Australia opens PIC packaging facility
CSIRO has opened a new facility in Brisbane focused on packaging, connecting and testing photonic integrated circuits, supporting the transition of photonic technologies from laboratory prototypes towards commercial applications.
Australia's national science agency, CSIRO, has opened the Queensland Advanced Photonics Packaging Centre (Q-APP) in Brisbane, providing infrastructure for prototype and pilot-scale packaging of photonic integrated circuits (PICs).
The facility is designed to address a key challenge in photonics: integrating fabricated photonic chips with the optical, electrical and thermal interfaces required for reliable operation in practical systems. Its capabilities cover fibre-array attachment, laser-to-chip integration, micro-optic fabrication and testing.
Fibre-array attachment enables multiple optical fibres to be aligned and coupled to a photonic chip, while laser-to-chip integration supports the incorporation of optical sources with photonic circuits. The centre also provides thermal integration capabilities to address heat generated within packaged devices.
Q-APP includes micro-optic fabrication using two-photon polymerisation lithography, enabling the production of small optical structures that can be integrated into photonic systems to manipulate and direct light.
The facility will support photonic technologies targeting applications including high-speed communications, sensing, quantum systems, advanced manufacturing, resources and defence.
By providing packaging and integration infrastructure at prototype and pilot scale, the centre is intended to help researchers and technology developers move PIC designs beyond laboratory demonstrations.
Packaging remains a significant part of the photonic integration process because optical coupling, electrical connections, thermal behaviour and mechanical protection must all be controlled alongside the performance of the photonic chip itself.
The centre is primarily funded through the Queensland Government's Quantum and Advanced Technologies Commercialisation Infrastructure Program, which is intended to provide infrastructure for the development and commercialisation of emerging technologies.
Q-APP adds packaging and integration capability to Australia's photonics ecosystem, providing a dedicated environment for developing and validating the interfaces required to turn PICs into deployable photonic devices.
