Every year in late October/early November, our two-week Deep Dive PIC Design Course takes place in Eindhoven. The participants, engineers and scientists with a background in photonics, learn how to get the best out of PIC technology and circuit design using the powerful JePPIX building blocks. In this testimonial series, previous participants tell us about their experience. This time it’s the experience of Akanksha Kapoor. She is currently working as an Epitaxy Process Engineer at the Eindhoven University of Technology within the framework of the OIP4NWE project. She is supporting the establishment of an open innovation pilot line for the development of generic photonic integration technology. Her key role is to develop the epitaxy of InP-based PICs on 4 inch wafers using a new AIXTRON MOCVD reactor in Nanolab@TU/e.
“I joined the Photonic Integration Group (PhI) at TU Eindhoven in February 2021 to focus on the growth of III-V materials. During my PhD in CEA France, I studied the epitaxy of nitride based semiconductors for visible LEDs, thus I was making a fresh beginning in the field of infrared devices at TU/e. I was certain to take the upcoming JePPIX PIC design course, thanks to the excellent feedback I had received from other colleagues in my group. The two-week training indeed ended up being very useful regardless of my slightly different background.
I was fortunate to take the training on campus which made the Q&A rounds quite interactive. The course consisted of both theoretical lectures as well as some hands on sessions. A mixture of presentations from pedagogical insights and industrial perspectives about PICs made the course a complete package for me. The talks about fabrication challenges and rule checks to be made during the chip design phase were very informative. It made me wonder about the scope of growth advancements that can still be done in epitaxy. I also found the hands on sessions very valuable, especially ‘NAZCA’ for mask designing. I had started learning NAZCA a few weeks before the course and had a list of questions ready. The highly interactive session with one-on-one guidance by the experts significantly helped me in clearing my doubts. Many useful links were also provided at the end.
Overall, the PIC design course was a great opportunity for me to get familiar with the PIC technology and to network with other members from the community. I would highly recommend the course to anyone who’s looking forward to dive more deeply into InP-based PICs, both in academia and in industry.”
Eager to participate in the upcoming edition of the JePPIX PIC Design Course? Click here for more information and to sign up!