Integrated Photonics
Shaping our future with the power of light
Photonics – the generation, processing and detection of light – is crucial to our future internet and for better healthcare, mobility and security. At TU/e we develop new materials, devices, integrated circuits and systems to create game-changing solutions that enable faster and more reliable data communication at lower energy cost and novel sensors for healthcare, automotive and agrifood applications. This activity is integral part of the research program of theCasimir Institute.
Light: the essential ingredient for future technology
The exponential increase in data traffic is becoming unsustainable. At the present pace, information technologies will soon be responsible for >10% of the global electricity consumption. Photonics – the technology that uses light to carry information – can come to rescue, by providing low-energy, high-speed data transmission throughout the internet and within data centers. Photonics additionally provides new ways to sense the world around us and is a key enabling technology for healthcare, autonomous driving and smart farming. However, these promises can only be realized if increasingly complex photonic chips can be produced at low cost. Within the Casimir Institute we perform fundamental and applied research aimed at making this dream come true.
Optical Sensing Challenge
TheCenter for Integrated Photonics Eindhoven at TU/e organizes the 2026 Optical Sensing Challenge. Companies and organizations throughout Europe are invited to propose practical sensing problems which may have a solution based on optics or photonics.
Way of working:
- Proposals (1 page max) should describe the sensing problem, main specifications, shortcomings of existing solutions, and potential impact
- The TU/e selects a limited set of challenges based on technical feasibility and potential industrial or societal impact
- Solutions to the selected challenges are investigated by small teams of TU/e Master students in the framework of a specialized course, with the supervision of an academic advisor, in the period February-April 2026. Practical approaches based on optics and photonics are analyzed and benchmarked in terms of technical specifications and cost
- The results are presented by the team to the proposer of the challenge
- Confidentiality agreements can be made if needed, and a follow-up in terms of IP protection and demonstration can be discussed with the TU/e and its industrial partners.
- No funding is required from the proposer
For further information you can contactProf. Humeyra Caglayan The proposals should be sent toh.caglayan@tue.nl on or before December 15, 2025.
Our job opportunities
"In photonics, with relatively simple steps, you can make great contributions to achieve new things. And TU/e is the best place to do photonics research, since we provide a rich working environment, excellent facilties and ample job opportunities in the Brainport region."
Andrea Fiore, Scientific Director of the TU/e Center for Integrated Photonics
Upcoming events
IT gone wrong: When systems don’t fit real students
Educational software such as OSIRIS and Canvas is supposed to make things easier, but sometimes it does the opposite—especially for students…
Walk-in Lunch: TU/e CO₂ Footprint
February 24, 2026 12:00 PM / Green Room
EAISI lecture by visiting Professor Antonio Candelieri
A lecture about Bayesian Optimization: Theory, Applications, and Challenges Ahead
PhD defense Jasper Gerardus Wilhelmus van Dijk
February 24, 2026 / TU/e Campus
PhD defense Bart van der Holst
February 24, 2026 / TU/e Campus
PhD defense Vivekanand Vijaykumar Swami
February 24, 2026 / TU/e Campus
Coordinating Congestion Management Instruments in the Distribution System
February 24, 2026 10:00 AM / Eindhoven University of Technology Campus
Sparking curiosity & capturing talent: Enhancing engagement through multidisciplinary CBL projects
In this interactive ALT session, Professor Shihab Al-Daffaie (Electrical Engineering) will share his successful strategy for creating highly…
PhD defense An Thien Huu Nguyen
February 25, 2026 / TU/e Campus
PhD defense Mengting Jiang
February 25, 2026 / TU/e Campus
![[Translate to English:]](/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fassets.w3.tue.nl%2fw%2ffileadmin%2f_processed_%2fe%2ff%2fcsm_Eindhovens%2520verkiezings%2520debat_96d4304bd3.jpg&f=jpg&w=240 "[Translate to English:]")
Eindhoven Student Debate – Municipal Elections
February 25, 2026 5:00 PM / BUNKR, Vincent van den Heuvellaan 11, Eindhoven
![[Translate to English:]](/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fassets.w3.tue.nl%2fw%2ffileadmin%2f_processed_%2fc%2fb%2fcsm_1920_480_poster_5d0570b529.jpg&f=jpg&w=240 "[Translate to English:]")
Eindhoven's election debate for and by students
February 25, 2026 5:00 PM / BUNKR, Vincent van den Heuvellaan 11, Eindhoven
Accessible and low-cost design of photonic chips with newly launched industrial pilot manufacturing line
Future technologies in the fields of communication, sensing, and quantum computing look set to be based on photonic integrated circuits (PICs). To reduce development and prototyping costs for companies working on PICs, access to foundry manufacturing of PICs is essential. The JePPIX consortium, which was established in 2006, has just launched a new Pilot Manufacturing service to provide companies with an accessible and low-cost service for the design and pre-production of PIC devices that can help accelerate the development of such devices for a wide range of societal applications.
Related research groups
The seven TU/e groups working on Integrated Photonics together cover three fields:
- Photonic materials and devices
- Photonic integrated circuits
- Photonic systems
Advanced Nanomaterials & Devices
It is fascinating how material properties at the nanoscale can be radically changed by controlling their dimensionality, size and crystal…
Electro-Optical Communication
We have a vision of a globe-spanning ubiquitous optical network, a sustainable and reliable communication infrastructure for users and…
Molecular Biosensing
The MBx group develops technologies based on micro- and nanoparticles for monitoring patients and for treating diseases. Towards this goal,…
Photonic Integration
Provide major contributions to photonic integration and the associated applications with a particular focus on indium phosphide technology.
Photonics and Semiconductor Nanophysics
We explore the novel physics and applications emerging from the interaction of light with nanoscale matter.
Physics of Nanostructures
We explore novel ways of controlling the electron spin and magnetic textures at the nanoscale for a wide range of applications.
Plasma & Materials Processing
Our scientific objective is to obtain atomic-level understanding of the interaction of plasmas and reactive gases with materials in the…
News
![[Translate to English:]](/image.pl?url=https%3a%2f%2fassets.w3.tue.nl%2fw%2ffileadmin%2f_processed_%2f1%2f9%2fcsm_2024_1212_AKP_798bdb4a06.jpg&f=jpg&w=240 "[Translate to English:]")
Center for Integrated Photonics Eindhoven
TheCenter for Integrated Photonics Eindhoven (IPI) carries out research in materials, devices, circuits and systems enabling novel applications in communications, computing and sensing. The Center is funded by a 10-years NWO-Gravitation grant and is embedded in the Eindhoven Hendrik Casimir Institute. The Center’s ultimate mission is to break the current limits in the energy consumption of information systems, and thereby contributing to a sustainable information society. The groups participating to the Center provide the expertise needed to achieve this.
Meet our principal investigators
Erik Bakkers
Andrea Fiore
Jaime Gómez Rivas
Martijn Heck
Erwin Kessels
Paul Koenraad
Ton Koonen
Bert Koopmans
Idelfonso Tafur Monroy
Menno Prins
Kevin Williams
Mike Wale
Henk Swagten
Erwin Bente
Nicola Calabretta
Jos Haverkort
Xaveer Leijtens
Oded Raz
Eduward Tangdiongga
Jos van der Tol
Peter Zijlstra
(Part-time)
Henrie van den Boom
Yuqing Jiao
Arthur de Jong
Reinoud Lavrijsen
Adrie Mackus
Chigo Okonkwo
Andrei Silov
Patty Stabile
Weiming Yao
Research Projects
Our research in the area of Integrated Photonics covers the whole chain from materials to system engineering. We develop and integrate new materials and components on the nanoscale, connect micro-photonic integrated circuits and micro-electronic integrated circuits, and devise solutions to enable the next generation 5G network.
Interreg - OIP4NWE
PIXAPP
Provides the full range of assembly and integration technologies needed to package these multi functional PIC devices, across all stages of manufacturing – from prototyping to medium scale manufacture.
Twilight
Towards the neW era of 1.6 Tb/s System-In-Package transceivers for datacenter appLIcations exploiting wafer-scale co-inteGration of InP membranes and InP-HBT elecTronics.
Our Partners
Our technology and ideas have found their way to the market, through collaborations with large companies and spin-offs. To make this even simpler, we have created a national integrated photonics ecosystem,PhotonDelta, and a European platform for photonic integration,JePPIX. On the right you can read some of our success stories.
Meet some of our partners
Events
IT gone wrong: When systems don’t fit real students
Educational software such as OSIRIS and Canvas is supposed to make things easier, but sometimes it does the opposite—especially for students…
Walk-in Lunch: TU/e CO₂ Footprint
February 24, 2026 12:00 PM / Green Room
EAISI lecture by visiting Professor Antonio Candelieri
A lecture about Bayesian Optimization: Theory, Applications, and Challenges Ahead
PhD defense Jasper Gerardus Wilhelmus van Dijk
February 24, 2026 / TU/e Campus
PhD defense Bart van der Holst
February 24, 2026 / TU/e Campus
PhD defense Vivekanand Vijaykumar Swami
February 24, 2026 / TU/e Campus
Coordinating Congestion Management Instruments in the Distribution System
February 24, 2026 10:00 AM / Eindhoven University of Technology Campus
Sparking curiosity & capturing talent: Enhancing engagement through multidisciplinary CBL projects
In this interactive ALT session, Professor Shihab Al-Daffaie (Electrical Engineering) will share his successful strategy for creating highly…
PhD defense An Thien Huu Nguyen
February 25, 2026 / TU/e Campus
PhD defense Mengting Jiang
February 25, 2026 / TU/e Campus
Eindhoven Student Debate – Municipal Elections
February 25, 2026 5:00 PM / BUNKR, Vincent van den Heuvellaan 11, Eindhoven
Eindhoven's election debate for and by students
February 25, 2026 5:00 PM / BUNKR, Vincent van den Heuvellaan 11, Eindhoven
MasterPlus Optics & Photonics
Photonics has major impact in areas such as communications, healthcare, agro-food, and mobility. The market is growing fast and thousands of jobs will be created. The Netherlands is a great place to start a career in this field.
Do you want to be part of this future?
You will become part of a thriving community of academic and industrial researchers through a tailored mix of electives, research projects, and networking activities. The new MasterPlus Optics&Photonics is a collaboration between the three Dutch technical universities,PhotonDelta and Optics Netherlands and offers Master students in Applied Physics or Electrical Engineering a deep dive into the vibrant world of Optics&Photonics. The MasterPlus offers advanced courses, industrial internships, challenge-based projects, guidance on valorization and spin-offs, within a vibrant community driving scientific and societal change. You’ll immerse yourself in the excitement of crafting groundbreaking technology. Whether in a startup or a global corporation, you will be part of the forefront of innovation!
For more information please consult theTU/e MasterPlus page, or contactmasterplusop@tue.nl.
Start-ups
We actively encourage the creation of start-ups based on our technology. A number of them is already active in the market.
Contact us
Visiting address
Center for Integrated PhotonicsFlux 0.155Building number 19Groene Loper 55612 AE EindhovenThe NetherlandsPostal address
Center for Integrated PhotonicsFlux 0.155PO Box 5135600 MB EindhovenThe NetherlandsContact person
Center for Integrated Photonics Office