PIXEurope

Project abstract

Photonic chips use light instead of electricity to transport and process information inside circuits. This allows much faster communications with significantly lower energy consumption than conventional electronic chips. For this reason, photonic chips could reduce energy consumption in data centres by 30% or more, while improving speed and scalability and also generating significantly less heat and reducing cooling requirements. The photonic chips industry is also expected to grow up to 800% in market growth over next decade, as demand rises for faster and more efficient computing. By enabling faster and more energy-efficient data transmission and processing, photonic integrated circuits offer a path to overcoming the limitations of conventional electronic solutions while securing long-term competitiveness in an energy-constrained digital world.

In addition to communication, photonic chips are expected to enable breakthroughs in computing, medical diagnostics, LiDAR sensing, telecommunications, quantum information technologies, and quantum computing - in each case because their core properties (speed, precision, miniaturization, and low energy consumption) address limitations that conventional electronic chips cannot overcome.

With the participation of 20 institutions from 11 European countries, PIXEurope is the fifth Pilot Line initiative launched through the European Chips Joint Undertaking, established under the European Chips Act, to accelerate the development of photonic integrated circuit technology, a critical enabler for high-speed computing, communications, quantum information systems, and beyond.

The Pilot Line is a shared European industrial platform where companies (from start-ups to large corporations) can design, prototype, test, and validate photonic chips more quickly and at lower risk before large-scale manufacturing. It will be Europe's first fully integrated, distributed Pilot Line connecting the entire photonic integrated circuits value chain, from design and fabrication to integration, packaging, and testing, across multiple coordinated European sites within a unified and standardized framework.

PIXEurope has the potential to become a key enabler of Europe’s technological sovereignty and competitiveness in photonic integrated chips, addressing the urgent need for more powerful, scalable, and energy-efficient technologies in an increasingly digital world.

The initiative’s open-access model is designed to bridge the gap between research and commercialization, helping companies scale innovations more efficiently. By providing this open access to advanced infrastructure, collaborative R&D capabilities and facilitating expertise for the entire value chain, the PIXEurope Pilot Line bridges the gap between cutting-edge research and industrial deployment, enabling faster innovation and market uptake. Strongly backed by regional, national, and European institutions, PIXEurope is set to play a decisive role in strengthening Europe’s semiconductor and photonics ecosystem, supporting industry growth, reducing energy impacts, and positioning Europe at the forefront of next-generation chip technologies.