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Key Points

IIT Madras has achieved a significant milestone by launching two indigenous silicon photonics products, marking India's technological advancement in quantum technologies. The breakthrough includes a quantum random number generator (QRNG) module designed for defense and IT security applications. These products, developed at the Centre of Excellence for Compound Photonics Integrated Circuits and Systems (CoE-CPPICS), demonstrate India's growing capabilities in advanced technological research. The innovations promise potential commercial applications and could revolutionize fields like cryptography, quantum computing, and secure communications.

Key Points: IIT Madras Unveils Breakthrough Silicon Photonics Defense Tech

  • First indigenous silicon photonics products developed in India
  • Quantum random number generator for military applications
  • Advanced photonic chip packaging technology
  • Potential commercial applications in IT security and cryptography
2 min read

IIT Madras launches 2 indigenously developed silicon photonics products

IIT Madras launches first indigenous quantum random number generator and photonics packaging tool for advanced defense and IT security applications

IIT Madras launches 2 indigenously developed silicon photonics products
"Silicon Photonics is an emerging technology that will help design much more efficient and complex hardware - Prof. V. Kamakoti, IIT Madras Director"

New Delhi, May 3

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras on Saturday launched two indigenously developed silicon photonics products, a first for India.

The products designed and developed indigenously at CoE-CPPICS at the IIT Madras can be quickly adopted by the market.

“Indigenously developed field deployable silicon photonic-based quantum random number generator (QRNG) module is a pride for India. The product has been delivered to DRDO to help in advanced quantum cryptography,” said S. Krishnan, IAS, Secretary, MeitY, while congratulating CoE-CPPICS.

The two products launched during the occasion include the Fibre-Array Unit (FAU) attachment tool for Photonic Chip Packaging and the silicon photonic QRNG (Quantum Random Number Generator).

The QRNG module will be available commercially for potential customers through the CPPICS spin-off start-up “LightOnChip”.

The key applications of QRNG are IT security for military and defence, Cryptographic algorithms, Quantum key distribution (QKD), Scientific Modelling and Simulations, Financial transactions/ Blockchain/ OTP, Gaming Applications, the Insititute said

“Silicon Photonics is an emerging technology that will certainly help design much more efficient and complex hardware for the future. I am very happy that the Silicon Photonics CoE-CPPICS Centre at IIT Madras has now come out with demonstrable products that can be quickly adopted by the market. We hope that multiple such products will continue to come in the future,” said Prof. V. Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras.

Photonic packaging and assembly are a complex and multi-disciplinary design and manufacturing process. To make a Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC)-enabled module perform according to specification, sub-micron precision alignment and bonding process are required.

At the same time, precise thermal management is required to maintain the thermo-optic stability of the signals.

CoE-CPPICS aims to provide better solutions for microwave and quantum photonics applications such as advanced photonic processors to be used in high-performance RF transceivers, scalable linear optical quantum computing processors for the next-generation qubit computation, and chip-level quantum key generation and distribution circuits, etc.

CPPICS is actively developing indigenous PIC design rules and hardware infrastructure for precision packaging for system-level applications.

- IANS

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Reader Comments

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Rahul K.
This is why IITs are our crown jewels! 🇮🇳 Silicon photonics is the future and having indigenous capabilities puts India ahead in quantum tech race. Hope DRDO and private sector adopt these innovations quickly. More funding should go to such strategic research.
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Priya M.
As an electronics engineer, I'm thrilled! The Fibre-Array Unit tool is crucial - photonic packaging has been our bottleneck. If LightOnChip can commercialize this properly, we might finally reduce dependence on foreign photonics components. Fingers crossed! 🤞
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Arjun S.
Great achievement but I hope they don't stop here. Many IIT projects remain lab prototypes. Need proper industry partnerships and manufacturing ecosystem. Also, when will common citizens benefit from such tech? Security applications are good but what about healthcare or education?
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Sneha R.
Quantum random numbers for OTPs and banking? That's next level security! 🔒 Hope our banks and UPI systems adopt this soon. China is already ahead in quantum tech - we need to move faster. Proud of IITM researchers working on cutting-edge desi solutions!
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Vikram J.
While this is impressive, I wonder about the cost. Silicon photonics is expensive globally - will Indian products be affordable? Also, hope they've filed strong patents. We've seen too many cases where foreign companies tweak our innovations and patent them abroad.

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