Construction of €153 mln photonic chip pilot plant starts in 2025
PhotonDelta, the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Defense, and TNO will fund the €153 million investment.
Published on June 11, 2025
Team IO+ selects and features the most important news stories on innovation and technology, carefully curated by our editors.
With the start of construction of a new pilot plant for photonic chips at the High Tech Campus Eindhoven, the Netherlands aims to underline its ambition to be a key player in the European chip industry. At the end of this year, TNO will start construction of this factory, where photonic chips based on indium phosphide (InP) will be produced on an industrial scale. The factory is a key element of the European PIXEurope project and is co-financed by the EU Chips Act.
The total investment of €153 million is being funded by PhotonDelta, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, and TNO itself, among others. The High Tech Campus Eindhoven is also investing in the building and the necessary cleanroom infrastructure. The pilot factory will be established within the Photonic Integration Technology Centre (PITC), a collaboration between TNO, Eindhoven University of Technology, and the University of Twente.
According to Ton van Mol, managing director at TNO, the factory is much more than a technological facility: “This pilot factory is a game changer for Dutch companies and the future earning capacity of our country. It is a critical part of a powerful ecosystem in photonic chips that will enable the Netherlands to distinguish itself globally.”
From 4 inches to 6 inches: more chips on a wafer
The new factory will enable the transition from 4-inch to 6-inch wafers, making the production of photonic chips more efficient and scalable. Companies such as SMART Photonics will use the facilities to bring their innovations to market faster.
Photonic chips use light instead of electricity to transport data. Thanks to their compact size, high speed, and low energy consumption, they are indispensable in applications such as data centers, medical technology, AI, 6G communications, and defense systems. This makes them one of the key technologies on which Europe is strategically focusing.
European cooperation is crucial in this regard. The factory in Eindhoven will be part of PIXEurope, a network of pilot production lines in eleven European countries aimed at strengthening the entire value chain for integrated photonics. This is closely aligned with the ambitions of the EU Chips Act, which aims to reduce Europe's technological dependence on Asia and the US.
The emergence of integrated photonics is comparable to the early days of the semiconductor industry. The Netherlands holds a key position in Europe, thanks to its strong research institutes and companies such as SMART Photonics and EFFECT Photonics. The new pilot factory confirms and strengthens that position. Ton van Mol: "This moment is comparable to the early days of the semiconductor industry – and the Netherlands is right in the middle of it.
-1.png&w=828&q=75)
NL becomes the centerpiece European photonics sector. 'This moment is similar to the early days of the semiconductor industry'
The Netherlands will soon have a pilot production line to develop photonic chips. We interviewed Ton van Mol, who is directly involved in the project as managing director of TNO at Holst Centre.