PICS4SENS project secures EU funding following proposals

The PICS4^SENS joint project, led by the Leibniz Institutes for Astrophysics Potsdam (AIP) and Innovations for High Performance Microelectronics (IHP), in cooperation with the innoFSPEC transfer laboratory at the University of Potsdam, will be funded with €3.4 million euros after winning a StaF-Verbund funding programme.

The funding success, which will see €2.2 million euros provided to the AIP, comes after last year's StaF call for proposals.

Enhancing research with institutions

The StaF-Verbund funding programme, financed by the European Regional Development Fund, is designed to promote the strengthening of technological and application-oriented research in networks of scientific institutions in the state of Brandenburg.

Now, the funding will help PICS4^SENS  to increase the technological maturity and shorten the path to commercialisation of photonic integrated circuits (PICs) in sensor technology, and the development of a spectrograph 'on-a-chip'.

PICs have already established themselves in computer centres and m data communication, while spectroscopy and sensor technology remains a burgeoning area of promise in its infancy.

Pushing the boundaries of PICs

In this field, the PICS4^SENS project is working with the Leibniz Institute for Innovative Microelectronics, which has all the prerequisites and expertise to integrate the image sensor into the PIC, to further the technology, tackling issues of bulk and size.

Researchers hope that this will not only lead to a seminal moment for astrophysical instruments, particularly in space, but also to outstanding innovation potential and future market opportunities in areas such as agricultural technology, mobility, healthcare, food technology and chemistry. Such future topics have been prioritised by the 'innoBB2025 plus' innovation strategy and the master plan for the optics and photonics cluster in Berlin and Brandenburg.

Project manager Martin Roth concluded: "With the Leibniz Institute for IHP in Frankfurt and the Leibniz Institute for AIP, the state of Brandenburg has two top performers in top international research, according to the latest evaluations by the Leibniz Association. In cooperation with the innoFSPEC transfer laboratory at the University of Potsdam, the PICS4^SENS  project has excellent prerequisites for further expanding and utilising our technological lead."

^{Lead image: Leibniz Institutes for Astrophysics Potsdam}