POLYmer based electro-optic PCB motherboard integration with Si3N4 Chiplets, InP Components and Electronic ICs enabling affordable photonic modules for THz Sensing and quantum computing applications
[January 2023 – June 2026]
PCRL coordinates the POLYNICES Project. Despite the significant advances that photonic integrated circuits (PICs) offer in terms of miniaturization, power consumption and functionalities, they run into
scalability and cost issues, related to the fabrication yield, the increased integration and packaging
complexity, the lack of wafer scale compatible processes and the lack of integration and packaging
standards. Furthermore, so far photonic packaging considered the sub-GHz electrical connections to the
PICs as a separate and second priority issue, until the number of electrical IOs of the PICs was too large
to ignore. POLYNICES aims to address these challenges with the development of a novel general purpose
photonic integration technology, compatible with wafer scale processes that will reduce the production
costs of photonic modules by at least 10x. POLYNICES will develop for the first time a polymer based
Electro-Optic PCB (EOPCB) motherboard that will host Si3N4 chiplets, InP components and micro-optical
elements. POLYNICES invests in Si3N4 platform with PZT actuators to realize complex structures in only
1×1 cm2 chiplets with ultra-low power consumption. The chiplets’ grid array electrical pads and the use
of flip-chip integration on vertical alignment stops will allow optical alignment and electrical connection
in one step. The standard size and interfaces of the chiplets as well as the electronic IC co-packaging on
the same EOPCB, provides excellent scalability and customization, and significantly simplifies packaging.
Dielectric rod THz antennas will be integrated on the EOPCB taking advantage of its good HF properties.
Using the above novel concepts and building blocks, POLYNICES will develop a fully integrated
optoelectronic FMCW THz spectrometer with THz antenna array and beam steering abilities for quality
control in plastics, a 16×16 quantum processor with integrated 780 nm light source and non-linear
crystals and a 24×24 quantum processor with integrated squeezed light state source.
