TERAWAY will develop a disruptive generation of THz transceivers that can overcome the current limitations of THz technology and enable its commercial uptake. Leveraging optical concepts and photonic integration techniques, TERAWAY will develop a common technology base for the generation, emission and detection of wireless signals within an ultra-wide range of carrier frequencies that will cover the W (92-114.5 GHz), D (130-174.8 GHz) and THz band (252-322 GHz). In this way, the project will provide for the first time the possibility to organize the spectral resources of a network within these bands into a common pool of radio resources that can be flexibly coordinated and used. In parallel, the use of photonics will enable the development of multi-channel transceivers with amplification of the wireless signals in the optical domain and with multi-beam optical beamforming in order to have a radical increase in the directivity of each wireless beam. At the end of this development, TERAWAY will make available a set of truly disruptive transceivers including a 2- and a 4-channel module with operation from 92 up to 322 GHz, data rate per channel up to 108 Gb/s, transmission reach in the THz band of more than 400 m, and possibility for the formation of wireless beams that can be independently steered in order to establish backhaul and fronthaul connections between a set of fixed and moving nodes. TERAWAY will evaluate these transceivers under an application scenario of communication and surveillance coverage of outdoor mega-events using moving nodes in the form of drones that will carry a gNB or the radio part of it. The network during the implementation of this scenario in the 5G testbed of AALTO will be controlled by an innovative SDN controller that will perform the management of the network and radio resources in a homogeneous way with large benefits for the network performance, energy efficiency, slicing efficiency and possibility to support heterogeneous services.

The field of matter-wave interferometry is emerging as a highly-promising interdisciplinary field, at the interface between fundamental science and quantum technologies/photonics/semiconductor European industry. The primary goals of MAWI are to use the exquisite control of ultracold quantum matter to implement guided matter-wave interferometers and to train young researchers in the emerging fields of matter-wave interferometry and quantum sensors based on interferometric schemes. The remit of MAWI is in the area of novel quantum sensing devices, with potential sensitivity enhancement of several orders of magnitude with respect to existing devices. Achieving this goal requires training the next generation of “quantum interferometry researchers” to a broad range of topics from fundamental to applied science, including both experimental developments and modelling, with strong connections to industry and emerging technological trends. Our training network focuses on the combination of optimal preparation of initial ultracold atomic sources and potentials to control and guide the atoms; their combination to build integrated guided atom interferometers for precision measurements, e.g., of rotations and accelerations; and technological advances towards their miniaturisation. The end goal of a fully-integrated cold atom quantum device could become a major commercial tool in the coming decade, complementing, or potentially even hybridising with, parallel developments in the photonics and semiconductor industries. Supported by our state-of-the-art facilities, our complementary expertise and skills, the participation of well-known European companies and a broad range of established external partners, we are poised to make lasting contributions to the scientific and technological developments of integrated matter-wave architectures and to the training of the next generation of research leaders who will propel quantum technologies even beyond our current expectations.

3PEAT will develop a powerful photonic integration technology with all size, functionality and quality credentials in order to help a broad range of optical applications like optical switching and remote sensing, to achieve a strong commercial impact. In order to do so, the project will introduce a fully functional 3D photonic integration platform based on the use of multiple waveguiding layers and vertical couplers in a polymer technology (PolyBoard), as a means to disrupt the integration scale and functionality. Moreover, 3PEAT will combine this powerful 3D photonic technology with a silicon-nitride platform (TriPleX), via the development of a methodology for the deposition and processing of multilayer polymers inside etched windows on TriPleX chips. In parallel with the development of this hybrid 3D technology, 3PeaT will bring a number of key innovations at the integration and component level relating to: a) the heterogeneous integration of PZT films on TriPleX platform for development of phase shifters and switches for operation up to 50 MHz, b) the development of a disruptive external cavity laser on the same platform with linewidth less than 1 kHz, c) the development for the first time of an integrated circulator on PolyBoard with isolation more than 25 dB, and d) the development of flexible types of PolyBoards for the purpose of physical interconnection of other PICs. This enormous breadth of innovations can remove the current limitations and unleash the full potential of optical switching and remote sensing and ranging applications. The main switching module that will be fabricated will be a 36×36 optical switch with 20 ns switching time and possibility for power and cost savings of almost 95% compared to standard electronic solutions. The main sensing module on the other hand will be a disruptive Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) with all of its optical units, including its optical beam scanning unit, integrated on a very large, hybrid 3D PIC.

Despite the significant advances that photonic integrated circuits (PICs) offer in terms of miniaturization, power consumption and functionalities, they run into scalability and cost issues, related to the fabrication yield, the increased integration and packaging complexity, the lack of wafer scale compatible processes and the lack of integration and packaging standards. Furthermore, so far photonic packaging considered the sub-GHz electrical connections to the PICs as a separate and second priority issue, until the number of electrical IOs of the PICs was too large to ignore. POLYNICES aims to address these challenges with the development of a novel general purpose photonic integration technology, compatible with wafer scale processes that will reduce the production costs of photonic modules by at least 10x. POLYNICES will develop for the first time a polymer based Electro-Optic PCB (EOPCB) motherboard that will host Si3N4 chiplets, InP components and micro-optical elements. POLYNICES invests in Si3N4 platform with PZT actuators to realize complex structures in only 1x1 cm2 chiplets with ultra-low power consumption. The chiplets’ grid array electrical pads and the use of flip-chip integration on vertical alignment stops will allow optical alignment and electrical connection in one step. The standard size and interfaces of the chiplets as well as the electronic IC co-packaging on the same EOPCB, provides excellent scalability and customization, and significantly simplifies packaging. Dielectric rod THz antennas will be integrated on the EOPCB taking advantage of its good HF properties. Using the above novel concepts and building blocks, POLYNICES will develop a fully integrated optoelectronic FMCW THz spectrometer with THz antenna array and beam steering abilities for quality control in plastics, a 16x16 quantum processor with integrated 780 nm light source and non-linear crystals and a 24x24 quantum processor with integrated squeezed light state source.