IIT Madras Develops Indigenous Silicon Photonics PDK and Universal PPIC Test Engine

S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India launched indigenously developed Silicon Photonics technology solutions, including a Silicon Photonics Process Design Kit (PDK) and a Universal Programmable Photonic ICs (PPIC) Test Engine at IIT Madras on 24th Apr 2026. The launch also witnessed presence of  Amitesh Sinha, Additional Secretary, MeitY and CEO of India Semiconductor Mission (ISM), Prof Shanti Bhattacharya, HoD DoEE, IIT Madras, and Governing Council Members of the centre.

The PDK contains over 50 verified components and provides design enablement for industries, startups, academic institutions, and defence R&D organisations to develop advanced Photonic ICs. The Universal PPIC Test Engine serves as a state-of-the-art automated characterisation platform for photonic and optoelectronic modules across various applications. The facility functions as a shared national resource for the Indian photonics R&D community.

S. Krishnan, Secretary, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), Government of India, also launched the next phase of technology development at the Centre of Excellence on Silicon Photonics – CoE-CPPICS. He noted that Silicon Photonics developme...