EU-Call: Photonics KET 2017

Specific challenge: Investments in R&D&I are essential for reinforcing Europe's industrial competitiveness and leadership in photonic market sectors where Europe is strong (e.g. in communications, medical photonics, sensing) and to seize new opportunities. Europe also needs to strengthen its manufacturing base in photonics to safeguard the further potential for innovation and value creation and for job creation. We must better exploit the large enabling potential of photonics in many industrial sectors and in solutions addressing major societal challenges such as health and well-being, energy efficiency or safety. Finally, Europe needs to better exploit the innovation capacity of the photonics SMEs and the innovation leverage potential of the innovation clusters and national platforms.

Scope: All R&I actions should demonstrate strong industrial commitment, be driven by user needs and concrete exploitation strategies, and they should cover the value/supply chain as appropriate. They should address manufacturability and include standardisation activities as appropriate. Focus is on one of the following themes:

• Application driven core photonic technology developments for a new generation of photonic devices (including components, modules and sub-systems) for agile Petabit/s Optical Core and Metro Networks. The objective is to develop new photonic technologies for metro and core networks allowing capacities of Pb/s per node, and Tb/s per channel and 100 Tb/s per link over increased transport distances, while supporting network programmability features and fitting network operator requirements and roadmaps. Actions should include all new device developments for the envisaged network architecture. The action should also lead to network solutions with an energy consumption and equipment footprint reduction by more than 10 and a significant reduction in network cost. Actions may include system, network, control and security level aspects to the extent necessary for the action.
• Photonic integrated circuit (PIC) technology: The objective is to achieve major advances in chip integration technology, enabling a cost effective volume manufacturing of PICs with significantly enhanced performances (e.g. integration complexity, footprint, energy efficiency, speed, …) or new functions. Potential for such technology advances exists e.g. in selective area growth for multi-function integration, wider band-gap engineering, heterogeneous integration, wafer-scale electronic-photonic integration, the use of new materials, and in new approaches to small and efficient laser sources. Actions may address also the related design methodology and tools and the optimisation of materials, and should include a validation of results with fabricated PIC prototypes.
• Disruptive approaches to optical manufacturing by 2 and 3 D opto-structuring: The objective is to develop new optical manufacturing approaches for photonic components with unprecedented resolution (down to the submicron and nano-scale) or for functionalization of the surface of the materials to tailor and optimise their characteristics for a specific application. Actions may also address the related material. Novelty may be related for example to the laser source, to the optical system for light manipulation, to light-matter interaction or to the exploitation of quantum effects. Actions should include the validation of the manufacturing approach through a functional prototype of an application relevant device that goes clearly beyond the state of the art.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 6 and 8 million (for theme a.i), between EUR 3 and 4 million (for theme a.ii and a.iii) would allow these themes to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Minimum one action per theme will be selected.

Additional information can be found here.