Executive Summary
CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre is the UK's leading technology hub for silicon photonics (SiPh), hosted by the University of Southampton and the University of Glasgow.
Silicon photonics has emerged as a leading candidate to reduce the energy consumption of AI infrastructure, in particular in the movement of high volumes of data. The UK possesses world-leading research capabilities and a productive startup ecosystem, yet it faces an urgent need for prototyping infrastructure to capture the resulting value. To ensure the UK remains a serious player in SiPh innovation, the following actions are recommended:
- Identify Photonics as a Frontier Technology: Identify photonics as one of the frontier technologies within the Digital and Technologies Sector Plan of the Modern Industrial Strategy: recognising that SiPh and related photonic technologies are strategically important, rapidly advancing, and capable of delivering significant economic and national capability advantages
- Establish a Silicon Photonics Pilot Line: In accordance with the recommendation of the Council for Science and Technology, a national facility should be established to facilitate prototyping manufacturing.
Contributors:
India Cook, Public Policy|Southampton Specialist Policy Officer for CORNERSTONE and recently completed PhD student focusing on metal-based nanoparticles, University of Southampton.
Tom Carnay, Head of Business Operations at CORNERSTONE, University of Southampton.
Dr Andy Sellars, Director of Strategy at CORNERSTONE, University of Southampton.
Professor Callum Littlejohns, Deputy Director at CORNERSTONE, University of Southampton.
