Netherlands Invests €1.1B to Develop Photonics Industry

On April 14, PhotonDelta launched an initiative that hopes to promote the development of new startups and expand the scale of existing enterprises with funding from academia and politics. PhotonDelta is a government-backed agency that aims to develop a photonic ecosystem in the country. The organization will fund 200 start-ups and facilitate the scaling up of 26 established companies.

The Netherlands hopes to invest 1.1 billion euros in next-generation photonics technology to create the next global semiconductor giant similar to ASML, the report said.

It is well known in the industry that ASML is the world's largest supplier of semiconductor lithography machines. The EUV lithography machines it produces are necessary equipment for the development of advanced processes by TSMC, Intel, and Samsung. The required deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography machine.

It is understood that the Dutch government will provide 471 million euros in funding for the plan, with the rest being jointly funded by partners including Eindhoven University of Technology and University Twente.

PhotonDelta CEO Ewit Roos said he is optimistic about the spirit of the above plan to help the Netherlands dominate the global optoelectronic chip market. He expects that the sales of the Dutch optoelectronics industry will reach 5 billion euros in 2030 and achieve a 30% global market share.

This is the second time the Dutch government has invested heavily in domestic technology in recent years. The country has invested 20 million euros in Smart Photonics, a local fab in 2020. This is also seen as the Netherlands provides support for domestic industries while preventing the leakage of key technologies. one of the means.

"The Netherlands has invested a lot of money in solar cell research before, but it still lost to China. This time we have the opportunity to do it in a different way. Today, China is still interested in Dutch photovoltaic companies." Roos said, 2020 The background of this investment in 2010 involves a Chinese venture capital company. At the time, a venture capital firm heavily funded by the Chinese government wanted to get into Smart Photonics. The Dutch government has actively taken action to invest in Smart Photonics first to ensure that key technologies do not leak out, and once blocked ASML from exporting lithography machines to China.

In addition to biotechnology, microelectronics and semiconductors, nanotechnology and advanced materials, photonics is also one of the key enabling technologies promoted by the European Commission in recent years. Compared with the use of electronic signals to transmit data, this technology replaces light with light. electricity to improve transmission efficiency, and can be applied to chips.

Martijn Heck, a professor at Eindhoven University of Technology, said that photonic technology, which can transmit more data with less energy, is a highly strategic technology and has a wide range of applications, such as autonomous driving, or quantum computing and 5G connectivity. The data infrastructure required by the network is within the scope of application.