In femto-iCOMB, we develop the first integrated femtosecond laser-based frequency comb that can serve as the basis for a wide variety of optical and Radio-Frequency (RF) technologies ranging from high resolution environmental and health sensing to LIDAR and RADAR. Femto-iCOMB is based on the successful EIC-pathfinder project FEMTOCHIP, where we demonstrate an integrated high power femtosecond laser enabling extremely low jitter on chip scale. Here, we tam the free running comb from the integrated femtosecond laser with on-chip continuum generation, carrier-envelope and repetition rate locking to an optical reference to become a fully stabilized femtosecond laser frequency comb (FSLFC) with extremely high frequency stability. We use the femto-iCOMB to pursue photonic microwave oscillators for a variety of applications ranging from autonomous driving to ultra-low phase noise oscillators for advanced signal generators and RF-test and measurement equipment and demonstrate these devices in relevant industrial environments for each application. These prototype field tests will validate the TRL levels achieved for each application and together with surveys of potential customers will inform the business case to be made for each potential product line.

Major challenges of the European and worldwide society such as the climate crisis, insufficient environmental protection, food and pharmaceutical shortages, and military aggressions require technologies that substitute fossil fuels with sustainable energy sources in basically all industries. Following the green deal of the EU commission, the European continent shall become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050. The chemical industry is a major contributor to CO2 emissions, as it accounts for about 30% of the industrys total energy use worldwide. Even though so-called photochemistry promises to sustainably produce chemical compounds by (sun)light, corresponding reactors suffer from insufficient light management, even in modern micro flow reactors, which hinders their upscaling to applications in industry. This is exactly where the key to the technological and economic breakthrough lies, and this is where reaCtor comes into play. It will contribute to the ambitious goal of a sustainable chemistry by developing and validating a novel type of light-driven chemical reactor with enormous scale-up potential for industrial applications. It will be based on an interdisciplinary and innovative technological approach, combining optical fibres for smart light management, metallic nanoparticles as efficient energy transmitters, nano- and micro-fabrication for micro-fluidic functionalization as well as monolithic optical integration, and flow chemistry as an eco-friendly and safe chemical technology. For the first time, a demonstrator of the novel reactor architecture will be set-up and benchmarked with relevant photochemical reactions. Ultimately, the proposed fibre-based microfluidic reactors will enable implementation of new and efficient routes driven by light to prepare pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and materials on both lab and industrial scales.

Over the last 20 years, femtosecond lasers have led to a host of novel scientific and industrial instrumentation enabling the direct measurement of optical frequencies and the realization of optical clocks, a Nobel Prize winning technology. Initially developed for fundamental science, the potential of femtosecond lasers for a wide range of cross-disciplinary applications has been demonstrated, including e.g. those in optical telecommunication, photonic analog-to-digital conversion, ultra-high precision signal sources for the upcoming quantum technologies and broadband optical spectroscopy in the environmental or bio-medical sciences and many more. Although, impressive cross-disciplinary demonstrations of the potential of femtosecond lasers are numerous, the technology has been hampered by its large size and high cost per system. The existing mode-locked semiconductor diode laser technology does not fulfil the needed performance specifications. The aim of the FEMTOCHIP project is to deliver a fully integrated chip-scale mode-locked laser with pulse energy, peak power and jitter specifications of a shoebox sized fiber laser system enabling a large fraction of the above-mentioned applications. Key challenges addressed are large cross-section, high gain, low background loss waveguide amplifiers, low loss passive waveguide technology and chirped waveguide gratings to accommodate high pulse peak power, to suppress Q-switching instabilities and to implement short pulse production by on-chip dispersion compensation and artificial saturable absorption. Therefore, the FEMTOCHIP consortium is composed of leaders in CMOS compatible ultra-low loss integrated SiN-photonics, rare-earth gain media development and deposition technology as well as ultrafast laser physics and technology for design, simulation and characterization to identify and address the key challenges in demonstrating a highly stable integrated femtosecond laser with table-top performance.

The need for a next-generation computing platform becomes clear from IoT and 5G/6G and their high performance and low power requirements. Now, graphene and 2D materials (2DM) offer the unique ability to enable highly confined nonlinear interactions of light at low powers and at extremely low response times in the femtosecond range. However, it must be integrated with CMOS low-loss silicon nitride (SiN) platform that facilitates the possibility to create circuits for fast, low power, high bandwidth, general purpose computing and memory completely in the optical domain. As the most important challenge comes from the maturity of the graphene processes with standard CMOS environments, the main goal of GATEPOST is to fabricate and demonstrate a radically new graphene-based all-optical data processing platform, integrated and tested in a real CMOS pilot line. As a user case, we focus on a network security device for distributed denial of service (DDoS) detection and network packet inspection. Even though on average 170 cyber-attacks are performed per IoT device per day, there is still a huge lack of security due to the added power, latency, operating costs and bandwidth limitations involved. This is unacceptable, especially considering that the cybercrimes topped an estimated $318 billion in 2021 alone. With our graphene-based computing platform, we will show how low-power, low-latency and high bandwidth network security is ready for the IoT and 5G/6G future. The full system showcases the unique expertise of each consortium member in all-optical digital logic, neuromorphic computing, memory and ultra-fast clock generation. These components are realized in the 2D-Experimental Pilot Line at IHP, allowing for scalable fabrication and strengthening the EU’s supply-chain in high-performance computing. In the future, the developed platform can be deployed for applications in AI, autonomous driving and more, paving the way for computing beyond von Neumann and Moore’s Law.

The ambitious CleanH2shipping project unites ports, research organisations, technology providers and a ship operator, with the aim of developing and implementing a viable hydrogen ecosystem and showcasing the potential of hydrogen fuel-cell-powered inland and short sea shipping. Our vision extends beyond mere demonstration; we aspire to catalyse widespread adoption across Europe and beyond. Unlike land-based hydrogen applications for vehicles, there are no international regulations for safe use of hydrogen at sea, rivers or in ports. The volume required to power marine vessels is of an entirely different magnitude compared to road transport vehicles, and any potential accident could have far-reaching consequences. This lack of regulations is one of the main barriers to implementing hydrogen at scale, as shipbuilders, ports, shipowners, and logistics providers require clarity before committing to a new technology. Another major barrier are high investment costs for the production and port infrastructure and high operating costs of hydrogen-powered vessels. To realise the vision of hydrogen-powered shipping, CleanH2Shipping will engage policy makers and authorities to advocate for harmonised regulations, demonstrate the complete hydrogen supply chain and create a blueprint for replication in other European ports and ships. Innovative swappable hydrogen fuel tank containers, "H2Tank-Tainers," will be used, hence no investment in port infrastructure is required. Our demonstration with the 610 TEU inland container ship Letitia, featuring a 1.2MW fuel-cell main drive, will showcase sustainable shipping. Further standardisation, efficiency enhancements, scaling and AI-based container logistics will further decrease CAPEX and OPEX costs to build an H2 ecosystem. With our goal to lay the foundation of a H2 ecosystem in and around the European ports, this project can make a significant contribution to achieve the “Fit for 55” goals and significantly reduce CO2 emissions