CHENNAI: To play a pivotal role in reducing existing gaps in the country and fulfil the ambitious objectives of GoI’s ‘India Semiconductor Mission’, the secretary of Union Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), S Krishnan, on Friday, launched the Silicon Photonics Research Centre of Excellence (SPRCE) in Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT-M).
“Within the next 5 years, SPRCE’s Centre for Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (CPPICS) is planning to achieve self-sufficiency and driving product commercialisation through start-ups. This Centre, established with MeitY funding, will provide training to bolster the future ecosystem of photonic integrated circuit manufacturing in India. The CPPICS is developing indigenous PIC design rules and hardware infrastructure for precision packaging for system-level applications,” said a press release .
Addressing the inauguration, Krishnan said that the Central government will be inaugurating yet another of MeiTY and the GoIs initiative in IIT Madras. “We have caught up with the rest of the world and now we should leapfrog others. This Centre complements many things MeitY is trying to do,” he added.
Speaking about the new research centre, V Kamakoti, director of IIT-M, said, “The substantial seed funding for establishing CPPICS has helped in consolidation of indigenously-developed silicon photonics technology at IIT-Madras. The Centre is going to impact significantly, both in the domestic and global silicon photonics R&D market in the upcoming years.”