band oscilloscopes group of Tektronix. Pavel has a number of oscilloscope related patents, papers and articles, and represents Tektronix and T&M on industry panels and program committees, e.g. IEEE 802.3cd Ethernet. His current interests in the high speed serial data field include Equivalent Time Sampling and Real-Time oscilloscope measurements as well as signal generation with BERTs and Pattern Generators.

A veteran in fiber-optics, Lawrence Van der Vegt has held various key directorial positions at test and measurement (T&M) companies in the Netherlands and the US. He is currently EXFO’s Senior Product Line Manager for Design, Manufacturing and Research testing solutions catering to optical applications and related fields. Lawrence earned his bachelor’s degree in electrical and computer engineering in the Netherlands.

• Health and safety are important and care will thus be taken to follow key health guidelines, while preparing the OFC PIC Workshop.
• Since the PIC Workshop is part of the OFC conference, it adheres to the same Health and Safety Practices that are used by the OFC conference.
• For more detail, please check https://www.ofcconference.org/en-us/home/about/health-and-safety-practices/. Two key parts of those practices are as follows: – Each participant needs to be vaccinated per the criteria explained on the OFC website. – Each participant needs to wear a face mask at all times except when actively eating or drinking.
• When entering the workshop room, each participant needs to bring and wear their OFC registration badge, which will be scanned.
• In this way, it is ensured that each participant present in the room complies with the OFC Health and Safety Practices, such as the vaccination requirement

Additional safety measures:

• Food and drinks that will be served during the buffet have been separately packaged
• Additional masks and hand sanetizer will be available during the workshop
• The conference room will allow for social distancing to the extent possible

More questions:

• For any additional questions or concerns, please contact Erik Pennings at erik@7pennies.com or (848) 228-0807.

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