ELENA Project Advances Photonic Integrated Circuits with Europe’s First LNOI Platform

The 42-month EU-funded ELENA project has concluded with the development of Europe’s first lithium niobate on insulator (LNOI) substrates for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), creating a fully European supply chain for thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) technology. The €5 million initiative, involving 10 partners across the PIC value chain, addressed the limited global LNOI supply chain, previously reliant on a single non-EU supplier, and the lack of a commercial TFLN photonic chip foundry.
TFLN enables high-performance PICs due to its electro-optic, nonlinear optical, and acousto-optic properties, allowing precise micromachining of lithium niobate for compact, multi-functional optical systems. LNOI wafers support applications in high-speed, low-power optical communications and quantum systems. ELENA’s outcomes include the first process design kit (PDK) for the LNOI platform and foundry-compatible processes to transition TFLN technology to commercial production.
The project established Europe’s first open-access LNOI photonic chip foundry at the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology (CSEM) in Neuchâtel, Switzerland, producing TFLN chips on 150 mm optical-grade LNOI wafers. CSEM launched a spinout, CCRAFT, to scale production, with plans to deliver millions of TFLN chips annually. Project partners CEA-Leti and SOITEC will commerci...