Overview
On 7 October 2026, izmo Microsystems Pvt. Ltd., the semiconductor packaging subsidiary of listed company izmo Limited (NSE: IZMO, BSE: 532341), entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) to commence Phase II of the Centre for Programmable Photonic Integrated Circuits and Systems (CPPICS) programme, titled Silicon Photonics Enabled Cutting‑edge Technology Research and Applications (SPECTRA). The five‑year programme has been sanctioned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) with a total project outlay of ₹99.94 crore, of which MeitY will fund ₹97.54 crore and izmo Microsystems will provide a cash and in‑kind commitment of ₹2.40 crore.
Technical Objectives
Phase II is designed to move silicon‑photonic technologies from laboratory research to commercially deployable products. The programme targets four application areas: high‑speed optical transceivers for data‑centres, including a 1.6 Tbps silicon‑photonic transceiver engine operating at 1550 nm; microwave photonic engines capable of operation beyond 50 GHz; quantum photonics, encompassing integrated quantum‑random‑number‑generator (QRNG) and quantum‑key‑distribution (QKD) systems; and photonic computing engines for artificial‑intelligence workloads. In addition, the consortium will develop a silicon‑photonics Process Design Kit (PDK) containing more than 100 intellectual‑property (IP) blocks for 200 mm wafer platforms, enabling the design and manufacture of increasingly complex photonic integrated circuits.
Packaging and Industrialisation
A central challenge identified is the conversion of fabricated photonic chips into reliable, manufacturable optical modules. izmo Microsystems will lead the creation of a volume‑photonic‑packaging ecosystem, covering precision assembly, photonic packaging, fiber alignment and attachment, electronic‑photonic co‑integration (PIC‑EIC), production‑grade packaging, process optimisation, prototype assembly and reliability validation. The roadmap aims to deliver a certified co‑packaged‑optics (CPO) design‑rule and associated service capability, establishing a pathway from foundry fabrication through packaging qualification to system‑level deployment.
Programme Context and Market Outlook
According to LightCounting, global sales of optical transceivers and related products reached US$26.8 billion in 2025, a 74 % year‑on‑year increase, and are projected to reach approximately US$40 billion in 2026, with silicon‑photonic transceivers expected to account for more than half of the market for the first time. The market for optical chips used in transceivers, active optical cables and co‑packaged optics is estimated to grow from about US$4 billion in 2025 to US$15 billion by 2031.
Phase I Legacy
Phase I of CPPICS achieved more than 95 % of its planned milestones, delivering research outputs, IP and prototype demonstrations in programmable photonics, microwave photonics and quantum technologies. Phase II expands the focus toward technology translation, industrialisation and commercialisation, with anticipated applications in data‑centres, telecommunications, defence, quantum technologies and advanced computing.
Management Commentary
Dinanath Soni, Director of izmo Microsystems, stated that silicon photonics is becoming a critical technology for the next generation of AI and data‑centre infrastructure as network speeds progress from 400 G and 800 G toward 1.6 T and beyond. He emphasized that the challenge now lies in precision packaging, fiber attachment, electronic‑photonic integration, thermal management and high‑speed testing, and that the Phase II collaboration will combine IIT Madras’s research capabilities with izmo’s packaging expertise to move technologies from prototype to production‑ready modules and co‑packaged‑optics systems.