CORNERSTONE, a rapid prototyping foundry for silicon photonics (SiPh), celebrated the opening of its new Photonics Innovation Centre (C-PIC) last week at the House of Lords. The event brought together key stakeholders from industry, academia, and government, featuring keynote speeches from Dr Dave Smith, the UK’s National Technology Advisor, and Professor Graham Reed, Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton.
About C-PIC
C-PIC builds upon the success of the existing CORNERSTONE Foundry, aiming to enhance the openness and availability of SiPh. It will foster a commercialisation pipeline that nurtures SiPh-enabled technologies and companies with the potential to enrich everyday life.
Serving as the UK’s primary technology centre for SiPh, C-PIC is dedicated to transforming outstanding research into scalable, industry-ready solutions for a range of applications. Its comprehensive ecosystem of services includes flexible fabrication, design consultancy, standard component libraries, start-up support, networking events, and a dedicated online knowledge hub planned for 2025.
House of Lords Launch Event
The event welcomed over 100 attendees, including representatives from government bodies such as the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), and Innovate UK, alongside Members of Parliament. Industry leaders from the semiconductor and quantum sectors also joined international SiPh experts, supporting partners, and media, reflecting the extensive interest in advancing SiPh commercialisation.
With potential applications across key UK and global industries such as telecommunications, AI hardware, quantum computing, environmental sensing, defence, and health technology, the global market for SiPh is projected to reach $14.5bn by 2030[1]. By enabling ultra-high bandwidth communications with exceptional power efficiency, SiPh can surpass some limitations of conventional electronics. Furthermore, the technology’s economic viability and high-volume production are ensured by its use of established CMOS manufacturing processes.
The launch event reinforced C-PIC’s vision for SiPh, highlighting the collaborative efforts of industry and academia so far and the substantial future potential of the technology. Speaking at the event, Professor Graham Reed, Director of the Optoelectronics Research Centre at the University of Southampton said, “The occasion presented an opportunity to celebrate this significant milestone in furthering the UK’s position as a global leader in silicon photonics innovation.” He continued, “It was wonderful to see so many partners from across academia, business and industry come together to celebrate the acceleration of cutting-edge research into transformative commercial technologies.”
During the event, Dr Dave Smith, the UK Government’s National Technology Adviser, underscored the importance of C-PIC and SiPh for the UK, “C-PIC can play an important part in turning the UK’s world-leading silicon photonics research into commercial success, with the chance to create high-skilled jobs and boosting the semiconductor sector with government support. As demand for computing power surges, silicon photonics offers a faster, more energy-efficient solution that will drive sustainable growth and transform industries from AI to quantum computing.”
Also speaking at the event, the Lord Sewell of Sanderstead CBE highlighted the need for the UK to prioritise STEM areas and innovation “The UK was the pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, yet today, it sometimes feels as though we are lagging behind. However, photonics is set to play a pivotal role in the future of technology, and C-PIC represents a major step forward for the UK.”
Through continued collaboration and innovation, C-PIC aims to propel the UK to the forefront of photonics technology. For further information about C-PIC and its initiatives, please visit www.cornerstone.sotonfab.co.uk.
