MIT builds a way to mass-produce flexible photonic chips

MIT scientists have developed a wafer-scale process to fabricate silicon-photonics chips that are both mechanically flexible and optically transparent, a combination previously unattainable with traditional materials. This scalable technique moves beyond limited lab demonstrations to enable mass production of advanced microchips for emerging applications. “We’ve now developed a wafer-scale process that produces wafers that are mechanically flexible and optically transparent, enabling novel applications that weren’t previously possible with silicon photonics,” says Jelena Notaros, the Robert J. Shillman Career Development Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at MIT. The new chips could lead to discreet health monitors conforming to the body and transparent augmented-reality displays for pilots. The fabrication process relies on 300-millimeter wafers, a significant…