EFDS Workshop 2026
JUN 2026
02 - 03
Berlin, Germany
Discover the latest developments in photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and thin-film technologies—from research to industrial applications.
The workshop offers a comprehensive overview of modern photonic fabrication and integration processes and highlights current challenges throughout the entire process chain. The focus is on topics such as thin-film materials, deposition technologies, process integration, as well as the scaling and industrial implementation of photonic platforms.
Look forward to:
- Technical presentations and discussions with experts from research and industry
- Practical insights into current developments and industrial requirements
- a lab tour at Fraunhofer HHI – Experience modern research infrastructures up close and gain exclusive insights into current work and technologies
The workshop is aimed at professionals from research, development, and industry, as well as anyone involved in PICs, thin-film technologies, and photonic system integration, or who would like to work in this field in the future.
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
| Time | Topic | Speaker(s) | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12:00 | Participant Registration | ||
| 13:00 | Welcome Words & Opening | Dominic Schulz Udo Klotzbach | Fraunhofer HHI EFDS e.V. |
| 13:25 | Keynotes | tbc. | tbc. |
| 13:45 | "The AI compute challenge and the role of optical thin-films" | Anna Fischer | IBM Research Europe - Zurich, Switzerland |
| 13:25 | BREAK & Networking | ||
| Session 1 | Applications & System Level | |||
| 15:05 | "Photonic Modulator Networks - overcoming the scaling bottleneck of Quantum Computing" | Rasmus Bankwitz | Linq Photonics, Germany |
| 15:25 | "Photonic integrated Circuits in Defence Applications: Opportunities and Challenges" | Jan Schorer | Hensoldt Sensors GmbH, Germany |
| 15:45 | "Challenges in thin film deposition for SiN-PIC fabrication" | Markus Greul | Institut für Mikroelektronik Stuttgart (IMS CHIPS), Germany |
| 16:05 | "Built for hybrid computing" | Robin Wittland | QuiX Quantum, Germany |
| 16:25 | BREAK | ||
| Session 2 | Materials & Requirements | |||
| 16:35 | "Lithium Tantalate and Silicon nitride photonic integrated circuits: from ultrafast lasers, to on chip amplifiers and frequency combs" | Tobias Jan Kippenberg | EPFL, Switzerland |
| 16:55 | "Integration Approaches for Silicon Photonics in Wafer Level Packaging" | Piotr Mackowiak | Fraunhofer IZM, Germany |
| 17:15 | "High-rate reactively sputtered AlScN for low-loss & tunable optical thin film waveguides" | Hagen Bartzsch | Fraunhofer FEP, Germany |
| 17:35 | Summary of the First Workshop Day | ||
| 17:45 | End of 1st Workshop Day | ||
| 19:00-22:00 | GET TOGETHER | JOINT DINNER | ||
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
| Time | Topic | Speaker(s) | Affiliation |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08:30 | Registration | ||
| Session 3 | Thin-Film Processes / Manufacturing | |||
| 09:00 | "Scaling Integrated Photonics - Advancing Wafer Uniformity via Vacuum Technologies" | Daniel de Sá Pereira | Bühler Alzenau GmbH, Germany |
| 09:20 | "Sputter Solutions for Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC)" | Silvia Schwyn Thöny | Evatec AG, Switzerland |
| 09:40 | "Thermal Laser Epitaxy" | Wolfgang Braun | epiray GmbH, Germany |
| 10:00 | "3D Micro-Optics for Scalable PIC Packaging and Co-Packaged Optics" | James Schildknecht | Nanoscribe GmbH & Co. KG, Germany |
| 10:20 | "Non-destructive testing of thin films using photonic terahertz technology" | Robert Kohlhaas | Fraunhofer HHI, Germany |
| 10:40 | "Large scale epitaxial oxide platform for photonic applications" | Jean-Pierre Locquet | Lumiphase AG, Switzerland |
| 11:00 | BREAK & Networking | ||
| 11:10 | Laboratoy tour of the Fraunhofer HHI | ||
| 12:40 | BREAK & Networking | ||
| Session 4 | Design & Integration | |||
| 13:40 | "Simulating Stress-Optical Effects in a Photonic Waveguide" | Andreas Bick | COMSOL Multiphysics GmbH, Germany |
| 14:00 | "How Luceda Empowers the PIC Value Chain" | Nirav Annavarapu | Luceda Photonics, Belgium |
| 14:20 | "Hybrid PICs – Quantum Technologies enabled by Thin-Film Elements" | Moritz Kleinert | Fraunhofer HHI, Germany |
| 14:40 | BREAK | ||
| Session 5 | Supply Chain & Scaling | |||
| 15:25 | "Breaking the Bottleneck: High-Volume Manufacturing of TFLN PICs for Telecom & Datacom" | Amir H. Ghadimi | Lightium AG, Switzerland |
| 15:45 | "Enabling Scale: A Production-Ready TFLN Foundry in Europe" | Hernán Furci | CCRAFT SA, Switzerland |
| 16:05 | Summary of the Second Workshop Day | ||
| 16:15 | End of the Workshop | ||