The WIPE project is about researching new technologies for connecting micro-photonic integrated circuits (PIC's) and micro-electronic integrated circuits (IC's) in a most advanced way, enabling
- Better performance,
- Faster design and manufacturing,
- Lower price of new photonic components which will form the core elements in a wide variety of applications which make life better, e.g.
- Ultra-high speed data communication for the next generation Internet,
- Extremely sensitive detectors for gasses, temperatures or strain in mechanical structures securing our environment and the safety of machines,
- New biomedical analysis devices for a quick diagnosis of diseases.
The WIPE project aims to develop a technology which enables the direct connection of optical InP-based PIC's and electronic CMOS IC's at a wafer scale. The chips are electrically connected in the shortest way by VIA's through the insulating layer between PIC and IC. This strongly reduces parasitics and enables a far higher performance of the system than is currently present. The second goal of WIPE is to devise a chip design technology for an effective and efficient co-design of the matching optical and electronic circuits.