Photonics Roadmap
Photonics Roadmap
Published by:
European Technology Platform Photonics21
Photonics21 Secretariat:
VDI Technologiezentrum GmbH
VDI-Platz1
40468 Düsseldorf, Germany
Design:
Bartkowiak GmbH & Co. KG, Tönisvorst
Printing:
Silber Druck oHG, Niestetal
Vice Presidents
Life Science & Stefan Traeger, Vice President Life Science Division,
Health Leica Microsystems
Emerging Lighting, Klaas Vegter, Chief Strategy & Innovation, Philips Lighting
Electronics &
Displays
Security, Metrology & Peter Seitz, Hamamatsu Photonics Innovation Center Europe;
Sensors Managing Director, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Lab; ETH,
Professor EPFL
Index
Impressum 2
0. Executive Summary 6
1. Introduction 12
4. Appendix 98
0
Executive
Summary
The rise of photonics in Europe from a niche activity to a Key
Enabling Technology, and on to becoming one of the most
important industries for the future, shows how photonics is on
its path to making the 21st century that of the photon.
Underpinning all the proposed activities is the 40% in key sectors such as lighting. The European
objective of growing photonics manufacturing in photonics industry employs about 290,000 people
Europe and creating further ‘high skill’ employ- directly, many of these in the over 5000 photonics
ment. This will be achieved by enabling the pho- SMEs. Photonics also has a substantial leverage Photonics has a
tonics products themselves to be manufactured in effect on the European economy and workforce:
substantial leverage
Europe, and by ensuring the ongoing competitive- 20-30% of the economy and 10% of the workforce
ness of other key photonics-dependent manufac- depend on photonics, directly impacting around 30 effect on the European
turing sectors in Europe. million jobs. Photonics also offers solutions which
economy and work-
address key societal challenges, such as energy
The proposed Photonics PPP will differ from the generation and energy efficiency, healthy ageing force.
existing support mechanisms by establishing a of the population, climate change, and security.
closer alignment of industrial and public strate-
gies, and by pooling academic, industry and public Photonics is a Key Enabling Technology for Europe. Photonics is a Key Enabling
resources to provide sufficient know-how and the It is a very dynamic and vibrant industrial sector in
Technology for Europe.
investment essential for achieving major progress Europe and holds the potential for huge market
towards this joint strategy. Applying an open in- growth. The expected compound annual growth
novation process will help achieve the specific aim rate for photonics over the coming years is 8%28,
of the PPP to establish a more effective translation clearly demonstrating the rapid growth of this key
of scientific research into products. In recognition technology sector. In specific areas, substantially
of the importance of forming a PPP, the European higher growth rates are predicted, for example,
Photonics Industry undertakes to make a substantial in green photonics 39 the expected CAGR value is
commitment through a four-fold leverage of public nearer 20% 410.
funding to achieve a total investment of €7 billion
(€5.6b from the private sector and €1.4b from the 2 http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/ict/files/kets/
European Commission). photonics_final_en.pdf
Europe now needs to build further on its strong Main activities for the Photonics PPP
position in the global photonics markets, and it The dual challenge facing Europe is both to lead
will be crucial to align and coordinate this highly in photonics technology innovation, and to exploit
multidisciplinary and fragmented field. It needs to these results though successful commercialisation.
strengthen its industrial leadership by promoting In this way, the goals of solving the grand societal
wide-scale cooperation and greater integration challenges and of generating sustainable economic
across the whole research and innovation value growth in Europe can be met. By implementing
chain, from advanced materials to manufacturing, this strategy, the 21st century can truly become
and from advanced research to technology take-up, the century of the photon.
pilot lines and demonstration actions. A Photonics
PPP is seen as the optimal vehicle for achieving this The potential Research and Innovation activities
development. best placed to address these challenges and ob-
jectives are:
Particular emphasis needs to be given to support-
ing the innovation of the large number of SMEs n Disruptive and road-map based core
active in this area and helping them grow further photonic technologies
to become global players. n Roadmap-based research will be under-
taken to drive technological development
and innovation in strategic application areas
where Europe is strong. These strategic appli-
cation areas include optical data communica-
tions, laser manufacturing, biophotonics for
medical and biomedical applications, imag-
ing and sensing for safety, security and the
0. Executive Summary 9
environment, and lighting. The emphasis will n Improvement of the infrastructure for pho-
be on broader cooperation across the whole tonics manufacturing in Europe. This involves
research and innovation value chain and the making full use of the existing manufacturing
close involvement of end-users, including excellence of research institutes for support-
citizen groups where appropriate. ing industry, especially innovative SMEs. The
n Disruptive technology breakthrough creation of such generic photonic foundries,
advances in nanophotonics, quantum in- based on public-private partnership, will
formation, extreme light sources, etc., will enable cost-effective and widespread deploy-
be pursued, complementing the roadmap- ment of photonics technology in numerous
based research, and bringing the potential applications, and ultimately lead to volume
for disruptive innovation in support of future production.
European leadership. n Establishment of pilot production facilities,
in which industry and research institutes can
n Demonstration jointly develop innovative photonics pro
Specific deployment programmes using pho- duction processes, targeting applications
tonic innovations will be needed to demonstrate relevant to societal challenges and economic
social innovation and leverage EU infrastruc- growth.
ture to create jobs. Such infrastructural projects
could provide benefits to all 500 million people Since the value chains in specific photonics appli
in the EU, and not solely to those directly in- cation areas in Europe are fragmented across dif-
volved in the photonics industry. Deployment ferent member states, demonstration activities and
programmes would be focused on life cycle manufacturing platforms are expected to reinforce
and applications. the innovation ecosystems at local (smart speciali
sation) and European levels.
In this way, coordinated market pull/push
measures will seed and then accelerate market n Innovative photonics SMEs
penetration, ultimately leading to wider tech- SMEs lie at the very heart of the European pho-
nology adoption and consequent job creation. tonics industry, and play a major role in driving
Measures would include the launch of high- innovation and economic growth. It is essen-
visibility, demonstration projects that provide the tial for the future prosperity of the European
European photonics industry with a first-mover photonics industry, and thereby of European
advantage in the global market. society, that their competitiveness in the global
market is sustained and grown further. Take-up
n Photonics Manufacturing Platforms of and RDI support for innovative photonics
Underpinning all the proposed activities is the technologies through ‘light touch’ open
objective of growing photonics manufacturing schemes will be promoted. The emphasis will
in Europe and creating further high skill em- be on strengthening the competitiveness of
ployment. This will be achieved at two levels; European SMEs, and on the creation of new
enabling the photonics products themselves business opportunities.
to be manufactured in Europe, and ensuring
that other key manufacturing sectors in Europe, To this end, a fast-track funding vehicle for pho-
dependant on photonics technology, can remain tonics SMEs is envisaged within the Photonics
competitive. To this end the following measures PPP. Further synergies with regional innovation
would be implemented: clusters will be established to promote SME
10 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
development through, for example, establish- The PPP will work towards the establishment of a
ment of open innovation models along the dedicated European industrial growth fund, lever-
value chain. This would allow SMEs to operate aging existing investments in photonics innovation
Photonics has a critical role within a streamlined, more market-oriented through to commercialisation.
set of rules, allowing prototype development
to play in addressing
for shorter-term commercialisation, rather than Photonics for the Societal Challenges
key societal challenges. being limited only to precompetitive R&D. Photonics has a critical role to play in addressing
several key challenges identified by the Europe
n Strengthening Photonics Foundations 2020 strategy.
The actions of the Photonics PPP will be accom-
panied by measures on education, training and n In healthcare, demographic change & well-
skills development, as well as standardization, being photonics will provide new ways of
international cooperation & outreach. Both in- detecting, treating and even preventing major
dustry and academic partners of the PPP will diseases at the earliest possible stage, improving
undertake these actions to secure the future patient survivability and drastically reducing care
work force for this growing industry. costs.
All activities will be accompanied by measures to n In climate action, resource efficiency & raw
better attract sufficient capital and management materials, new laser-based photonic manufac-
support for seeding and growing innovative busi- turing technologies will stimulate new manu-
ness ideas. facturing processes with extraordinary quality
Finally, to conclude the Photonics Strategic sector is largely based on SMEs (there are about
Multiannual Roadmap, chapter 3 outlines the ex- 5000 photonics SMEs in Europe), growth in de-
pected impact and benefits of a Photonics PPP mand is known to create proportionally more jobs
for future photonics research and innovation in than would typically be seen in a sector made up
Europe. Details of the consultation process used to primarily of big companies.
construct these technology roadmaps are presented
in Appendix 1. Funding along the full Innovation
Value Chain in Europe
Europe performs a major proportion of the world’s
1.1 Strategic Objectives and Vision research into basic photonics and achieves excellent
R&D results, providing Europe with a world leading
Today, the global market for photonics is estimated position. However, Europe needs to strengthen the
to be approximately €300 billion, and the leveraged industrial deployment of these research results by
impact of photonics in other enabled industries promoting wide-scale cooperation and greater
is substantially greater in terms of turnover and integration across the whole research and inno-
employment levels. This market is expected to vation value chain. Therefore, it is necessary to
grow significantly over the next few years, with rebalance the funding within the new Framework
the estimated market size approaching €480 Programme Horizon 2020, so as to provide an
billion by 2015. increased budget of funding to applied research
and demonstration programmes for photonics.
Europe has an overall share of 20% of this global
market, which corresponds to approximately €60 The European photonics industry must now con-
billion. The European market share rises to as much tinue working with the European Commission
as 45% in certain specific key photonic sectors, and national policy makers to coordinate a joint The European photonics
such as lighting, for which many market-leading approach to innovation, and to pool investments community defines their vision
industrial players are located in Europe. Europe also for enabling the rapid development of new prod- for future photonics research
has particularly strong positions in industrial laser ucts and minimising times to market. This speed and innovation. © Fotolia
technologies, information and communications
technology (ICT), and biophotonics.
Left: Europe has an overall share to market approach needs to include the entire n Demonstration programmes
of 20% of the global photonics value chain, from advanced research through to n Deployment programmes to create new jobs
market. © Fotolia technology take-up, pilot lines, and manufactur- in Europe
ing platforms. n Showcase public authorities’ commitment
Right: The European photonics to invest in photonics
industry currently employs about Bridging the gap between excellent research results n Accelerate market penetration
300 000 people in Europe. and product development, and thus overcoming
© Fotolia the so-called Valley of Death, must be the key ele- n Manufacturing Platforms to maintain
ment of a photonics strategy for future research manufacturing in Europe
and innovation funding in Europe. This funding n Improve infrastructure for photonics
approach should be implemented within the new manufacturing
Framework Programme Horizon 2020. n Establish public-private pilot production
facilities for industry and research institutes
Integrated approach to bridge n Reinforce innovation ecosystems at local
the Innovation Gap and European levels
The European photonics community proposes a
multiple approach for how the Valley of Death n Innovative Photonics SMEs
problem can be overcome and the innovation gap n Fast-track funding to foster prototyping &
bridged. Actions are required in the following areas: short-term commercialisation
n Reduced administrative burden for SME
n Disruptive and roadmap-based core participation
photonic technologies
n Roadmap-based research with a value n Support Actions
chain approach n Develop a highly skilled workforce
n Recognised value of potentially disruptive n Photonics education, training & skills
innovations development
n Early involvement of end-users n Outreach activities to promote photonics
to education providers
n Standardisation
1. Introduction 15
To support this value chain oriented approach, Additionally, the European photonics community
three additional drivers are identified that would undertakes to measure the success of the Photonics
greatly enhance its effectiveness: PPP by Key Performance Indicators.
In addition to monitoring direct company invest- in regional innovation clusters and national tech-
ment, an independent macroeconomic study would nology platforms.
be conducted on an annual or biannual basis.
Photonics21 proposes that an independent orga Regional innovation clusters are composed of large
nisation will conduct this macroeconomic study companies and SMEs, start-up companies, public
to monitor the overall impact of the PPP and the and private research centres, universities, special-
state of the photonics sector as a whole. All par- ised suppliers, investors, and regional & govern-
ticipating companies would be required to provide ment agencies within a geographic region. They
information to the organisation conducting the work together in a partnership to follow a com-
macroeconomic study. mon photonics regional development strategy,
devised to create synergies in a specific photonics
application area.
1.3 Photonics Innovation Ecosystems
in Europe European and national technology platforms are
networks formed between private and public
The European photonics landscape is made up of players, working together on common strategic
high-level research groups and a strong photonics photonics topics to define a common national
industry, consisting of both SMEs and large com- photonics strategy and promote greater political
panies. Most of these photonic players are active visibility for photonics.
Regional innovation clusters and national technol- strategic directions at regional and national level.
ogy platforms each represent the interests of the Consequently, they are expected to play a key role
photonics community at a regional and national in Smart Specialisation, the EU’s strategic approach
level. To ensure that photonics becomes part of the for Structural Fund investments in R&I, aimed at
regional or national innovation strategies, direct maximising knowledge-based development poten-
and effective engagement with regional and na- tial at the regional level.
tional governments will be essential. Furthermore,
photonics clusters and platforms provide a centre of It is vital therefore that the photonics regional inno-
gravity and a critical linkage between the Photonics vation clusters and national technology platforms
PPP and regional activities, and, through this, will continue their cooperation and work together with
help define strategic research and innovation direc the Photonics PPP, developing greater commu-
tions at the European level. The development of nity cohesion and pursuing a common photonics
photonics clusters and platforms is an ongoing R&I strategy on a European scale, with further
processes, and we do expect to cover a ‘large area’ involvement of new regional clusters and national
of EU at regional level and all countries at national platforms. In this way, the national technology
level. platforms and regional innovation clusters will pro-
vide a critical link between Horizon 2020, national
The EU acknowledges the importance of national and regional strategies, and European regional
technology platforms and regional innovation clus- development funds to define and implement the
ters for developing further the photonics innovation Photonics PPP strategy and guide R&D funding to
capacity needed in Europe, and strengthening the innovative European SMEs.
innovation value chain. Specifically, these regional
structures now have the critical mass to define
2
Photonics Research
and Innovation
Challenges
The following sections have been prepared by the Photonics21
Work Groups. The photonics research and innovation challenges
being faced are outlined for each of the different photonics
application fields. In particular, discussion is presented of how
each field addresses the socio-economic challenges, and of
which value chain partners should become involved in photonics
research and innovation.
Severe challenges must now be faced that could have major potential
impact on Europe’s prosperity and sustainability: ensuring sustainable
development, securing energy supply, addressing the needs of an
ageing population, and ensuring human and environmental health.
In addition to these challenges, a key focus must be achieving secure
employment across Europe over the coming years.
We will soon live in a world in which everything cularly photonic solutions, will be the key to secur-
that could be connected will be connected. As well ing future employment for Europe.
as connecting homes, broadband technologies will
also connect businesses, equipments and infra- Major photonics needs
structures for research and production, opening Photonic systems and networks, architecture
up new commercial opportunities and enabling and functionalities must undergo significant
different ways of living. All these solutions will changes to cope with new applications. With the
need photonic systems and technologies, because growing concern about energy efficiency and car-
they are the only possible way to sufficiently reduce bon emissions, significant changes are necessary
energy consumption, whilst still providing the in all network layers and segments (core/metro/
high levels of performance demanded. Photonics access/datacentre). Moreover, major needs exist Photonics is the enabling
is the enabling technology for all wireless and wired to make the networks faster, more secure, more
technology for all wireless
broadband technologies. flexible, more transparent, easier to use, and to
bring them closer to the customer. Functionalities and wired broadband
Demands for connectivity and data are growing for which photonics can bring unique advantages,
technologies.
exponentially. Moreover, information storage, have to be addressed. These will primarily be high-
management and security will require new, dedicat- capacity, high-speed and low latency transmission
ed solutions to match these demands. All such chal- of data between arbitrary end-points, and could
lenges will need broadband access to network re- also extend into areas such as encryption, switch-
sources, a high capacity flexible network, and a large ing, quantum communication and computing.
number of network environments, such as data
centres, power grids and research infrastructures. Novel and disruptive techniques are required to
cope with the ever-increasing demands for capac-
In addition to these challenges, increasing global ity, especially in the backbone networks, for which
competition from APAC (China, India) and the US a transmission capacity of several times 100 Tbps
requires greater innovation and more entrepreneur- per fibre is predicted by the year 2020. Today the
ship in Europe to reinforce and grow its leading growth in datacentre traffic is demanding more en-
role. The ability of European industry to customise ergy efficient ways of computing and moving data
and provide successful end-to-end solutions, parti across the network. Photonics opens up exciting
A major challenge is opportunities for solving the bandwidth limitation and improving flexibility and reliability. Additionally,
of data interconnects at rack, board and chip level. development of simple and robust on-chip test
the development of
A major challenge for the coming years will be capabilities and generic packaging and assembly
high-bandwidth, low energy the development of high-bandwidth, low energy options will be required for achieving cost efficient
consumption optical interconnects at low cost. New production processes.
consumption optical
services, such as cloud computing require signifi-
interconnects at low cost. cant improvements in the network architecture and Overall, it is evident that the development and
high-speed (fibre-based) access to the customer. product introduction of advanced photonic tech-
nologies will require significantly more financial
Efficient production of photonic systems and resources than in the past, thereby exacerbating
photonic integrated circuits (PICs) is a major need. the risk that, if Europe is unable to raise sufficient
Significantly more bandwidth is required for next- budgets, such technologies will move to APAC.
generation applications in computing and storage,
in communication infrastructure, and in the access Involvement of value chain partners
market. By integrating programmable electronic and The involvement of end-users is extremely im-
photonic circuits in a single package, such optical portant for developing bespoke photonic solutions,
ASIC or FPGA technology can break through the which match to the end-users’ specific needs. This
reach, power, port density, cost, and circuit board is especially important, for example, when building
complexity limitations of conventional solutions. In new networks such as smart power grids, which
this context, an efficient production of PICs will be are expected to incorporate new technologies and
essential. Photonic integration will play a key role end users, and will be managed and controlled by
in reducing cost, space and power consumption, advanced photonic communication technologies.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 21
This also applies to applications such as the Internet stakeholders as photonics evolves and new para-
of Things for ambient assisted living or health care digms appear on the horizon, whether they be in
services, and in smart city environments. Involvement technology, business models, or the value chain.
of the end-users allows for enhanced testing and
the creation of new applications and services An effective venture capital culture, similar to The tight coupling of
at early stage. The tight coupling of information that in US that allows a rapid ramp up of innova-
ICT technologies in end-
and communication technologies in end-user tions towards the market, should be established
solutions will illustrate effectively the leveraging for European photonics SMEs, who provide the user solutions illustrates
effect that photonics communication technologies engine for industrial growth in our high-tech so-
clearly the leveraging effect
bring to Europe. Focusing on the development of ciety, and who need access to capital in order to
customised end-to-end solutions has the potential capture the economic value of innovations. In this that photonics communi-
of anchoring technology development, growth, respect, the provision of funds for facilitating access
cation technologies bring
and jobs in Europe. It creates additional business to capital for photonic start-ups could leverage
opportunities for eco-system partners, focusing private-sector investments. Stronger stimulation of to Europe.
on the adaptation of such solutions to varying photonic product development, pilot production,
regional requirements. system engineering and product commercialisation
is required. Europe has to support SMEs in gaining
Stimulating interaction between research in- access to established and emerging markets world-
stitutes, universities and industry is required wide, such as USA, China, Russia, India and Brazil.
to identify applications and related R&D, where An entrepreneurship for photonic innovations has
photonics can bring unique advantages. Creation to be established in Europe at all levels. The chal-
of open innovation centres can help to foster this lenge for Europe is both to lead in technology, and
collaboration. Moreover, Europe needs to invest in also to exploit related results through a successful
education and science for developing people and transfer to market. As well as this, these companies
their ideas. Education and advanced training of still need to access the oxygen for growth necessary
engineers and scientists is required at a high level for securing their local market and consolidating
to increase the level of innovation in optical com- with other European companies.
munication components, sub-systems, systems and
networks. A number of successful European pro- Effective standardisation processes for shorten-
jects have already been instigated in this direction, ing time to market. Research projects provide rel-
such as ePIXnet, ACTMOST, and EUROFOS. evant solutions for their targeted application fields.
Institutionalising such interactions within the Work However, the translation from research to mar-
Groups of Photonics21 could provide a sustain- ket commercialisation can be a slow and difficult
able, open, transparent and European-wide col- path, which often fails to complete unfortunately.
laboration involving all the major stakeholders. Standardisation is a key for the industrialisation of
Current approaches could be beneficially extended research solutions, but frequently takes too much
to include direct interaction between the stake- time and money, hindering research solutions in
holders, such as concertation, consultation and reaching a global market. Therefore standardisa-
roadmapping for new research and innovation tion processes need to be addressed to achieve
activities, establishing ad hoc collaborations be- simplification and so improve effectiveness.
tween members, and exchanges of people and
resources. The scope and structure of Work Groups Fostering synergies along the entire value
must be sufficiently dynamic to allow for new chain is pivotal for aligning the efforts of all the
developments and the incorporation of new players involved. As the network evolves to an
22 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
increasingly dynamic and flexible eco-system, there investigated by smaller teams. Topics will include
is a growing need for smarter and more reconfigu- forward-looking product ideas, technical feasibility
Emerging paradigms, such as rable photonic components. Emerging paradigms, studies, open questions in standards, and research
such as ‘software-defined photonics’, underpin requests to continue feeding the innovation cycle
‘software-defined photonics’,
the need for consolidation of networks and sys- 5 to 10 years ahead. The evaluations will be theo-
underpin the need for tems with the underlying photonic components. retical, simulations, lab experiments or a mixture.
Introducing functionality along this trend tends to The process for this must be lightweight and must
consolidation of networks
increase component complexity, which in turn exac- guarantee commercial confidentiality, although it
and systems with the under- erbates the cost of design, fabrication and testing is expected that the majority of results will subse-
necessary for the development of a new product or quently be made available publicly, and will also
lying photonic components.
technology. To circumvent this challenge, it is neces- form the basis of on-going technology roadmap-
sary to capitalise and invest on existing platforms, ping. This can be seen as an evolution of a Network
such as EUROPRACTICE and FIRE, and to expand of Excellence, where there is funding for the aca-
other mature and value-adding initiatives, such demic partners to address the study items set by
as ePIXfab, ACTMOST and EUROFOS, into new industry partners.
platforms. The goal here is two-fold: (i) to offer
specialised facilities and expertise over the whole EuroSaP – European Photonics Specification and
range of the value chain, namely from photonic Prototyping: To date, EC projects have comprised
system design and prototyping through to test- largely of precompetitive research carried out by
ing, so as to translate R&D results into innovative independent parties. While this has helped to build
products, and (ii) to connect the value chain of up knowledge (and some IP), commercialisation
photonics with other value chains within the ICT of the results has been limited, and the results are
ecosystems, such as embedded systems, comple- largely uncoordinated or at best complementary.
mentary telecommunication technologies, net- A mind-set change is required with respect to the
works of the future, future Internet, and flagships. focus of these activities: more people from the
product side need to be involved, to ensure the
To boost Europe’s competitive advantages, ele- necessary upfront agreement on joint product so-
ments of the value creation chain, ranging from lutions. An industry consortium-driven approach
research through the building of products, will be necessary to agree such a common frame-
have to be synchronised. In this context, it is work for future product solutions and to define
proposed that already existing organisations, the specification of the constituting components.
networks and platforms are embedded into a Partners across the whole value chain will be in-
new streamlined value creation chain through volved, from network operators, to system, optical
the creation of the following specific European subsystem, component and ASIC vendors. The
platforms, each characterised by a set of well- individual consortium composition will of course be
defined functions and interfaces: dependent on the specific project. Differentiation
is possible by customisation of the components
EuroLab – European Photonics Laboratory: and/or the way in which such solutions would be
The EuroLab is a federation of academia, research used in a network/system context. An example
institutes and industry that pool their joint exper- of a successful agreement on a worldwide scale
tise. To cover the whole value chain, there will be is the 100G long-haul multi-source agreement
be networking, systems, and component/subsys- group in the OIF, which has demonstrated the
tems groups. Industrial partners can pose questions effectiveness of such an approach. EuroSap will
and raise study items that are then subsequently work independently or liaise with other groups (e.g.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 23
Pre-Horizon
Product line 2014/2015 2016/2017 2018/2019
2020
would probably have to be used together to Optical network and IT convergence. Optical
enable the core network to cope with the predicted networking is essential for interconnecting data-
traffic demand from the network edge. To achieve centres and enabling users to access their content
transmission rates approaching 1 Tbps per channel, and applications. It may also play an increasing role
substantial research effort will be required at the inside datacentres. Cloud based datacentres have
component level (efficient, linear and broadband recently absorbed many PC-type applications, such
E/O and O/E converters, new fibre types, new optical as email, productivity tools, and customer relation-
amplifiers, optical regenerators), on electronics ship management. These applications are generally
(analogue-to-digital and digital-to-analogue con- considered as requiring low user interactivity. Highly
verters, linear amplifiers, power-efficient signal interactive, multi-media PC applications, such as
processors), and on processing (signal processing video editing, computer aided design, and games
algorithms, advanced coding techniques). Rapid consoles, are also increasingly being moved into
prototyping and test of PICs and their subsystem the cloud. When computing and data storage is
will be key factors for success. handled largely in remote datacentres, networking
26 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
becomes the performance bottleneck. The solution radio access network (C-RAN) architectures are
to this problem requires a close orchestration of IT rolled out. Increasing demand for spectral efficiency
and networking resources under a common um- and operation of mobile wireless access in more
brella. It includes the development of new switch- and more bands requires an increasingly higher
ing architectures, advanced QoS mechanisms, and number of deployed wireless access nodes, capable
dynamic connection or flow management follow- of supporting multiband wireless access and in-
ing a software-defined control paradigm. Optical creasingly more cooperative features. For the sake
transport and switching technologies need to inte of flexibility and more future-proof deployment of
grate seamlessly into such an ITC orchestration fibre infrastructure, it is expected that next genera-
framework. The higher degree of automation and tion fibre access networks for mobile front- and
coordination will lower provisioning time and costs back-haul must support heterogeneous transport
for service providers, and will allow them to benefit of digital (and digitised) signals to and from wireless
from new value added commercial services and access points, including aggregation and routing,
revenue streams. thereby starting a new era of mutualisation and
convergence of fixed and mobile networks.
Next-generation optical Broadband fibre based access: Next-generation
optical access networks are foreseen for providing Optical interconnects lighting the datacentre:
access networks
multiple services simultaneously over common net- New broadband applications are transforming the
will provide multiple work architectures to different types of customers. Internet into a content-centric network, fuelling
Access networks capable of interconnecting higher the proliferation of datacentres. The new trend of
services simultaneously
number of users with a symmetrical bandwidth of warehouse-scale datacentre computing is raising
over common network up to 10 Gbps per customer are required. The aim is the bar for high-speed interconnection, requir-
to achieve the requested capacity, QoS performance, ing unprecedented information densities and link
architectures to different
and latency constraints in the access network, counts, whilst simultaneously causing the energy
types of customers. by exploiting the vast available bandwidth. The requirements of a typical server farm to surge.
challenge will be in exploiting the full fibre band- The use of parallel optics for rack-to-rack commu-
width to create a hierarchically-flat access network. nication has proven decisive for current systems,
Additionally, there is a technical challenge concerned but is not enough for sustaining performance en-
with the possibility of ultra-long-reach access per- hancements and containing energy consumption.
formance, that is, ‘unregenerated’ transportation Low-energy photonic solutions have to penetrate
of the multiple data channels over long distances. at all levels of the interconnect hierarchy, from
Future long-reach access networks will consolidate rack-to-rack and board-to-board, to chip-to-chip
the metro-access network structure, especially by and intra-chip data links, in order to accommo-
reducing the number of required central offices date the traffic and avoid an explosion in energy
that subscribers are connected to. The develop- consumption. Following current proof-of-principle
ment of truly cost-effective integrated components demonstrations, the focus will be towards low-cost
and sub-systems with low power consumption is technologies capable of overcoming the cost barrier
required for the high-speed optical access network. for massive adoption. Addressing diverse applica-
This must support the specific requirements, such tion scenarios, with transmission distances ranging
as low latency, for extended wireless features like from a few mm in the case of on-chip interconnects
Collaborative Multi-Point (COMP) operation, and and reaching up to 2 km for campus networks,
self-optimisation and topology control have to be presents a very broad set of challenges, and ne-
addressed. Furthermore, optical access networks will cessitates the development of tailored technol-
play an important role when so-called cloud based ogy solutions for each application. In this context,
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 27
performance enhancement would be achieved in Tbps per channel in the core. This involves coherent
each case through an appropriate mix of disci- detection with intelligent digital signal processing,
plines, such as the upgrade of channel rate or the exploiting all modulation spaces and multiplexing
introduction of additional degrees of parallelisation schemes, thereby increasing spectral efficiency,
(wavelength- and space-multiplexing or multi-level whilst expanding the bandwidth of optical ampli-
modulation). Effective integration of optics at all fiers and improving their noise properties.
levels of interconnects demands a holistic design
approach for the entire system (processor, server, To make optical networks greener. By expand-
datacentre), so as to ensure optimal use of system ing the role of photonics from core down to home
resources and maximise power efficiency. access, and promoting optical bypassing whenever
possible. By turning all photonic equipment to
In general, innovation will be required: idle mode when possible, and performing power-
To make optical networks more transparent efficient all-optical switching and processing as
and secure. By removing unnecessary optical- appropriate. By simplifying or removing unnec-
electrical-optical conversions in aggregation nodes, essary protocols, and performing energy-aware
routers and switches, whilst managing the resulting optical routing to reduce cost per transmitted and
increase in heterogeneity in fibre types and net- routed bit.
work architectures. By allowing several bit-rates,
modulation formats, and radio standards to travel To bring optical networks closer to the cus-
across the same generic infrastructure, enabling tomer. By ensuring high-bandwidth, mobile, fast,
future-proof and cost-effective convergence of green, secure, and reliable customer services by
mobile and fixed, metro and access networks. By optical wired and wireless home and in-building
providing optical layer security to enable secure networks.
exchange of data in the network on the lowest
possible layer. Expected impact for Europe
In most countries information and communication Photonic technologies
To make optical networks more dynamic and technology infrastructure is now considered to be
leverage a telecommuni-
cognitive. By introducing true flexibility in pho- a critical part of its national infrastructure and the
tonic networks through fast-established circuits key to future economic growth. The ICT sector cation infrastructure
or optical packets, coping with varying traffic de- is directly responsible for 5% of Europe’s gross
market of € 350 billion and
mands, benefiting from flexibility and elasticity domestic product, with an annual market value
in format, channel spacing or bit-rate. This while of €660 billion. As an enabler, ICT plays a vital impact more than 700,000
reducing latency, and managing quality of service role in enhancing other sectors’ business growth.
jobs in Europe.
at the photonic layer, so achieving autonomous According to the Photonics21 study The Leverage
operation of photonic network elements, includ- Effect of Photonics Technologies: the European
ing self-diagnosis, restoration and optimisation Perspective, photonic technologies leverage a
with efficient use of monitoring and adaptation telecommunication infrastructure market of €350
capabilities. billion and impact more than 700,000 jobs in
Europe (2010).
To make optical networks faster. By deploy-
ing a disruptive mix of technologies to match the Broadband has the power to spur economic growth
predicted capacity growth of a typical 1 Gbps per by creating efficiency for society, businesses and
user in wireless access by 2020, to a typical 10 consumers. Both broadband availability and trans-
Gbps per user in wired access and to a typical 1 mission speed are strong drivers in an economy.
28 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
Doubling the broadband speed for an economy to medium term stimulus to the economy. The
increases GDP by 0.3%, which is equivalent to induced effect, which includes the creation of new
$126 billion in the OECD region. This growth stems services and businesses, is the most sustainable
from a combination of direct, indirect and induced dimension, and could represent as much as one
effects. Direct and indirect effects provide a short third of the mentioned GDP growth. If broadband
speed is increased, short-term jobs will be created Indirect effects, such as spillovers to other industrial
to build the new infrastructure. As an induced sectors, are initiated on a longer time scale, 10 to
effect over a 5 years period, new ways of doing 20 years, and result in an efficiency improvement
business are established, more advanced online of the economy. Connectivity and broadband are
services and new utility services are initiated. just a starting point for new ways of innovating,
collaborating and socialising.
Dedicated prototyping of
devices and sub-systems.
Dedicated prototyping of
devices and sub-systems.
32 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
Dedicated prototyping of
devices and sub-systems.
2014 – 2020
Cross-cutting Key Enabling Involvement of KETs relevant for system fabrication and network
Technologies (KET) issues installation: advanced integration, packaging, prototyping and
manufacturing.
New mass markets will be created. For exam- decade. Optical networking plays a key role in the
ple, in health care alone it is expected that support of energy efficient and hence sustainable
500 million people will use mobile applica- future ICT solutions. The achievable level of energy
tions. With speed requirements steadily increas- efficiency will be very much dependent on the
ing, photonic communication is mandatory for specific architectural approaches that are adopted,
delivering broadband services to end users, on the technology choices that are made, and on
either directly as optical fibre access, or indirectly as the use of suitable planning/routing algorithms
optical feeder technology to copper or radio access and service provisioning schemes. In this context,
networks. Photonic communication technology is it is also important to design and operate optical
the key enabler for a future-proof way of living, networks taking full consideration of the details of
allowing home working and learning, e-health and the services and applications that they will support,
e-government, and other e-services. as well as the end devices they will interconnect.
Attempts to match the characteristics of currently
Optical ICT technologies The steadily rising cost of energy and the need popular applications, such as P2P, grid or cloud
to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions have services, to the underlying optical-based network
will play a major role in the
resulted in energy becoming one of the primary infrastructure can further enhance energy savings
reduction of worldwide technological challenges of our time. ICT in gen- for operators, service providers and users.
eral, and optical technologies in particular, are
energy requirements.
expected to play a major role in the reduction
of the worldwide energy requirements. Indeed,
recent studies show that ICT is today responsible
for about 4% of the world energy consumption,
a percentage expected to double over the next
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 35
Photonics technologies
are widely used in production
processes. © Fotolia
The world market for laser systems in 2011 was Involvement of value chain partners
approximately €7b with Europe taking a third of Photonics is a cross-sector technology, and Europe-
this. In specific sectors, such as in Lithographic wide cooperation along the entire value chain will
Production Technologies, this share is higher than be essential for future progress and success. All
50%. However, overall the European market share the relevant players need to be involved in R&D
of this sector has declined from its 2008 value of projects, research networks and clusters, providing
39%, as a result of growing competition from East the scientific and innovative solutions to manu
Asia. Investment in developing new technologies facturing problems.
will be essential to reverse this decline.
The physical and technical limitations of today’s
Laser manufacturing In addition to the direct market for laser systems optical components can only be overcome through
themselves, use of laser processes provides signi interdisciplinary research efforts in manufactur-
processes provide significant
ficant competitive advantage to manufacturing ing technologies, microsystem engineering, nano
competitive advantage to the industries, such as the European car industry, technology, telecommunications, and optics. More
thereby greatly leveraging the economic benefits. fundamental limitations must be tackled by basic
European car industry.
research on the interaction between light and matter,
Major photonics needs on novel materials, and on new structures with
The major photonics need is to broaden the spectrum revolutionary photonic properties. This will require
of applications of laser production technologies, work in materials science, quantum optics, thermo
especially so in light of the increasing demand for dynamics and solid-state physics.
energy and resource efficient products. This applies
to all sectors where laser technology can offer new New opportunities for design and manufacturing
production solutions, new product qualities, and will require highly qualified personnel at all levels.
cost benefits. Key opportunities for this include Demand for skilled staff will continue to increase,
energy conversion, electronics, hybrid materials, and special efforts in education and training will
lightweight construction, mass customisation and be necessary to meet this demand. The creativity
rapid manufacturing, print technology, and product of skilled individuals will be a key factor in ensur-
marking. ing innovation and maintaining Europe’s leading
position in photonics manufacturing.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 37
Major photonics research and innovation for microelectronics, photovoltaics, flat-panel Europe’s laser technology
challenges displays, laser cleaning, surface hardening,
leads the world in terms
Europe has a world-leading position in the market and bonding of transparent materials)
of photonics for industrial production, with the of innovation and optical
world’s largest laser companies and manufacturers To achieve this goal, advances are necessary in both
excellence.
of key laser components located in this region. the underlying laser technology itself and the pro-
Europe’s laser technology leads in terms of inno- cesses though which they are deployed. In terms of
vation and optical excellence when compared to these laser sources and optical components, the focus
other regions. To ensure that this competitive edge has to be set on reliable, reproducible and precise Principal research and
is maintained, the principal research and engi- methods for automated assembly of photonic
engineering efforts must
neering efforts have to focus on more efficient devices and lasers, with improved performance in
lasers (more light output for a given energy input), terms of power, beam properties, efficiency and focus on more efficient
longer-lasting components that can be recycled, size, as well as better spatial & temporal control
lasers, longer-lasting
and maintenance-free manufacturing equipment. and stability - and all at lower cost. A further key
The markets for new processing strategies and requirement will be the incorporation of adaptive recyclable components,
new photon transmission systems must also be reconfigurable beam delivery networks, capable
and maintenance-free
addressed. The most challenging problem in laser of high power and intensity. New applications are
source manufacturing is price pressure, a result of expected, for example through the use of ultra- manufacturing equipment.
the increasing cost competition exerted mainly by short laser pulses. However, to take full advantage
Asian manufacturers. of such new laser sources, new high-speed beam
deflection technology also needs to be developed
The primary research areas to be addressed will in parallel. These improvements will be crucial for
need to cover all stages of the manufacturing extending laser technology to large market sectors,
process, from basic research and development such as electronic industries or mass customisation Lasers enhance manufacturing
through to the products themselves and their of consumer goods. processes. © Fotolia
market penetration.
Therefore, more efficient lasers and new photonic In the drive for higher product quality, further
components will be needed, including: development and production implementation will
be needed for beam delivery and control, process
n high brilliance diode lasers (output power monitoring, adaptive control of the laser manu-
>20W per emitter) with improved energy facturing process, and quality inspection of laser
efficiency and beam quality manufactured goods. Aspects of integrating laser
n ultra high power (>1kW), ultra short pulse sources within machine tools, in particular robotic
(fs-ps), visible and near IR lasers manufacturing tools, will also require optimisation
n highly efficient and long term stable UV / EUV and standardisation. This will require that the fol-
lasers (solid state) lowing technological challenges be addressed for
n cw UV direct imaging (with 100W) beam delivery, shaping and deflection systems:
n ‘fully tunable’ laser (pulse width tailored to
the application and variable in wavelength – n remote technologies
UV to visible to MIR) n connectors and integrated beam switches
n efficient mid-infrared laser with output power n monitored high power connectors
up to 1kW (e.g. 1.5 –1.9 µm / 2.6 – 4 µm for n diffraction limited fibre delivery of output
organic materials / polymers) power >1kW over a distance of 100m
n industrial MIR systems n laser arrays, multiple fibre arrays, and fibres
n coatings and components (e.g. gratings, for transport of ultra-short / energetic pulses
isolators) for high power / high intensity n precise beam deflection with a target speed
beams of 1km / s (at the work piece)
n non-linear transparent materials (crystals, n dynamically reconfigurable intensity distribu-
ceramics) for high power / high intensities tions for advanced thermal management of
(and short / UV wavelengths) laser processes e.g. for welding or soldering
n fast modulation capability provided in n new electro optic materials, beam delivery
conjunction with high speed scanning systems, and fast electronics and data
devices (for synchronisation) processing
n standardised modular systems
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 39
Whilst for achieving the necessary improvements In addition to the clear economic benefits for
in quality control and sensors, the following chal- Europe, the impact of the next generation laser
lenges must be addressed: sources and photonic manufacturing processes on
today’s most challenging societal questions will be
n process monitoring sensors high. Three specific examples are:
n multi-spectral imaging sensors
n real-time process control for Fully Automated n Sustainable (Green) Economy: Light weight
Installation (FAI) applications cars, batteries and fuel cells, high-efficiency
n the combination of laser technology with photovoltaic modules, to name but a few, all
online non-destructive testing require laser technology for their production.
n multi-spectral imaging and focusing optics An additional key benefit of using laser process-
for simultaneous processing and observing ing technology for green manufacturing is that
(coaxial process control) lasers reduce energy consumption and chemical
waste.
These advanced laser processing capabilities will
also open the way to ground breaking new optical n Ageing Society: From pace-makers to synthetic
components and the corresponding technologies bones, and from endoscopes to the micro-cam-
for their fabrication. Further, when combined with eras used in in-vivo processes – laser technology
the results of accompanying fundamental work plays a major role in addressing the needs of
in laser beam/material interactions and process our ageing society.
control, exciting new photonic processes for manu-
facturing will be achievable, offering more flex- n Information Technology: Laser-powered, ex-
ibility, more functionality and greater productivity. treme UV-light sources will provide the critical
Such innovative components and processes are the manufacturing tool essential for achieving future
key to realising this vision of strengthening and miniaturisation and cost reduction of micro
sustaining Europe’s leading position on the world electronics.
market for photonic technologies and mechanical
engineering. In terms of the competitiveness of European in-
dustries, the proposed research priorities will have
Expected impact for Europe a major impact on maintaining the established
Lasers represent a versatile tool for handling a wide industrial leadership of laser and laser processing Laser represent a versatile
range of manufacturing tasks all along the work- technologies in Europe. They will therefore have
tool for handling a wide
flow chain, from material processing through to a direct and positive influence on the future
quality control. Typically the added value generated advanced, laser-based manufacturing technology range of manufacturing tasks
with a machine tool or a laser system, calculated as in Europe. Additionally, they will broaden the base
all along the work flow chain.
a multiple of the cost of the tool itself. Taking due of European manufacturing technology, thereby
account of this factor, the laser processing industry overcoming current disparities and ultimately
on its own is a multi-billion Euro industry, and it sustaining economic strength.
also has a substantial leverage effect on many other
industries, most notably in the European auto
motive sector.
40 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
Quality control:
n Process monitoring sensors
n Combination of laser technology with online non-destructive testing
n Real-time process control for FAI applications
n Multi-spectral imaging and focusing optics
n Multispectral imaging sensors
2.3 Life Science & Health Detailed investigation, employing more advanced Breakthroughs in and
diagnostic methods to locate and precisely evaluate
deployment of Biophotonic
Main socio-economic challenges addressed the origin of the disease, would then be undertaken
if the screening returned a positive result for one of technologies will yield
Progress in the field of photonic methods the disease parameters. Improved diagnostic and
new cost-effective methods
and techniques for Health and Life Sciences interventional methods will be developed, based
will contribute significantly to solving several on improved multi-band (X-ray, Ultraviolet, Visible, for improved diagnosis
of the ‘grand challenges’ of our time as de- Near/Mid/Far IR, Terahertz) photonics, spectroscopic
and therapy.
fined in the Lund Declaration of July 2009, by and endoscopic devices. These should provide more
offering “sustainable solutions in areas such reliable and precise examinations than current ‘gold
as … water and food, ageing societies, public standard’ methods, without increasing examina-
health, pandemics …”. tion costs or duration. An illustrative example is
provided by the diagnosis of bowel cancer, where
For most European countries, the projected demo- the established procedure (white-light colonos-
graphic changes will have drastic consequences for copy) is neither precise nor sensitive enough to
European citizens and their healthcare systems. detect all cancerous lesions, and is considered too
For example, the number of people older than 65 invasive a screening tool for the majority of the
years will double by 2030, leading to a dramatic population. Improved screening should therefore
growth of age-related diseases including Alz indicate where further diagnostics was necessary,
heimer’s disease, cardiac infarction, stroke, age and improved diagnostics could precisely locate and
related macular degeneration, diabetes, kidney analyse the disease, before therapeutic measures
failure, osteoarthritis, and cancer. Greater mobil- were initiated. These could incorporate multi-band
ity of the population will result in the increased photonics techniques to provide safer, personalised
occurrence of pandemics. Therefore, providing treatment methods, tailored for specific therapy
adequate health care for all European citizens will and treatment monitoring.
require enormous efforts. These challenges can
best be met through breakthroughs in and deploy- In addition to their use for the diagnosis and treat-
ment of Biophotonic technologies, yielding new ment of diseases, multi-band photonics methods The trend towards an ageing
cost-effective methods for improved diagnosis and could also provide preventative tools, for example, society in Europe will increase
therapy. These same technologies can also serve to offering analytical methods to monitor and evalu- over the decades. © Fotolia
control water and food quality, thereby reducing
diseases caused by contamination.
ate water and food with regard to quality and po- reflected in the growing level of revenues gener-
tential microbial contaminations. The methods that ated in this field. The frontiers between system
would be employed for this could be essentially the developers and full solution providers often become
same as used for advanced screening, perhaps with blurred, particularly with the growing realisation
minor adaptations for the specific target. There is that the end-users of Biophotonic technologies
considerable synergy with the sensing requirements generally prefer purchasing everything from a single
for Work Group 5 Security: Metrology and Sensors, source. Since most of the Biophotonic technologies
and it is therefore anticipated that there will be and methods are, with the exception of conven-
common solutions, making close collaboration in tional microscopes or current X-ray machines, still
this field highly beneficial. relatively new, the leading medical device manufac-
turers have to date shown relatively little interest,
Involvement of value chain partners and so have limited market presence in this sec-
Biophotonics in itself is already a highly multi tor. A major breakthrough for Biophotonics in the
disciplinary field, involving physicists, chemists, medical devices market would require a significant
and engineers as method and technology develop- increase in the involvement of these companies.
ers, as well as end-users from the fields of biology Similarly, the early and substantial involvement of
and medicine. To some degree, industry already the potential end-users, especially that of physi-
reflects this diversity, comprising component and cians and clinicians, at all stages of development
system developers, as well as full solution provid- will be of utmost importance. The involvement of
ers. Over the last few years, component developers end-users will be critical for the development of
have shown a growing awareness of the increasing solutions tailored to fit their specific needs. Such
importance of Biophotonics, and this has been direct involvement will greatly help maximise the
integration of new tools and techniques within
Biophotonic technologies the established process flow employed in the clini-
and methods will lead to cal environment. The involvement of end-users is
improved diagnosis and generally not an easy task, especially for clinicians,
therapy. © IPHT Jena as their steadily increasing burden limits the time
available, and their focus on patient welfare tends
to result in a relatively conservative attitude to
new approaches. This activity would be strength-
ened by extending the ongoing collaboration with
the Nanomedicine European Technology Platform
(ETP), though additional measures would also be
essential for reaching out further into the medical Cells that have been coloured
world. Additionally, it will be vital to connect with using membrane colourant.
the medical insurance companies to identify and © BioImaging Zentrum (BIZ),
implement opportunities for public procurement. LMU München
This will lead to precise, reliable, gentle and user-
friendly multi-band photonics and spectroscopic
methods, widely deployed in clinics, doctors’ prac-
tices, and other locations where they provide added
value. For addressing food and water quality and
safety, connections to the ETP Food for Life, the ETP
Global Animal Health, and the ETP Water Supply
and Sanitation would be greatly advantageous. A non-neuronal cell of the central
nervous system whose cytoskeleton
Major photonics research & innovation has been coloured. © BioImaging
challenges Zentrum (BIZ), LMU München
In preparation of the second Photonics21 strategic
research agenda, Work Group 3 made an evaluation
of the different application areas within Biophoto
nics to establish where unfulfilled but pressing
needs existed, and where the employment of multi-
band photonics and spectroscopic methods could
really make a difference. As a result, five specific
areas of health-related application fields were iden-
tified as being particularly important and promising,
supplemented by further applications in the fields
of the environment, food quality and security.
even when a cancer has been detected correctly, occurring in the clinical practice. Ideally, a suitable
determining its physical extent for subsequent therapeutic agent should be administered within
removal frequently presents a major challenge. one hour after the occurrence of a septic shock.
A two-step procedure is envisaged for screening Sepsis can be caused by a wide range of bacteria,
citizens for a range of different cancers. In the first as well as by fungi and viruses, so it is of vital impor-
step, photonic (or a combination of photonic and tance to identify the specific pathogen responsible.
non-photonic modalities, such as ultrasound and Conventional techniques like cultivation and even
magnetic resonance) point-of-care technology new techniques based on polymerase chain reac-
would be applied to provide a low cost, rapid and tions (PCR) are often too slow or not sufficiently
reliable risk assessment for a particular cancer or reliable. These techniques need to be replaced
combination of cancers. If the result of this screen- by methods that are really capable of making a
ing indicates risks, advanced and improved ana- difference. Similar techniques, as envisioned for
lytic (multi-band photonic/spectroscopic) methods, use in screening, will also have the potential to
developed for locating and analysing the cancer reliably identify pathogens, determine potential
in a sufficiently reliable and precise way, will be antibacterial resistances, and evaluate the host’s
applied. It is likely that these techniques will make immune response. This will enable the adminis-
use of label-free methods, since the time needed tration of targeted agents, avoiding the use of
for development of a tool such as an endoscope is broad-spectrum antibiotics that could facilitate
usually much shorter than the period necessary to antibacterial resistance. If resistant bacteria are en-
get safety approval of labels for in vivo applications. countered, targeted photodynamic therapies offer
The techniques could, if advantageous, also em- a potential solution, especially since their mode of
ploy a combination of photonic and non-photonic action does not promote resistances. Photonic
technologies, such as ultrasound, magnetic reso- technologies can also be employed for treatment
nance or nuclear scanners. The same techniques monitoring (for example, for infectious diseases
or combinations thereof, employed for localising or cancer therapy) to measure progress and iden-
and identifying a tumor, might also be applied tify necessary treatment modifications, as well as
in an surgical microscope or in an endoscope for monitoring of the local environment and food to
determining the physical extent of degenerated prevent the outbreak of infections (for example,
tissue with unprecedented precision, and thus al- food poisoning from Staphylococcus aureus, de-
low the complete removal of this tissue. In cases scribed below). Ultimately, very cheap photonic
where removal is not possible, for example, in monitoring devices could even be incorporated
the case of large area distributed lesions, as can directly into bandages, infusion sets, etc..
occur for skin cancer, highly targeted treatments
The eye can provide a
based on light, possibly in combination with other Ophthalmology: Although the eye itself is a
‘diagnostic window’ to effective self-targeting therapeutic approaches, tissue affected by age-related diseases, such as
may provide the means for selectively eliminating retinopathy or geriatric macular degeneration, it
the body, offering easy
cancerous tissue. can also provide a so-called ‘diagnostic window’
and minimally-invasive to the body, offering easy and minimally-invasive
Infectious diseases: Often the outcome in the access to the key parameters identified with cardio-
access to key parameters
case of infectious diseases can be highly depend- vascular diseases, diabetes or neurodegenerative
identified with cardio- ent on the time interval between onset of infection diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease. In addition to
and administration of therapeutic agents. This is the currently available morphological information,
vascular diseases, diabetes
particularly true for sepsis, which is still one of the functional information could help diagnose eye
or Alzheimer‘s disease. most underestimated but life-threatening diseases diseases earlier and in a more personalised manner.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 45
Therefore the challenge in this field consists of de- Photonics technologies offer
veloping optical and spectroscopic techniques and enormous potential in
tools that can be applied in a (pre)clinical environ- ophthalmology. © Fotolia
ment. These would be used in combination with
already existing modalities focusing on morphology,
such as optical coherence tomography, to investi-
gate the functional and metabolic state of the eye.
these costs. Other health care issues showing sig- ahead, page 110
nificant increases, which could also be addressed by 6 Photonics21 Strategic Research Agenda Lighting the way
injury and Alzheimer’s disease, both of which result 7 Optech Consulting, 2007. From the report Photonics in
in substantial financial and social costs in the EU. Europe, Economic Impact, published by Photonics 21
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 47
Research Photonic based mobile New and innovative multi- Photonics-based highly Next generation
actions point-of-care devices band photonic and spec- targeted therapies and photonic based
(Which with high user friendli- troscopic imaging methods continuous monitoring of analytical devices for
solutions ness and the following and devices (including therapeutic success (also environmental / food
should be specifications: endoscopes) using multi- based on other therapeutic quality and safety
investigated?) n High sensitivity, modal approaches, that approaches). applications with
specificity and are either label-free or the following
accuracy, with high based on already safety- Next generation of specifications:
reliability and speed approved labels to further Biophotonic methods and n High sensitivity,
n Robustness analyze age and life-style tools to understand the specificity and
n Safe to operate related diseases like cancer, origin of diseases. accuracy with high
n Low cost cardiovascular and eye reliability and speed
n Compliant with diseases and various neuro- n Robustness
Research and inno- Involvement of medical Involvement of medical Involvement of medical Involvement of public
vation requirements device manufacturers, device manufacturers device manufacturers procurer (e.g. public
(Instruments) pharmaceutical indus- and clinicians is man- and clinicians is institutes responsible
Pilot and demon try (PAT initiative) and datory. mandatory. for environment and
stration actions clinicians is mandatory. food safety).
to involve end users Market potential: Market potential: The Market potential: The
of the value chain Aimed at low cost, devices are aimed at techniques and devices Market potential:
Market potential point-of-care devices an employment in are aimed for an Aimed at low cost and
Appropriate innovation that should be made clinics and in doctor’s employment in clinics. mobility, the devices
models (open innova- available to all Euro practices at costs that should find broad and
tion, social innovation pean citizens through are comparable to universal applicability.
etc.) clinics, doctor’s today’s equipment.
practices and even
for home-use.
Cross-cutting Pilot action for mobile Pilot action for Outreach to Health Pilot action for low-
Key Enabling point-of-care screening new and innovative insurance providers cost and fast methods
Technologies (KET) devices together with multi-band photonic and medical device to control water and
issues KET ‘Nanotechnology’ and spectroscopic manufacturers (KET food safety/quality
including enabling imaging devices ‘Nanotechnology’) which are close to
Pilot and technologies for together with KET as well as physicians commercialisation
demonstration point-of-care devices ‘Nanotechnology’. and clinicians for together with KET
actions such as, for example, the deployment of ‘Biotechnology’.
Synergies with microfluidics. Biophotonic technolo-
other KETs gies in health. This in-
cludes actions for clas-
sification of products
and standardisation.
Pilot action for low-
cost and fast analytical
methods for process
analytical technology
(PAT) initiative
together with KET
‘Biotechnology’.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 49
mance ratio will be needed, requiring, amongst development of display systems showing a resolu-
other things, a massive investment in production tion exceeding that of current HDTVs by at least a
equipment. factor of 100. The ubiquitous presence of displays
will continue to create profitable niches, answering
The development of Flexible Electronics is now different needs throughout the European market.
offering a variety of new functionalities, having the
potential to open up a completely new branch of Involvement of Value Chain Partners
industry. This European industry will be built around With respect to energy efficiency and carbon
a large number of SMEs, each of them targeting footprint reductions, the involvement of public
specific application domains with their customised authorities will be critical for pinpointing the added
devices, complemented by existing large compa- value offered by SSL technology (encompassing
nies. Flexible Electronics will also unlock innovation LEDs and OLEDs). Indeed, public authorities own
in traditional industry segments, such as printing, a substantial part of the existing infrastructure for
By acting as a launching plastic moulding, paper, and even textiles. In order both indoor and outdoor lighting, so, by acting as
to respond quickly to the demands of the market, a launching customer for SSL, public authorities will
customer for SSL,
all these companies will need access to flexible be able to benefit directly from the savings offered
public authorities will production facilities. Considering the current lim- by this technology. Additionally, guided by the early
ited availability of financial resources, such capital feedback from the initial launching customers, the
be able to benefit directly
investments will present a clear challenge. SSL industry will be able to achieve a much faster
from the savings offered rollout of this technology.
Despite the display market being dominated (in
by this technology.
terms of production volume) by players from Asia Fragmented information on the effect of incum-
Pacific, Europe has maintained its position of bent lighting technology on people’s health and
strength in material supply, production equipment well-being is already available. However, with the
and visualisation systems. The display industry is advent of SSL technology the spectral, spatial and
currently shifting its focus from LCD (Liquid Crystal temporal distribution of lighting can be readily
Display) towards OLED technology for direct-view adjusted, offering as yet unexplored new oppor-
displays, from lamps towards LEDs for micro- tunities. To investigate and better understand how
displays, and towards high brightness LEDs or solid- tailored lighting conditions could impact the health
state lasers for projection displays. 3D displays that and well-being of people, the direct involvement of
do not require special viewing glasses will be the end-users and experts will be required, the latter
next step in televisual experience, ultimately ena- drawn from the fields of medical science, geron-
bling remote collaboration. This will require the tology, psychology and sociology. In addition to
its impact on humans, tailored lighting conditions
OPV contribute to energy could also affect animals and plants. Therefore,
creation. © Holst Centre close collaboration with experts from the biological
and agricultural domain will be essential, allowing
the potential impact of tailored lighting on the
reliability and efficiency of global food supply to
be assessed.
this hurdle. In order to implement quickly the results OLED light installation
of the Photonics PPP, the EU Commission should Supernova on designer platform
consider establishing a revolving fund with the lab.me. © OSRAM GmbH
participation of the European Investment Bank,
targetting the fast followers.
As with LED technology, system integration for OPV will occur around 2020, allowing sufficient
creating user-centric solutions will require the time for OPV technology to improve and out-
development of hardware and software architec- perform conventional Si-PV technology.
tures, enabling the interoperability of light sources,
actuators and sensors from different suppliers. The innovation challenges facing OPV are very
similar to those facing OLED lighting technology.
OPV Major improvements in the cost performance ratio
Initially OPV is expected to penetrate dedicated will be required to become competitive with the
niche markets, subsequently leading to serving new established Si-PV technology. To achieve this, a
volume markets. A notable example of this would doubling of the present efficiency will be needed,
be providing energy to the 1–2 billion people in as well as a substantial increase in lifetime, and
the world, who will never have direct access to an these targets must be high on the research agenda.
A doubling of the present electricity grid. This could be the perfect stepping- New materials will play a major role in achieving
stone for this technology, exploiting the exceptional these improvements. In parallel with this, scaling up
efficiency of the OPV is being
robustness offered by OPV in comparison to conven- fabrication from cells to modules, and the transition
targeted. tional photovoltaic technology. Future mass mar- from ‘lab to fab’ to manage the complexity of the
kets are anticipated to lie with e-mobility and with processes, will both make a major contribution
building-integrated photovoltaics, which are both to cost reduction. However, this goal can only be
application fields that will profit significantly from reached though a substantial increase in invest-
conformable, flexible and transparent solar cells. ment in pilot production facilities. There are clear
The European Photovoltaic Industry Association opportunities for cross-fertilisation between the
(EPIA) predicts that this massive market uptake of technologoies developed for the OLED lighting and
the OPV industries. For example, whilst OPV will achieving a short time to market for new Flexible
evidently benefit from mass-production methods Electronics devices.
developed in the OLED industry, the roll-to-roll
processes developed for OPV could also benefit Displays
the OLED industry. Displays are one of the most visible expressions
of photonics as a key enabling technology. High-
Flexible Electronics based on OLAE devices fidelity visual communication will increase effi-
Cheap, mass-produced smart systems built around ciency and competitiveness, in particular for high
organic, flexible and large-area electronics will create added-value applications for remote collaboration
many new business opportunities. These will make between professionals, for example, engineers,
use of what is termed ‘human size electronics’, business executives, medical doctors, etc. The dis-
as well as advanced man-machine interfacing. play demands are very heterogeneous and the pre-
Examples include electronic labels for logistics, smart ferred display technology will depend largely on the
packaging, personalised health diagnostics, and specific end-application, for example, direct-view
medical therapy. To date, most attention has been AMOLED (active matrix OLED), e-paper, projection
given to the realisation of generic OLAE devices, displays, and near-to-eye displays.
but the heterogeneous integration of proven func-
tionalities into systems will pave the way towards A high priority has been assigned to the develop-
industrialisation. Initially these devices will integrate ment of technology for AMOLED displays because,
simple functionalities using the existing infrastruc- when compared to conventional liquid crystal
ture with proven integration technologies. In a displays, this technology is potentially superior in
subsequent phase, multiple functionalities will be overall image quality, thickness, power efficiency
integrated in conformable and flexible systems, re- and weight, and all achived at lower manufacturing
quiring new processes and more advanced hetero cost. Research topics are focusing on improvement
geneous integration approaches. Most of these of the metal oxide TFTs and organic TFTs, new OLED
innovative devices will include large area photonics and film materials for longer lifetime, increases
devices, such as displays, lighting elements, OPV in wall plug efficiency, and the development of
and photonics sensors. curved, flexible and rollable displays.
The first steps for creating open prototyping and Specifically for near-to-eye micro-displays, the main
small series production facilities have already challenges include achieving high luminance at
been made. The recommendations of the COLAE reduced pixel size, as well as power reduction.
(Commercialisation clusters of Organic and Large Research topics should therefore focus on new
Area Electronics) co-ordination and support action lighting structures and materials, on the optimisa-
will be instrumental in rationalising the existing tion of colour generation, and on new packaging
European production infrastructure. This rationali- technologies, including improved thin film encap-
sation effort should be strengthened to offer start- sulation.
up companies, existing SMEs and fabless design
houses, the opportunity of exploring the full market The glasses-free 3D display system with >100
potential of their product ideas. Although model- views, needed for a truly immersive experience,
ling and simulation tools are readily available for will require large bandwidth access at the network
silicon-based devices, these are not suitable for endpoints. A rich immersive visual experience
complex heterogeneous Flexible Electronics devices. requires life-size displays with a resolution cor-
The development of such tools will be essential for responding to nominal visual acuity. There is a
56 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
steady move towards these targets with increases tent, and integrating the photonic and flexible
in the number of views and improved resolution electronic devices into larger ICT (Information and
for the displays, and constantly improving net- Communication Technologies) systems.
work bandwidth and latency on the systems side.
Product development and manufacturing need to Furthermore, new advanced materials and nano-
focus on the integration of sensors. Glasses-free materials will contribute greatly to the improve-
3D displays will also require the development of ment of all the photonics devices discussed. This
a specific production infrastructure for the align- is particularly the case for OPV, OLED and Flexile
ment of different views and testing of the overall Electronics devices.
New advanced materials experience. In addition to 3D displays themselves,
immersive experiences require the integration of In addition to this synergy with other key enabling
and nano-materials will lead
visual and auditory capture, haptic feedback, con- technologies, it would be beneficial if, within the
to major improvements trol software, and processing components. The photonics KET, a closer collaboration between
building of a first-of-a-kind true 3D demonstrator the SSL industry and the optical sensor industry
in OPV, OLED and Flexile
will contribute greatly to the development of such were established to speed up the introduction of
Electronics devices. a production infrastructure. intelligent lighting systems. Further, by teaming
up with life science and health sector, innovation
Synergy with other Key Enabling in the domain of flexible electronics for personal-
Technologies ised diagnostics and treatment would be greatly
For all above-mentioned applications, it is essential accelerated.
that the development of photonics technologies
be closely aligned with the latest developments The following table shows the major innovations
in microelectronics technologies. This will allow actions identified for this technology sector. They
the adoption of optimum approaches for driving are the logical consequences of actions already
SSL efficiently, managing and monitoring energy commenced in the FP7 framework programme.
usage of lighting systems, driving the display con- The timing of each of these actions is chosen so
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 57
R Biological
efficiency
S&R Building code
P&MS
OLED R Cost-
High-
performance speed
breakthrough produc- R Open system
tion architecture
facility
for
flexible R
OLEDs Materials
for cost
OPV R Cost- R Off- perfor- P&MS R Integration
performance grid mance Adaptable into building
breakthrough solu- low-cost high- components
tions speed production
facility
Key: CSA Co-ordination & support action LSD Large-scale demonstration & market validation action
R Research project FoKD First-of-a-kind demonstration action
P&MS Pilot production & market sampling S&R Standardisation & regulation action
58 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
as to build on the results of these previous actions, n significant individual savings from energy-
and on the synergies existing between the differ- efficient lighting technologies
ent technologies.
Recent projections by the European Lighting
Market validation should be an integral part of Industry (ELC-CELMA) indicate that by 2020 more
innovation projects, irrespective of whether their than 95% of lighting turnover will be based on
focus is on applied research or on piloting. In some SSL technology, equating globally to €52 billion for
cases, the cost of demonstration and validation luminaires and €12 billion for lamps and lighting
will be too high to be integrated in such actions. engines. These figures indicate a ten-fold increase in
Therefore two new types of instruments are pro- LED luminaire sales and a four-fold increase in LED
posed, First of a Kind Demonstrations, targetting lamp sales compared to present levels. Comparable
complex systems, and Large-scale Demonstration figures for the EU27 show similar growth rates at
& Market Validation Actions, complementing the €18 billion and €4 billion respectively.
existing demonstrations within the CIP programme.
The OPV market is predicted to grow to €630
Expected impact for Europe million by 2022, though still representing less than
In the near future, solid-state light sources (LEDs 1.5% of the predicted total PV market. However,
and OLEDs) will outperform all other light sources around that time OPV is expected to have reached
in terms of efficiency, and will achieve potential sufficient maturity to allow for direct integration
energy savings up to 30–50%. A further 20–50% into building materials, thereby opening up a huge
could be saved if SSL technology is combined with mass market. By 2016 the world market for rooftop
Advanced SSL systems
intelligent light management systems that regulate building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) is predicted
could cut present-day light output according to ambient lighting condi- to reach €2 billion, and the market for wall inte-
tions or people’s presence and activities. Overall grated PV to reach €1 billion. The latter market
electricity consumption for
therefore, advanced SSL could cut present-day will profit greatly from the advent of OPV, and is
lighting by about 70%. electricity consumption for lighting by about 70%. expected to exceed the existing Si-PV market by a
factor of at least 10.
The realisation of such digital lighting solutions
would result in huge benefits78 : The present Si-PV off-grid market is approximately
n more than €300 billion saved annually on €2.4 billion with an estimated CAGR of 9–15%.
the global energy bill Conservative estimates indicate that the off-grid
n global reduced emission by more than 1000 OPV market could easily match this value.
million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year
n the economy boosted by strengthening Flexible Electronics based on OLAE devices are ex-
Europe’s industrial position in lamps, lumi- pected to enable completely new markets, offering
naires and driver electronics, which together large business opportunities to specialised start-up
already employ over 150 000 people companies, as well as to existing large electronics
n society at large benefiting from the greater companies. Additionally, Flexible Electronics will
visual comfort of superior lighting solutions, also drive innovation in the more traditional paper
and reduced light pollution through more and plastic industries. As with all emerging tech-
closely focused lighting nologies though, the prediction of reliable market
forecasts is difficult, particularly because Flexible
8 ICT for Energy Efficiency, DG-Information Society and Media, Electronics could impact so many market segments,
Ad-Hoc Advisory Group Report including consumer goods, building components,
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 59
transport, healthcare, gaming, packaging & logis- multiplication effect thus generated is estimated
tics, food, and pharmaceutics. Specific information to be a factor of 3 for the low-end segment, rising
on the consequent economic impact in terms of to a factor of 10 for the high-end segment. It is
either turnover or job creation is therefore not cur- estimated that global sales of advanced 3D displays
rently available. However, the overall OLAE market, will reach €10 billion by 2021, with a 35% share
including Flexible Electronics devices, OLED lighting for European companies, and a show CAGR of
and displays, and OPV, is expected to grow from its 15% over the period 2021–2025. This will increase
present value of €1 billion to between €100–200 the overall annual turnover to some €36 billion by
billion, depending on the source consulted. 2025. The realisation of this ambition will require
the development of a European eco-system. The
Display-enabled rich visual communication will development of such systems will require high-
trigger the next communication revolution for quality advanced engineering as well as the in-
professional users, offering attractive alternatives volvement of experts in the fields of psychology,
to the less effective collaboration tools of today, sociology and user experience. This is expecetd
thereby avoiding the need for many travel-inten- to generate approximately 5000 highly qualified
sive, face-to-face meetings. In Europe alone, this is new jobs in science and engineering. Also, the
expected to result in a 20% reduction in business job creation in production is predicted to reach
trips, saving 22 million tonnes of CO2 emissions 14 000, along with an additional 28 000 jobs in
per year. At the same time, the deployment of sales and services.
such systems will contribute directly to increased
productivity in several other markets, especially In the short term, the Photonics PPP will contribute
in the service sector. This sector alone generates greatly to the consolidation of the European light-
75% of the EU GDP, and increased productivity ing industry’s current number one position, and
accounts for 50% of its annual growth. Europe further offers the opportunity to outpace the com-
is ideally placed to establish a leadership position petition from other regions through focussing on
in this sector, being home to many of the largest the added-value lighting, rather than cost alone.
system integrators and having unique strengths In the longer term Organic Large Area Electronics
in end-user centric and application-driven design. has a huge potential to build new businesses and
new jobs for Europe.
As well as the advanced 3D displays themselves,
additional components will be required to create
a rich visual experience for the user. The business
2.5 Security, Metrology & Sensors death toll of more than 3000 people, costing up to
$35 billion in medical costs and lost productivity 102.
Main socio-economic challenges addressed
Already today, we possess the biochemical and
Today, over 70 million organic and inorganic technical means to identify small numbers of
substances are on record 9, and for most of molecules or microbes in a sample. However, all
these, little is known about their potential these methods are expensive and time-consuming.
Optical methods will
danger to humans. Although only a small Optical methods may provide breakthrough solu-
provide breakthrough fraction of this plethora of molecules are mar- tions to this highly relevant problem, overcoming
keted and released into the environment, our the traditional, tedious chemical lab analysis. For
solutions for sensing
society is confronted daily with a growing example, it is known that measurement techniques
hazardous substances. number of potentially hazardous chemicals. in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range, known
also as the fingerprinting/diagnostic region, are
Well-known examples of the reality of this threat highly specific to individual molecules, even able to
include the contamination of milk with melamine, distinguish between isotopes in their atomic con-
of drinking water with herbicides and fungicides, stituents. Optical methods can also be extremely
of wine with glycol, and of plastic food containers sensitive, exploiting the existence of photonic
with hormone-like components (endocrine disrup- sensors capable of detecting the arrival of single
tive compounds). As a result, increasingly and often photons with sub-nanosecond timing precision.
justifiably, our citizens feel threatened by potential Additionally, very sensitive and highly specific novel
hazards contained in the foodstuffs they eat and diagnostic techniques are emerging, such as Raman
drink, and in the air they breathe. and LIBS spectroscopy, whose performance would
be much improved if operation could be extended
Much worse, naturally occurring molecules, pro- into the infrared spectral range. However, the major
duced by microorganisms within our food, repre- problem with the current photonic devices and
sent an even larger threat to our society’s health. detection systems capable of achieving the required
The WHO estimates that The WHO estimates that more than two billion specifications is that they are much too expensive
illnesses are caused by unsafe food every year, for the realisation of affordable, practical sensing
more than two billion
and in the developing world alone, two million systems! Consequently, if the challenges described
illnesses are caused by children die annually from contaminated food and above for food/air/water/environmental safety and
water . In Western countries, 5–10 people per
810
security, are to be solved, it is essential that multi-
unsafe food every year.
million inhabitants die every year from food borne band photonic sensing is developed, leading to
diseases . In the USA alone, this claims an annual
911
a safer and more secure society. Once available,
these photonic innovations will lead to numerous
additional applications, further improving many
9 On-line Registry of the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) aspects of our daily lives.
of the American Chemical Society: http://www.cas.org
10 WHO Reports on Food Safety Issues, WHO Global Strategy Major Photonics needs
for Food Safety: Safer Foord for Better Health, World Health The near infrared (NIR) spectral range (0.8–2.5
Organization, Food Safety Department, Geneva (Switzerland) µm) is already employed for many tasks in food
2002, ISBN 92 4 154574 7 inspection (moisture sensing, content of protein/
11 D. Pimentel et al., Ecoloy of Increasing Diseases: Population
Growth and Environmental Degradation, Hum Ecol Vol. 35: 12 Wikipedia article on Foodborne Diseases: http://en.wikipedia.
oil/fat/starch/sucrose/fibres, detection of foreign cost-effective EIR sensor devices and make them
particles and nut/fruit-stone inclusions, quality affordable for general use, despite the abundance
and ripeness of fruit and vegetables, etc.), as well of highly relevant practical applications operating in
as in recycling and waste treatment (sorting of the infrared spectral domain. While the important
wastepaper, cardboard, plastics/polymers, fuels, ultraviolet and visible (UV/VIS) spectral domain
industrial waste). The diagnostic mid-infrared (MIR) is accessible using the ubiquitous silicon photo
region (2.5–7 µm) yields information about the sensors, we have to progress beyond silicon in
presence of functional groups in samples, ena- order to meet the challenges of the EIR domain.
bling, for example, the identification of numerous
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in gases. The The challenge is therefore clear – we need to
fingerprint MIR region (7–11 µm) allows the dif- develop new high-performance yet affordable
ferent compounds in a sample to be distinguished, photonic devices. Specifically:
due to the specific spectral ‘fingerprint’ of each n quantum-noise-limited active optoelectronic
molecule in this spectral domain, utilising the large devices (coherent and incoherent sources,
existing collections of reference spectra in vapour detectors) based on inorganic/organic semi-
and condensed phases. Finally, the far infrared and conductor materials, offering the appropriate
THz region (up to 1000 µm) offers complementary EIR properties.
fingerprinting capabilities using specific spectral n CMOS-based charge detector platforms with
signatures, with the additional benefit of deep low-noise/low-power/high-speed-readout per-
penetration in standard packaging materials such formance that can be combined with many
as paper, plastics or textiles. classes of semiconductor materials.
n novel measurement techniques to exploit the
Some of these critical measurements in the ex- beneficial properties of such newly developed
tended infrared (EIR) spectral domain (1–1000 µm) EIR detectors for industrial applications.
can be performed today, albeit with very expensive n affordable non-toxic cooling solutions (in par-
active and passive photonic components. For ex- ticular thermo-electric coolers) for EIR photo-
ample, a moderate-power MIR laser costs €10,000, sensing and light emission platforms
an uncooled FIR bolometer camera costs at least n a wide range of low-cost passive optical com-
€50,000, a 128x128 NIR image sensor (InGaAs) ponents, to enable the integration of complete
costs €4000, a single photodiode (InAsSb) for the EIR systems.
1–5 µm band costs €1000, and even a single silicon
microlens (for wavelengths above 1.1 µm) costs The overall goal is to conquer the EIR spectral range
€50. Clearly it is not currently possible to realise with a complete toolbox of low-cost active and
62 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
passive photonic devices. These will be used to Photonics is essentially a three-dimensional chal-
provide reliable, high-performance yet affordable lenge, and current microelectronic planar fabrica-
diagnostics measurement methods and systems tion methods have only limited capability to be
for professional and consumer use. extended into the third dimension. Precise, low-cost
photonic microsystems require novel, cost-effective,
Involvement of value chain partners 3D fabrication methods. These combine a very high
The development of The challenge of providing such multi-band pho- degree of integration with a minimum number of
tonic sensing for a safer and more secure society assembly steps, inherently providing the micron/
multi-band photonic sensing
is enormously ambitious, because true innova- sub-micron resolution necessary for photonic mi-
will make a huge contribution tion in this highly interdisciplinary domain requires crosystems. Therefore, close collaboration with the
exceptional science and engineering capabilities KET Advanced Manufacturing will be essential.
towards a safer and more
combined with advanced production skills.
secure society. Finally, a key element for any successful innova-
The materials challenges are significant, and a close tion process is the early involvement of potential
collaboration with the KET Advanced Materials will application partners, so as to ensure that the de-
be essential for solving them. In particular, the neces- signed systems really meet the specifications and
sary inorganic/organic optoelectronic materials are expectations of the end users. A vast range of ap-
not very common, the demands on inorganic crys- plication domains is anticipated for the envisaged
talline purity are very high, and only a few organic multiband sensor technologies, so early contact
semiconductors are known possessing a cut-off with several of Europe’s Technology Platforms (ETPs)
wavelength above 1 µm. Additionally, efficient will be necessary to ensure systematic and coor-
thermoelectric cooling requires new novel material dinated goal setting, R&D activities, and practical
systems that will be affordable and non-toxic, yet verification. These include specifically, the ETPs
very few alternatives to today’s bismuth tellurides for Nanomedicine, Food, WSSTP (Water Supply
have been commercialised to date. and Sanitation Technology), GAH (Global Animal
Health), SMR (Sustainable Mineral Resources),
Certain materials required for NIR/MIR active opto EuMaT (Advanced Engineering Materials and
electronic devices must be formed as nanoparti- Technologies), EPoSS (Smart Systems Integration)
cles to be effective. Also, an important class of and Industrial Safety.
MIR lasers and detectors employs the quantum
cascade mechanism, requiring precise design and Major photonic research & innovation
fabrication of hundreds of nanometer-thin layer challenges
structures. To solve these nano-engineering chal- The guiding principle for all the envisaged R&D
lenges, collaboration with the KET Nanotechnology efforts is to achieve affordable effectivity for the
will be critical. measurement task. For example, it is pointless to
develop an EIR laser source with record quantum
Usually the production cost of optoelectronic efficiency at a wavelength, for which no high sen-
devices is dominated by the packaging process, sitivity photodetectors are available. For all com-
and not by the employed materials themselves. To ponents of a complete photonic measurement
minimise such costs, the techniques and fabrication system, a sensible cost-performance balance must
facilities developed for microelectronics have and be identified, so that the resulting system solves
will be used wherever possible for photonic device the given measurement task in a reliable and af-
fabrication. Consequently, this has resulted in very fordable manner.
close ties with the KET Micro- and Nanoelectronics.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 63
The primary goal is to employ CMOS technology ing devices in the MIR spectral range are much
for the integration of 2D arrays of charge detectors more expensive. Therefore, optical designers are
offering sub-electron readout noise, with suitable significantly limited in their design optimisation,
inorganic/organic material systems, and resulting in and the prices of the resulting system are increased
affordable single-photon resolution image sensors correspondingly. Hence a large demand exists for
covering a large part of the NIR spectral range. Such a complete set of cost-effective passive optical
CMOS-based single-photon NIR image sensors with devices for the MIR spectral range, produced with
one Megapixel should cost less than €100. affordable materials, and making use of Europe’s
advanced precision manufacturing technologies.
Low-cost, high-performance micro-coolers
A miniature refrigeration device is an indispen- The goal here is to develop high-precision yet low-
sable element for any stable EIR light source and cost fabrication and coating technologies for the
low-noise detector. Many physical methods are production of the passive optical elements, suitable
known for transporting heat, involving mechanical, for the efficient design of optical instruments work-
magnetic, electrical, acoustic, incoherent/coherent ing in the EIR spectral domain. The long-term aim
radiation or thermal energy. In photonics, the pre- is to provide large volumes of such components
dominant refrigeration device is the thermo-electric for prices around €1 per element.
cooler (TEC), based almost exclusively on bismuth-
telluride. Today’s TECs are highly inefficient, typi- Optical fibre light-guides and sensors
cally exhibiting only 5–8% of the Carnot efficiency, Low-loss optical fibres are ideal devices for the
compared to the 40–50% of a vapour-compressor. efficient guided transportation of NIR/MIR light,
Novel solid-state concepts, such as the thermi- for accurate and minimally invasive probing, for
onic converter, can potentially go beyond 50% the construction of NIR/MIR laser sources, as well
efficiency, and they can be manufactured with as for the realisation of complete distributed fibre
well-established microelectronics fabrication tech- sensors. In addition, functionalised optical fibres
nology; their production can be very cost-effective can be very sensitive as chemical, biological or
and high levels of integration with other photonic medical sensor systems, and the use of the NIR/
elements can be achieved. MIR spectral range offers additional benefits for the
performance of such cost-effective, simple-to-use
The primary goal is to develop affordable, minia- biosensor systems.
ture TEC devices capable of removing waste heat
between 0.1 W (for EIR detectors) and 10 W (for The goal here is to develop a range of novel optical
EIR light sources), with an efficiency of close to fibre sensors for distributed low-cost sensing in
50% of the Carnot value, and at prices below €10 safety and security applications with enhanced
(0.1 W) or below €100 (10 W). sensitivity and functionality, and making use of
advances in microstructured fibres, optofluidics
Passive optical devices and nanotechnology.
Development of optical instruments in the UV / VIS /
NIR spectral domain is aided significantly by the Measurement techniques for processes and
availability of many passive optical elements such production lines
as lenses, mirrors, beam-splitters and gratings. Industrial exploitation of multi-band photonic sens-
For large volumes, manufacturers in Asia provide ing requires the development of comprehensive
such elements with unit prices well below €1. The measurement techniques, making use of the advan-
materials and technologies used for correspond- tageous properties of new photonic components.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 65
Expected impact for Europe for food processing machinery and equipment
Europe could become the world leader in non- it is approximately €35 billion 14.
contact fingerprint diagnostics by commercially
exploiting the as yet under utilised domain of multi- Environment: Contamination of our environment,
band UV/VIS/EIR photonic sensing for a safer and be it fresh water resources, seawater, soil, or the
more secure society. Many of the scientific and air we breathe, is an increasing worry for our in-
technological capabilities to exploit the EIR spectral dustrialised society. By allowing the screening of
domain are already located in Europe. These include large volumes of air, water and soil probes, EIR
novel materials related to microelectronics, active/ analysis methods provide an excellent complement
passive device fabrication, packaging of photonic to the more specific and highly sensitive biochemi-
components, development and production of pho- cal analysis techniques. An important application is
tonic sub-systems, as well as development and the detection and prevention of oil contamination
deployment of comprehensive system solutions. in seawater, for example, through the routine water
inspection in ship ballast tanks. The global market
The envisaged EIR measurement techniques are for environmental monitoring is about €10 billion 15.
not a replacement for high-sensitivity biochemical
assay-based measurement systems, but instead Water: Drinking water and treated wastewater
provide a complement, bringing affordable, label- alike must fulfill certain purity requirements. EIR
free fingerprint analysis methods from the labora- measurements will be a valuable complement to
tory into the hands of the consumer. In practice, existing biochemical analysis techniques in screen-
these techniques will find much wider use than ing large volumes of water for contaminations
merely in the applications described above: in moderate concentrations. The global market
for water analysis instrumentation is about €1.5
Analysis methods will Food: EIR analysis methods will be used for check- billion1416.
ing raw foodstuff materials, in-line controlling of
be used for checking
manufacturing processes, confirming the safe Efficient combustion: Many of our sources of
raw foodstuff materials, sealing of packaged goods, and for assuring the electricity, heat and light are based on combus-
quality of processed food. The non-contact na- tion processes. Frequently, the employed fossil or
in-line controlling of
ture of photonics enables such checks without pre- renewable fuel is not of constant quality, and the
manufacturing processes, processing food samples, even without opening combustion process has to be adapted for varying
the package. EIR analysis methods will also enable fuel quality. It would be of great value to know the
and for confirming the safe
retailers and customers to judge the ripeness of fruit composition of the fuel used, be it in domestic
sealing of packaged goods. and vegetables, and to determine whether food is heating systems or in public buildings, in moving
still safe to eat. This could help to reduce significantly vehicles or especially in ships. The same is true for
the percentage of discarded food, which, according the analysis of the exhaust gases. In-line measuring
to a recent UN report, currently amounts to about
30% of all produced food 13. The global market 14 Food Processing Machinery and Equipment – A Global
for processed food is more than €2.6 trillion, and Strategic Business Report, Global Industry Analysts Inc.,
13 J. Gustavsson et al., Global Food Losses and Food Waste, 16 Water Analysis Instrumentation: A Global Strategic Business
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Report, Global Industry Analysts Inc., San Jose (USA),
Critical path 1. Demonstration of 1. Field tests with 1. Design and realisation International market
from science EIR system concepts demonstrator systems. of low-cost versions of penetration with
with high application 2. Realisation of successful systems using new low-cost EIR
to market
potential. new EIR component new EIR components. systems, components
2. Invention of new prototypes. 2. Ramp-up of EIR and applications.
potent low-cost EIR component and
components. sub-system production.
Technological New materials and Optimisation of device Buildup of cost-effective Sustainable performance
challenges principles for EIR lasers, architecture and perfor- production capacity using and reliability at
LEDs, 1D/2D detectors, mance. Simplification modified micro/nano- constantly falling
TEC and passive optical of device fabrication electronics fabrication prices of systems and
devices. processes. facilities. components.
Innovation Buildup of European net- Establishment of supply Involvement of end users Joint field tests with
requirements work of competence in chains for advanced EIR in primary and secondary end users. Buildup of
EIR devices and systems. optoelectronic compo- application fields: Food/ user communities, pro-
Involvement of existing nents and metrology air/water/ environmental ducing and exchanging
producers of photonic systems with emphasis safety and security; medi- databases and practical
materials and compo- on European suppliers cal diagnostics/recycling/ experiences. Support
nents in Europe. Search of high-margin produc- combustion & building of system design and
for secondary applica- tion steps. Support of control/surveillance & application startups
tions of EIR spectral European startups in the public place security/ created as a result of the
range with high value. EIR domain, created as a anti-counterfeiting. previous demonstration
result of novel concepts Demonstration actions successes.
found in the first phase for all selected showcase
of the program. examples.
Cross-cutting Involvement of KETs Joint selection of high impact Buildup of user groups Promotion of the EIR
Key Enabling relevant for material application areas in safety & and European competence spectral range for ap-
and device fabrication: security of food, air, water & network in EIR system plications beyond those
Technologies
Advanced materials, environmental control, design and applications. demonstrated in the
(KET) issues in close collaboration with Collaboration with other
micro nano-electronics program. Identification
other KETs and ETPs. KETs and ETPs in the elabo-
and advanced manu of applications with high-
Elaboration of secondary ration of system specifica-
facturing. est socioeconomic values
applications as discussed tions and conditions for
below (medical, waste treat- practical applications of the
created in Europe.
ment, building control, anti- developed concepts, devices
counterfeiting, traffic safety, and sub-systems in other
industrial metrology, etc.). domains.
68 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
of the produced levels of O2, COx and NOx makes broader utilisation of automatic sorting systems.
it possible to optimise the combustion process, in- Also, networks of local automatic plastics recog-
creasing efficiency, whilst producing the minimum nition and tracking systems can be realised for
volume of harmful gases. In all these applications, plastic waste in rivers, lakes and seas, thus reducing
it has already been proven that EIR measurements the environmental contamination of plastic trash.
can provide viable solutions, but monitoring system The total world waste market (from collection to
prices must be reduced by 1– 2 orders of magnitude recycling) is about €300 billion 1517.
before EIR fuel quality checks and exhaust gas
analysis can become economically viable. Optical metrology: Optical 3D measuring sys-
tems are essential components for high-precision
Building control: Stricter building codes for envi- fabrication, as safety measures in automatic doors
ronmentally friendly houses involve greater insula- and robotic workstations, in private and public
tion of buildings, to such a degree that internal transportation, as well as in novel user interfaces
air quality is increasingly becoming an issue. In for computers and games. The precision of these
particular, levels of CO2 and some volatile organic metrology systems could be substantially increased
compounds causing unpleasant odors must be and their ubiquitous outdoor use would be made
controlled to optimise ventilation. The high prices possible if the interference of background radia-
of existing EIR analysis systems imply that such solu- tion (sunlight) were reduced. According to the
tions will only be applied to large public buildings. European eye safety norm EN 60825, the maxi-
Price reduction would make it possible to provide mum permissible exposure in eye-safe metrology
every low-energy house with this much-needed systems may be increased by more than 100,000
capability. times by shifting the wavelength of the active
light source to the range of 1.5–1.8 µm, beyond
Recycling and waste treatment: The sorting of the reach of silicon 1618. The global optical metrology
wastepaper, cardboard, plastics/polymers, fuels, in- market is about €20 billion.
dustrial waste, etc. for recycling or proper disposal
can be done at high speed using NIR/MIR analysis Medical diagnostics: Novel approaches to non-
systems. The current high cost means that only invasive medical diagnostics include breath analysis,
larger facilities have such sorting systems. Lower and it has been conclusively shown that a number
prices of these analysis devices will allow much of relevant diseases, in particular cancer and dia-
betes, can be detected by analysing the patient’s
Photonic solutions contribute to breath for the presence of specific combinations
a sustainable recycling and waste of biomarker gases. Such measurements can be
management. © Fotolia done using non-invasive optical techniques alone,
operating in the MIR spectral range. Providing that
prices of such breath analysers drop substantially,
The Freedonia Group, Cleveland (USA), December 2010 22 ACG Statistics on Counterfeiting and Piracy,
21 OICA Correspondents Survey: World Motor Vehicle The Anti-Counterfeiting Group, High Wycombe (UK), 2010
2.6 Design and Manufacturing food chain, for example in equipment and services
(such as telecommunications, health care and
of Optical Components and Systems
manufacturing using laser tools), experience tells
us that competitiveness here is vitally depend-
Main socio-economic challenges addressed ent upon access to the most advanced photonics
technologies at the component level. Without dif-
As a fundamental pillar of modern industry, ferentiating technology, truly innovative products
a Key Enabling Technology, photonics under- will surely be elusive, and, without strong support
pins solutions for the widest possible range for discovery and innovation, we cannot achieve
of socio-economic needs. For example, the strong added-value production. We therefore em-
Internet of today depends on the ubiquitous phasise the importance of a European supply chain
application of photonics in telecommunica- in the strategically important areas of component
tions infrastructure and, as our society become and systems technology, embracing high-volume
ever more information-intensive, our needs in manufacturing as well as high-value, specialised
this respect will continue to grow. Laser-based components.
techniques have revolutionised manufacturing
industry and medical procedures, whilst pho- In the following text we set out a top-level agenda
tonic sensors are indispensable in providing a based on a number of key technical capabilities,
safer environment. including photonic integrated circuit (PIC) integra-
tion platforms, advanced semiconductor device
These examples serve only to illustrate the wider technology, electro-optical circuit board technol-
fact that photonics is pervasive in modern life. ogy, new materials, and new technologies such as
Whilst specific applications are addressed in the nanophotonics, which constitute a prerequisite for
previous chapters contributed by Work Groups 1–5, Europe’s continued ability to innovate in photonics
there are numerous aspects that are generic to a and to be competitive in manufacturing. These
wide range of applications: these are the enablers capabilities represent key enablers for a vibrant
of our field and accordingly deserve focused atten- European components and systems industry, able
tion in their own right. We accordingly emphasise to thrive in global markets and to deliver the socio-
here the development of technologies that have the economic benefits for Europe.
potential to transform major sectors of our industry.
In addition to stimulating the development of
It is vital that European In order to maximise the benefit to European so- new photonic technologies, it is vital that our pro-
ciety, it is vital that European industry is strong at gramme facilitates the availability of, and access to,
industry is strong at every
every level, from devices and components through these technologies by innovators and entrepreneurs
level, from devices and to systems, also embracing manufacturing equip- across the EU. We have accordingly identified a
ment and methodologies. number of measures that are designed to ensure
components through to
that new technology is brought to the market-
systems, also embracing Major photonics needs place in the most timely manner, managing the
As has been noted throughout this document, pho- risk factors that might prove insuperable for any
manufacturing equipment
tonic technology is a critical enabler for an extreme- individual player. Our recommendations include
and methodologies. ly broad range of industrial products and services, pilot manufacturing capabilities in key constitu-
as well as a vital tool for scientific research across ent technologies, including photonic integrated
many disciplines. Although the economic impact circuits, integration of photonics with electron-
may be most apparent at the higher levels of the ics, certain classes of semiconductor devices and
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 71
industries, including microelectronics, life sciences, material (for example, indium phosphide, gallium
ICT and advanced manufacturing. Furthermore, it is arsenide), silicon, or dielectric material. As a result
vital that we engage and support the full spectrum of past EU investments, Europe has a very strong
of industrial players, from SMEs to large manufac- position in these technologies. Whilst photonic
turing enterprises. integration is one of the most important keys to
competitive advantage, present ways of working
Major photonic research & innovation do not unlock its full potential. Not every sup-
challenges plier can be vertically integrated, and access to
Our vision is built on the foundations of world- technologies by smaller companies, for example,
leading research in focused areas that are relevant SMEs, is currently very limited. Furthermore the
to photonics across the board, coupled with initia- large variety of photonic devices and technolo-
tives designed to ensure that the resulting technol- gies that have been developed is beginning to
ogy is put to use in the most efficient and effective limit progress in the industry. Europe has taken the
manner. We have identified a number of priority lead in developing a new way of working, based
areas for investment in generic technologies that on integration technology platforms supported by
Europe has taken the lead will have a high impact across a wide range of generic foundry manufacturing, which can provide
applications, thereby complementing the recom- a step-change in the effectiveness and applicability
in developing integration
mendations of the applications-oriented working of Photonic Integrated Circuit (PIC) technology.
technology platforms groups. These relate specifically to the following European initiatives on generic photonic integration
areas: have attracted great interest and are beginning to
supported by generic foundry
n Photonic integration, including the development be emulated worldwide, particularly in the USA.
manufacturing, significantly of generic integration platforms and foundry It is vital that these initiatives are carried forward
models, thereby allowing complex linear and in Horizon 2020, so that the most advanced PIC
increasing the effectiveness
nonlinear photonic functionality to be realized technologies are developed in the most efficient
and applicability of Photonic in an integrated form way and made accessible for exploitation to the
n Integration of photonics with microelectronics widest spectrum of end-users. Innovation actions
Integrated Circuit technology.
at the chip, board and system levels in this area have been specifically identified as a
n Technologies for cost-effective manufacturing priority by the applications-oriented work groups,
of components and subsystems, including au- especially in Information and Communications
tomated photonic device assembly and electro- technology (Work Group 1).
optical circuit board technology
n Semiconductor optical device technology, with The generic integration approach has proved
particular reference to semiconductor lasers highly successful in the microelectronics industry
n Exploitation of new materials, including new and although the challenges in applying the same
semiconductors and nanophotonic materials (for methodology to photonics are different and are
example, metamaterials & plasmonics), multi- in some ways greater, we can nevertheless learn
functional fibres, and their associated fabrica- from the microelectronics experience. For instance,
tion technologies foundry-access programs, such as MOSIS in the
USA, had a pivotal impact in the development
Our first recommendation relates to photonic in- of the VLSI industry, not least by training a large
tegration. As in microelectronics, many applica- number of designers in circuit design techniques,
tions can be addressed in a much more compact and we therefore recommend that a similar ap-
and cost-effective way by integrating the required proach should be adopted in Europe for applica-
functionality in a single chip of III-V semiconductor tion-specific photonic integrated circuits in silicon
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 73
photonics, III-V semiconductors and dielectric and ments into generic PIC capabilities at the earliest
polymer materials. Furthermore, just as in micro- opportunity. In addition, extension to new wave-
electronics, we must invest significant scientific length ranges (for example, visible, UV) should
resources in the development and evolution of be addressed. Further advances in manufacturing
robust, accurate and efficient simulation and com- techniques will certainly also be required, for exam-
puter aided design (CAD) tools and in process and ple, developments in high-volume, high precision,
packaging technologies supporting the generic and cost-effective techniques, such as nanoimprint
platform approach. Consideration should also be lithography (NIL).
given to the integration of optical circuit design
tools with systems-level simulation tools, in order Alongside the development of device and circuit European strengths in
to facilitate a holistic approach to the develop- technology, a concerted attack must be made on
hybrid photonic integration,
ment of application-specific products based on the challenges of cost-effective manufacturing
PIC technology. of components and subsystems. Here we need including photonic lightwave
to deploy European expertise on robotics, auto-
circuit technologies, are
In order to expedite the future evolution of our mated precision assembly and test technologies
chosen platforms, we propose research on large- to offset the cost advantage of Far-Eastern manu- a major advantage.
scale integration processes allowing the seamless facturers, and ensure that the full value chain can
introduction of new technologies. It is vital that be addressed within Europe. We envisage here a
the platforms can embrace new technologies with synergistic exploitation of electronic, optical and
potential for improvements in functionality, com- mechanical technologies in an optimum combina-
pactness, energy efficiency, manufacturability or tion. New structures with improved capacity for
cost-effectiveness. Technologies such as photonic heat dissipation and thermal control are essential,
circuits based on membranes, nanowires, photonic as are strategies for managing electromagnetic
crystals, metamaterials and plasmonics, including design challenges. European strengths in hybrid
optical antenna structures, should be supported, photonic integration, including photonic lightwave
and opportunities sought to integrate these ele- circuit technologies, should be exploited, along
lasers, ranging from high power GaAs devices for based on new materials, semiconductors, metama-
laser-assisted manufacturing, printing and medi- terials, nanostructures and plasmonics, as well as
cal uses, to highly compact vertical cavity surface multifunctional optical fibres. A large proportion
emitting lasers (VCSELs), such as are employed in of the most important advances in photonics have
human interface devices (mouse sensors, tracking been related to the availability of new materials.
devices), data links, data storage and biomedi- Nanophotonic materials and structures, as well
cal/sensor applications. We must ensure that this as heterogeneous combinations of materials (for
European lead in III-V semiconductor device tech- example, III-V/Si), can provide the basis for unique
nology is maintained and strengthened. Research capabilities, permitting photonic functions with
is required not only on the devices themselves, but unprecedented performance in terms of size,
also with respect to integration with modulators, speed, power dissipation and functionality. Nano-
MEMS devices and electronics, as well as incorpora- fabrication techniques with unique capabilities
tion into the complete electro-optical subsystems. should be explored, including site-controlled epi-
Specific drivers that should be addressed include taxy and epitaxy on patterned substrates. The po-
active imaging (including gesture recognition for tential of organic materials and organic-inorganic
human/machine interface and devices for auto- combinations should be fully investigated: whilst
mobile safety), as well as heat-assisted magnetic the role of these materials in OLED devices is dis-
recording. cussed in Work Group 4, we envisage here a wider,
generic applicability. Nanostructured surfaces can
Whilst specific aspects of laser and optical system have chemically and biologically active functionality,
development are covered in the applications-led which will facilitate the development of new sensor
work packages, we note here the importance of devices. Combination of existing and new materi-
continued improvements in power scaling, efficiency als with different functions (i.e. photon generation
and extension to new wavelengths, including the and saturable absorption) in a single optical fibre
ultra-violet, green, mid-infrared (>1.5μm) and THz or waveguide will push forward the integration
spectral regions, all of which require correspond- of functionalities presently performed by discrete
ing developments in materials (semiconductors, components. Furthermore, these advances must
glass and crystals), device and manufacturing be brought rapidly into use. Europe is performing A lead in the application
technology, as well as advances in related opti- well in many highly dynamic market areas that
of new materials and
cal components. These advances, in discrete as demand rapid innovation and the exploitation
well as integrated form will underpin important of disruptive materials and processes. This trend nanostructures in practical
applications in industrial manufacturing, printing, can be supported through coordinated research
devices will underpin
medical systems, visualisation, 3D-recognition, and and the evolution of innovative manufacturing
in sensing and spectroscopy for biomedical and models. To summarise, a lead in the application significant competitive
security applications, through exploitation of both of new materials and nanostructures in practical
advantage for European
linear and nonlinear interactions. We note also the devices will underpin significant competitive ad-
need for continuing development in electro-optic vantage for European industry. industry.
transducers, modulators and detectors towards
higher speeds and linearity, such as will be needed We emphasise that in order to exploit the advances
for Tbit/s interconnects, communications and sen- in research and development in the areas noted
sor systems involving synergistic digital processing. above, concerted actions are required to bridge
the gap between research and exploitation. In
Finally, at the most fundamental level, we recom- particular, we have identified several areas where
mend a continuing focus on emerging technologies pilot production capabilities will be indispensable
76 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
Photonics is a strong in proving technical capabilities at the appropriate component technologies is extremely large: as an
scale, and bringing technologies within reach of en- example, we may consider that the global market
export industry: the European
trepreneurial companies in the various application for telecommunications services, at more than €2
market of optical components domains. These actions are identified specifically in trillion, is critically dependent upon the capabili-
the following roadmap timeline. This also identifies ties of its constituent photonic elements. Similar
and systems represents about
those areas where the required research, develop- considerations apply in other market sectors. The
11% of the total European ment and innovation actions should be coordinated leading players in communications, laser technolo-
between Photonics and other KETs, such as micro/ gies, lighting and bio-photonics all require inno-
photonics production, while
nanoelectronics, advanced manufacturing, materi- vative optical components as the basis for their
the European market share als and biotechnology. differentiation in the marketplace. We should also
note that photonics is a strong export industry: the
in the global market place
Expected impact for Europe European market of optical components and sys-
approaches 50%. As has been noted elsewhere, photonics is one of tems represents about 11% of the total European
the most vibrant areas of the European economy. photonics production, while the European market
The total world market of optical components share in the global market place approaches 50%.
and systems was estimated in 2009 to be in the We note also that European manufacturers of pro-
region of €15 billion with growth to more than duction tools for photonics have a commanding
€30 billion expected by 2015. Given their pivotal position in world markets. In order to sustain this
importance across a wide range of industries and strong position against global competition, it is
services, from telecommunications and informa- vital that momentum is maintained in the under-
tion systems to healthcare, investment in generic pinning technology base.
Wafer-scale test of silicon photonic IC photonic technologies can have a disproportion-
© Ghent University – imec ately large impact. The leverage from advanced The measures we propose will benefit small and
large industries across Europe, as well as the public
at large through the improved services that will
be made possible with more advanced photonic
technology. We recognise the importance of start-
up businesses and SMEs in driving technical and
product innovation, and several of the measures
that we propose will be of particular benefit to
SMEs. For example, the development of photonic
integration platforms that can be made available
widely through generic foundries should revolu-
tionise access to high technology manufacturing
for small companies across Europe.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 77
n Innovative concepts for active photonics on silicon (including III-V/Si), embracing high-density,
micron-scale emitters / modulators compatible with CMOS circuitry
n Development and evolution of robust, accurate and efficient simulation and computer aided
design (CAD) tools, including integration of optical circuit design with system-level simulation
n High power lasers, especially in relation to power scalability, beam quality, thermal
management, robustness against environmental conditions
n Sources for optical sensors and next generation storage systems (heat assisted magnetic recording)
n Materials and structures for new wavelengths and wide tuning range (>100nm);
integrated nonlinear devices to extend wavelength coverage; efficient plasmonic devices;
precise beam delivery
n Concepts for manufacturability for advanced devices (e.g. QCLs, active imaging devices,
sources for HAMR), embracing subsystem integration (e.g. transmitter/receiver)
n The critical innovation-oriented challenge is to create infrastructure for open access to research
and pilot manufacturing in critical technology areas, including photonic and electronic/photonic
integrated circuits, packaging and assembly, key semiconductor technologies and advanced
materials research.
78 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
n strengthening the cooperation with industry, n regional and national clusters will support local
both to better match their knowledge and skills smart specialisation strategies.
needs in third and fourth-level education pro-
grams, and to offer life-long learning programs Major photonics research and innovation
and vocational training. challenges
During the preparation of Photonic21’s second
Involvement of value chain partners strategic research agenda and the photonics vision
The inherent pervasiveness of photonics and its paper, an extensive analysis has been performed
interdisciplinary nature require the broad involve- to identify the areas of major potential impact
ment of many value chain partners, both as directly on medium-long term societal challenges and on
cooperating partners for RD&I, and as potential future European industrial competitiveness, thereby
end-users. When dealing with advanced research, ensuring that advanced research can be defined
it is clear that interaction with all the other Key effectively.
Enabling Technologies and related platforms will
be essential, so as to exploit synergies and achieve Building on this analysis, the major challenges
higher levels of innovation. In terms of end-users, for research, education and training were identi-
all industries developing photonic components fied, and actions defined to be undertaken within
and systems need end-users to be involved at the Horizon 2020.
earliest stage, to ensure that research roadmaps
address their specific needs in terms of properties Research
and functionalities. Present and future societal Adopting a medium-long term perspective, ad-
needs should also be considered when defining vanced research must consider as the driving force
medium and long term research goals. of future innovation, pushing beyond the currently
foreseen applications. A number of critical aspects
The various value chain partners will each have a should be considered:
role in the education and training system actions: n Working with industry to identify what new
n primary and high-school teachers need to be photonics properties and functionalities will be
involved for effective outreach programs aimed needed to improve present components and
at young students systems, that they do not yet know how to
n science and technology museums have to be tar- achieve. This can be used to construct targeted
geted to set up exhibitions for the general public roadmaps, identifying directions and actions re-
n communication experts and scientific journalists quired to achieve specific goals. With many new
need to participate in communication projects fields being explored, a wide range of possible
based on conventional and new media solutions must be studied to identify the opti-
n photonics ‘users’ will provide essential perspec- mal ones, with greatest potential for industrial
tive for promoting interdisciplinary education, applications with acceptable time to market.
embracing photonics and its cross-fertilisation n Ensuring that disruptive research is not over-
with other technologies for new applications looked. Many new photonics applications cur-
n the technical management and HR of photo- rently cannot be predicted, so there must be
nics-based or photonics-enabled industries, room for exploring the unexpected.
together with both local and European political n An open innovation approach involving the
authorities, need to be involved in the defini- close cooperation between universities, public
tion of life-long learning and vocational training research institutions and industries is becoming
programs. essential in our knowledge-based society, and
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 85
will promote greater European competitiveness n Unexplored new material systems (graphene,
through advanced research. silicene)
n The establishment of open-access distributed
high-tech facilities, so as to allow advanced Innovative research should always be developed
experiments to be performed, new materials following guidelines based on its potential impact
to be developed and characterised, and devices for making photonics more accessible, eco-friendly,
and prototypes to be fabricated and tested in low-cost, or in replacing or reducing use of danger-
the most efficient way. ous or scarce materials.
Details of the roadmap for research in the time Education and training
frame of 2014-2020 are given in the following For education and training, one of the most criti-
table. However, it is useful to identify a number cal challenges will be to overcome the present
of representative examples of the ‘hot topics’ – major difficulty facing the photonics community,
clearly valuable developments that as yet cannot namely of securing the necessary knowledgeable
be achieved with present technological capabili- and skilled workforce. This shortage applies at all
ties, such as: levels, from technical management and R&D posi-
n Nanoscale imaging tions through to technical staff, and is encountered
n Low-loss semiconductor photonics both in industry and academia.
n Semiconductor/other material lasers with
higher efficiency or for currently inaccessible In the longer term, solving these shortages will
wavelengths require increasing the wider community interest
n Non-reciprocal semiconductor materials in photonics, and an awareness of its importance.
n New materials for THz
n Optical materials with optimal thermal Students experience
characteristics the ‘fascination of light’.
n Single photon sources and detectors © Catalunya Caixa
operating at room temperature
n Bio-compatible material for artificial retina
Technological Set the basis for new Experimental demonstra- Demonstration of the Realisation of first
challenges materials, functionalities, tion of new functionali- industrial potential. prototypes exploiting
approaches and ties and processes. new materials and
processes. processes.
Infra- Define needs for open- Realise the needed infra- Guarantee open access Guarantee updating
structures access infrastructures structures; Strengthen to infrastructures to both and maintenance of
and and facilities for material cooperation with exist- academic institutions, open-access structures.
facilities development and device ing infrastructures and research centres and
fabrication and facilities; Foster coopera- SMEs throughout time.
characterisation; Foster tion with SMEs on highly
cooperation with existing innovative projects.
distributed infrastructures
(e.g. LaseLab Europe)
and with infrastructures
under development
(e.g. ELI, Extreme Light
Infrastructure).
88 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
Innovation Define guidelines to Define specific societal Involve end-users Involve all industrial
requirements make photonics more challenges and innova- to define long-term players and end-users
accessible, eco-friendly, tion needs to be targeted innovation needs to bring innovation to
low-cost, capable of in health-care, energy for smart cities and production and market
efficiently address production and saving, communities that can exploitation.
societal challenges and high-speed communi- be addressed through
innovation needs, and cation, environmental photonics;
of replacing dangerous protection, safety and Examine time-to market
and scarce materials; security, remote sens- perspectives and market
Involve photonics-based ing, advanced imaging, potential.
and photonics-enabled e-services, etc.;
industries to define their Define areas of major
long-term needs. market potential.
Cross-cutting Highly innovative Synergies will become Hybrid systems employ- Synergies of the
Key Enabling advanced research in deeper and at the ing devices based on different KETs will be
Technologies photonics has evident same time more photonics and other exploited to address
(KET) issues synergies with all the specific throughout KETs will be considered production needs.
other KETs: micro and research evolution to address the innovation
nanoelectronics towards the realisation needs for smart cities
(e.g. in photovoltaics); of photonic devices and communities with
nanotechnology and their application. maximum efficacy.
(e.g. in nanophotonics);
advanced materials
(e.g. in graphene and
silicene photonics);
biotechnology
(e.g. in nanobiophoto
nics). Advanced
manufacturing is also
essential. The extent
and importance of the
possible synergy varies
depending on the appli-
cation field being target-
ed and the consequent
materials and solutions
of choice.
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 89
Outreach to Address both kids Extend existing programs Stabilise outreach Reach a pan-European
young minds and secondary school to new countries through programs by making dimension for most
students with specific the involvement of local them self-sustainable; successful outreach
programs, starting from governments; Strengthen cooperation programs and create
existing experience Involve national and with learned societies; suitable structures to
(Photonics Explorer, international learned Strengthen cooperation ensure maintenance.
Luka’s land of discovery, societies for support and with industries.
etc.); Involve teachers in help in dissemination;
all programs; Organise Update and where pos-
summer camps; sible and meaningful
Create a network of extend the content of
outreach-committed the programs; Involve
centres (academic all-level students through
institutions, research individual awards and
centres, etc.) to sustain team competitions on
and extend actions. dedicated problems;
Involve industries for
sponsorship of outreach
programs and of team
competitions on specific
problems; Involve Science
and Technology museums
in outreach programs
through permanent inter-
active exhibitions.
Outreach Promote photonics Involve Science and Extend successful Reach a pan-European
to general through different media: Technology museums initiatives, stabilise dissemination of
public press, TV, internet, apps, to create permanent, and maintain them; the most successful
conferences related to art interactive exhibitions Involve all possible initiatives
events, etc.; Launch com- in photonics (seek for private and public
petitions for best videos support from companies); partners that can
related to photonics so Set-up simple but impres- make initiatives
as to promote direct in- sive photonics exhibitions self-sustainable
volvement e.g. of young in highly crowded
people (not necessarily environments (such
studying photonics) as airports, stations,
shopping malls);
90 Towards 2020 – Photonics driving economic growth in Europe
Specific Involve local structures Organise courses mainly Support best initiatives Support spreading
programs for (universities, research targeting SME needs on a to make them self- of best initiatives
technicians centres, industries, local basis; Support smart sustainable so as to throughout Europe,
(high school; especially SMEs) and specialisation initiatives; guarantee stability where needed, while
BoSc; voca- clusters to define needs. Involve national and in time. respecting local
tional train- international structures specificity.
ing) (education and outreach-
oriented networks,
learned societies, etc.) to
exchange best-practice
and provide support to
extend programs beyond
the local level.
High level Strengthen international Foster group exercises Ensure stability and Ensure pan-European
education cooperation through on specific technological self-sustainability spreading of best
(university & Erasmus and similar problems and challenges; of best initiatives. initiatives.
PhD) initiatives, mainly at the Promote team work
MoSc and PhD level; through competition
Support mobility both for on specific problems
students and teachers; of industrial interest;
Introduce summer fel- Involve national and
lowships (3 months); international structures
Set standards for basic (education and outreach-
photonics modules; oriented networks,
Strengthen cooperation learned societies with
with industry; student clubs and
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 91
Lifelong Involve local structures Organise courses mainly Support best initiatives Support spreading
learning (universities, research targeting SME needs on a to make them self- of best initiatives
centres, industries, local basis; Support smart sustainable so as to throughout Europe,
especially SMEs) and specialisation initiatives; guarantee stability in where needed, while
clusters to define needs. Involve national and time. respecting local
international structures specificity.
(education and outreach-
oriented networks,
learned societies, etc.)
to exchange best-practice
and provide support to
extend programs beyond
the local level.
n FET Flagships: Photonics is already key in n enhances links between the ERC
some of the FET Flagships projects, hence it is Scientific Committee and ERC
recommended that this activity could be used Executive Agency and photonics
to enhance communication and dissemination stakeholders in Europe
of FET Flagships through attractive ways of
communication, audio-visual, etc.. A good 3. Access to Research Infrastructure
visibility of successful photonics projects will This aspect is fundamental for research institutions
foster further actions in the field. and universities to promote mobility of researchers
and to ensure efficient usage of facilities. Although
2. ERC grants ESFRI infrastructures will have a priority under this ac-
ERC grants are traditionally devoted to funding tivity, it is recommended that the Commission facili-
projects of scientific excellence. Although quantum tates this support through other forms of alliances
electronics and optics related research have been or networks of research facilities & infrastructures,
funded in the past, the scientific excellence under- both specific to photonics and to KETs in general.
lying photonics technologies seems to have been
underestimated. Although specific topics cannot Education and Training
be introduced in the fully bottom up ERC research Past experience has demonstrated that imple-
programme, it is recommended that the European mentation of successful and effective actions to
Commission: promote photonics in education and training has
n raises the number of photonics been difficult and challenging. In addition to the
professionals in the evaluation above recommendations reported, the following
committees of the Physical Sciences aspects should be considered:
B-PHOT’s photonics science show and Engineering Panel
for students and teachers where n communicates and disseminates 1. Outreach
two researchers make a student photonics related ERC Grantees and n Exhibitions and shows: Exhibitions and shows,
disappear. © VUB their projects as success stories fairs and festivals each provide an effective
opportunity for the wider popularisation of pho-
tonics to the society, and need to be enhanced
and provided at a European level. Strategic
alliances with committed members allow for
the design and implementation of activities,
fostering a wide participation from other stake-
holders. Connections should be established with
existing networks and programs (for example,
ECSITE, PLACES, NetS-EU). The involvement of
the Commission will be essential for the identi-
fication, enabling and evaluation of the actions.
n ‘Living Lab’ and ‘Fab Lab’: Two new concepts
2. Higher Education
The European Commission has recently launched a
High Level Group on the Modernisation of Higher
Education. It is recommended that a strong par-
ticipation of the photonics community within such
a group should be considered, both to bring its
experience and to make sure that photonics related
issues and needs are taken into account, particular-
ly since these needs will be common to all Science
and Technology topics, and in particular to KETs.
so as to define what is already available and what mental care, cultural heritage preservation, etc..
is missing, what can be extended to a European New trends developing in photonics could have
level, and what needs to be addressed on a local a substantial impact in all these fields, including:
basis. This will allow the urgent needs of photon- n Nanophotonics. Through the development of
ics industry to be addressed through immediate new and nanoengineered materials with ex-
real-time actions. tended optical properties and unprecedented
functionalities, nanophotonics offers solutions
Our knowledge-based Expected impact for Europe to many challenges:
In our knowledge-based society, no real and long- n energy efficiency, through the
society needs knowledgeable,
lasting innovation is possible without advanced development of new solutions for
skilled and well-trained research to create the basis for future development, photovoltaics, and energy saving,
and without a wide class of knowledgeable, skilled through the realisation of new
workers, able to sustain
and well-trained workers, able to sustain continu- highly efficient light sources
continuous improvement and ous improvement and efficient production in both n healthcare, through the realisation
science and technology. of smaller functionalised optofluidic
efficient production in science
lab-on-chips for point-of-care diagnosis,
and technology. The research areas that have been identified as through nanoimaging techniques for
priorities and now being tackled are likely to revo- advanced diagnostic systems, and
lutionise the field of photonics, bringing new so- by contributing to nanomedicine for
lutions and innovative approaches to address the example with photoactivated nano
most difficult of challenges faced in many areas. particles for therapeutic applications
n safety and security, through the
The need for sustainable development and a better realisation of nanosensors
PhD student aligning a Ti:sapphire quality of life requires a green economy, energy n Quantum optics and quantum information
laser. © Ruhr-Universität Bochum, efficiency and saving, extended healthcare, safety address the problems related to the manage-
Faculty for Electrical Engineering & and security, improved communication, quality and ment of vast amounts of of data, and to se-
Information Technology sustainable production, open innovation, environ- cure communications with completely new
approaches exploiting the laws of quantum
physics. Feasibility demonstrations have already
been achieved, but many technical challenges
are still to be solved in terms of adequate light
sources and complex quantum circuits, before
quantum computers, quantum communication
systems, and quantum sensing can become part
of everyday life. However, the achievement of
such goals would be a major breakthrough for
a future digital society.
n Extreme light is expected to open new perspec-
tives in light-matter interactions. The availability
of light sources with unprecedented high power,
operating in previously unavailable wavelengths
and pulse durations will allow the study of ma-
terials and processes in unexplored regimes,
thus allowing new fundamental knowledge
2. Photonics Research and Innovation Challenges 95
to be developed. Moreover, it will allow major In conclusion, the above actions targeting out- Actions targeting outreach,
breakthroughs in many applications, such as reach, education and training at all levels will all
education and training at
advanced manufacturing, safety and security, have a major impact on European industrial com-
bio-medicine, chemistry, cultural heritage, etc.. petitiveness, fostering highly innovative SMEs, and all levels will all have a major
ultimately ensuring the continuing success of pho-
impact on European
Improved education and training offers the fol- tonics with the consequent benefits for economic
lowing impacts: growth and employment. industrial competitiveness.
n making photonics a popular topic and thus
attracting a large number of students will ensure
the availability of a future skilled workforce,
without which any other efforts would be un-
sustainable
n extending the presence of photonics-based
curricula and of photonics modules within other
curricula will contribute to a broadening of the
available workforce
n establishing programs for vocational training
and life-long learning, primarily targeting the lo-
cal needs of SMEs, will contribute to a strength-
ening of European SMEs.
Expected
Impact of a
Photonics PPP
The overall objective of a Photonics PPP is the establishment of
a more competitive photonics sector in Europe. This will be brought
about through the following individual areas of impact:
n It will pool public and private resources to provide more effective and
successful solutions for the major societal challenges facing Europe, in
particular for healthcare, the aging society, food safety, security, & energy
efficiency.
n Integrating the full value chain into an open innovation approach, ensur-
ing early and meaningful end user involvement from concept to manu-
facture. The early application of such an interactive value creation process
will integrate timely market feedback within a common development
process, and thereby help avoid poorly conceived products reaching the
market.
n Reinforcing links between Photonics clusters in trips in Europe alone, potentially saving 22 million
Europe and their respective regional industry tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.
and public authorities to align priorities, stream-
line efforts, and enable smart specialisation and Photonic technologies result in advanced
growth in European regions. visual displays
Global sales of advanced 3D displays will reach
n A Photonics PPP will grow photonics manu- €10 billion by 2021, with a 35% share expected
facturing in Europe thereby creating further for European companies.
‘high skill’ employment. This will be achieved
by enabling the photonics products themselves Photonic technologies drive healthcare
to be manufactured in Europe, and by ensur- Photonic technologies could provide a potential
ing the ongoing competitiveness of other key 20% cost reduction in healthcare expenditures
photonics-dependent manufacturing sectors in associated with the demographic changes antici-
Europe. pated in Europe 24.
A Photonics PPP will result in further photonics solu- Photonic sensors increase food safety
tions for the societal challenges of Europe and will The WHO estimates that annually more than two
have a direct impact on specific industrial sectors: billion illnesses and the deaths of more than two
million children are caused by unsafe food 235; a
Photonics leverages industrial major reason for this is the absence of a low-cost
manufacturing yet reliable non-contact sensor technology to de-
The laser processing industry on its own is a multi- tect food-borne health threats.
billion Euro industry, and it also has a substantial
leverage effect on many other industries, most ICT speeds up the knowledge society
notably in the European automotive sector. Photonic technologies leverage a telecommunica-
tion infrastructure market worth €350 billion and
Lighting solutions foster energy-efficiency impact more than 700,000 jobs in Europe 246.
The application of digital lighting solutions would
result in annual savings approaching €300 billion of Expansion of the photonics components
the global energy bill, and savings of 1000 million and systems markets
tonnes of global CO2 emissions per year . 2
13
The European market share for optical components
and systems in the global market place is nearing
Photonics drives huge OLAE market growth 50%, and continues to grow steadily.
Growth of the overall OLAE market will rise from
its present value of €1 billion to greater than €100
billion.
Major CO 2 emissions savings through 24 Photonics21 Strategic Research Agenda Lighting the
Display-enabled rich visual communication for 25 WHO Reports on Food Safety Issues, WHO Global
virtual presence could dramatically reduce travel for Strategy for Food Safety: Safer Foord for Better Health,
meetings, resulting in a 20% reduction in business World Health Organization, Food Safety Department,
23 ICT for Energy Efficiency, DG-Information Society and Media, 26 The Leverage Effect of Photonics Technologies:
The chapters from each Work Group outline their individual roadmap for
photonics research & innovation in each of the different photonics applica-
tion fields addressed by Photonics21:
The topics and research areas addressed in this photonics roadmap have
been selected and discussed by the more than 300 photonics experts at-
tending the seven Photonics21 workshops held during the Photonics21
Annual Meeting 2012. A further seven Photonics21 follow-up workshops
have been conducted during June - September 2012 to further elaborate
and finalise the photonics roadmap.
4. Appendix 99
Development of the photonics roadmap The development of the photonics roadmap drew
Following the Photonics21 workshops, each extensively on the following two Photonics21 strat-
work group chair set up an editorial group that egy documents, each outlining future European
was responsible for providing a first draft of the photonics research and innovation challenges:
work group specific roadmap chapter. These draft n Lighting the way ahead
chapters were then circulated to the individual – the Second Strategic Research Agenda
Photonics21 work group members for further for Photonics, (Jan 2010)
comments and feedback. Additionally, all rele- n Photonics – Our Vision for a Key Enabling
vant materials for the photonics roadmap process Technology of Europe
were uploaded onto the members’ area on the – the Photonics21 Vision Document,
Photonics21 website. This area is accessible to all (May 2011).
Photonics21 members, thereby ensuring an open
and transparent process for roadmap definition. The Photonics Strategic Multiannual Roadmap
builds on these documents to identify research
and innovation areas and priorities for the com-
ing years, and it will serve as the strategic refer-
ence document for the Photonics PPP in the new
Framework Programme Horizon 2020.
4. Appendix 105
Photonics21 Publications
Lighting the way ahead &
Photonics – Our Vision for
a Key Enabling Technology
of Europe. © Photonics21
Photonics21
Executive Board Members,
Board of Stakeholder Members
and Work Group Co-Chairs
Giorgio Anania Professor Dr. Sandro De Silvestri Professor Dr. Harri Kopola Professor Dr. Roberta Ramponi Professor Dr. Hugo Thienpont
Chairman and CEO Aledia Politecnico di Milano Vice President Strategic Research VTT Technical Research Politecnico di Milano Director of Research of the Brussels Photonics Team
Centre of Finland Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Dr. Eugene Arthurs Dr. Jörg-Peter Elbers Dr. Ing. Thomas Rettich
CEO SPIE Vice President Advanced Technology Head of Research Coordination
CTO Office, ADVA Optical Networking Professor Dr. Malgorzata Kujawinska TRUMPF GmbH + Co. KG Dr. Stefan Traeger
Warsaw University of Technology Vice President Life Science Division,
Leica Microsystems
Dr. Lutz Aschke
Managing Director LIMO Lissotschenko Professor Dr. Costas Fotakis Dr. Andrew Robertson
Mikrooptik GmbH President of FORTH Senior Vice President
Francisco M. López Torres Gooch & Housego
Founder & President Aragón Photonics Labs SLU Professor Dr. Andreas Tünnermann
Director Fraunhofer IOF
Dr. Sergey Babichenko
CEO LDI Innovation OÜ Professor Dr. Ari Friberg
University of Eastern Finland Professor Dr. Karl Leo
Institut für Angewandte Photophysik Professor Dr. Laurent Sarger
Director Fraunhofer COMEDD University Bordeaux 1, France
Professor Dr. Peter Van Daele
Dr. Pierre Barthélemy Ghent University - IMEC - iMinds,
Platform Director Research & Innovation – Laurent Fulbert INTEC Dept, Gent, Belgium
Organic Electronics Solvay SA Integrated Photonics Program Manager Jaap Lombaers
CEA-Leti Managing Director Holst Centre / TNO Dr. Bernd Schulte
Executive Vice President, COO AIXTRON SE
Boris Vedlin
Professor Dr. Eckhard Beyer Professor Dr. Ing. Hans-Joachim Grallert CEO Optotek
Executive Director of Fraunhofer IWS Dresden Executive Director, Fraunhofer Heinrich Hertz Institute, Professor Dr. Javier Marti
Berlin · Chair of Telecommunication Engineering, Director NTC – Universitat Professor Dr. Peter Seitz
Technische Universität Berlin Politecnica Valencia Managing Director Hamamatsu Photonics Innovation
Center Europe · Managing Director Innovation and Entre-
preneurship Lab, ETH Zurich · Adjunct Professor Institute
Dr. Sébastien Bigo for Microengineering, EPF Lausanne Klaas Vegter
Director of Optical Networks Department Dr. Eckhard Meiners Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer Philips Lighting
Alcatel-Lucent – Bell Labs Augustin Grillet CEO, TRUMPF Medizin Systeme GmbH + Co. KG
Manager Strategic Innovation &
Partnerships Barco n.v.
Dr. Ulrich Simon
President and CEO Carl Zeiss Microscopy GmbH Alfredo Viglienzoni
Isabelle Chartier Dr. Michael Mertin Director Business Development,
Printed Electronics program manager Dr. Mark Gubbins President & CEO JENOPTIK AG IP & Broadband, Ericsson
PICTIC Printing Platform, CEA-LITEN – France Senior Manager · Research and Development Seagate
Dr. Bruno Smets
Public Private Innovation Partnerships
James O‘Gorman Philips Lighting
Managing Director, Xylophone Optics
Jean-Francois Coutris Dr. Ulrich Hefter Professor Dr. Michael J. Wale
CEO CCInt Technical Director ROFIN Sinar Laser GmbH Director Active Products Research Oclaro
CTO ROFIN Sinar Technologies Inc.
Dr. Angela Piegari Professor Dr. Lluis Torner
Head Optical Components Laboratory ENEA Director General
President of the Italian Society of Optics and Photonics ICFO Barcelona Dr. Berit Wessler
Laurent Coyon Gerhard Hein Head of Strategy – Technology Cooperation
Vice-President OPTITEC Managing Director · VDMA – Lasers and Laser Systems OSRAM GmbH
CEO SAVIMEX for Material Processing Forum Photonics