On February 1, 2024, Roel Baets, emeritus professor at Ghent University and imec, gave a plenary presentation entitled "Silicon photonics: the quest for sustainable growth".
He described how silicon photonics made a successful transition from an academic research field to an industrial ecosystem over the past 20 years, but also highlighted that in many ways, silicon photonics is still a small niche field in the semiconductor industry.
Roel also addressed the challenges with respect to the trend of increasing technological diversity in silicon photonics, driven by more diverse needs from the application space. More diverse materials and more diverse technologies to integrate those materials on a silicon photonics platform. He acknowledged that this diversity is a dream for research but a “nightmare” for industrial maturisation and is pleading for smart choices.