News: Optoelectronics
29 September 2025
C-PIC launches Open Platform GitHub repository at ECOC
In booth C1130 at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2025) in Copenhagen, Denmark (29 September–1 October), CORNERSTONE Photonics Innovation Centre (C-PIC), formed in 2014 and the UK’s dedicated Innovation and Knowledge Centre (IKC) for silicon photonics (SiPh) prototyping foundry (affiliated with the University of Southampton and the University of Glasgow, as well as the UK government’s Science and Technology Facilities Council), has unveiled its new Open Platform.
Building on its long-standing commitment to open access, C-PIC is enabling true open-source collaboration by making its CORNERSTONE Foundry-compatible SiPh process design kits (PDKs), components, and building blocks available via its Open Platform GitHub.
As well as allowing access to C-PIC’s information, the platform will support contributions from the wider community, allowing researchers, individuals and commercial organizations to upload and reuse trusted design elements. By providing open access to these elements in a single, easy-to-access environment, the Open Platform shortens design cycles and creates an ecosystem where innovation can be shared and scaled rather than reinvented.
The first CORNERSTONE Foundry compatible releases are:
- SOI 220nm active PDK – silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform for high-speed modulation, used in CORNERSTONE’s all-silicon transmitter, suitable for datacom and telecom applications; and
- SiN 300nm PDK – silicon nitride platform supporting datacom, quantum technologies, biosensing, and space applications.
Additional C-PIC platforms will follow, including:
- Germanium-on-Silicon (Ge-on-Si) – designed for mid-infrared sensing, abri-tech, and space applications;
- Suspended Silicon (Suspended Si) – suitable for gas and environmental monitoring;
- SOI 340nm – suited to datacom and telecom applications;
- SOI 500nm – developed for high-power defence applications; and
- SiN 200nm – supports visible light range for biosensing applications.
Wider community contribution
Alongside C-PIC’s own contributions, the Open Platform will feature at launch content from the wider community that is compatible with the CORNERSTONE Foundry. Contributors include Compound Semconductor Applications (CSA) Catapult, Ireland’s Tyndall National Institute, and individuals from leading universities such as the University of Pavia (Università di Pavia) and the University of Sheffield. Early uploads range from educational kits and discrete components to complete circuit designs, demonstrating strong adoption by both academic and commercial users.
Beyond PDKs, the platform also supports Open Data, covering simulation and test results. This area is predicted to expand significantly moving forward, and new resources intended to dramatically improve SiPh innovation will be added in the future, reflecting C-PIC’s roadmap towards a comprehensive open-source ecosystem.
Open Platform available now
“The Open Platform represents a significant milestone in open-source photonics,” says Dr Emre Kaplan, PDK manager at C-PIC. “By enabling the sharing of photonic integrated devices and circuits we can help users accelerate research and industry innovation, allowing the photonics community to build on each other’s work rather than starting from scratch.”
C-PIC also acknowledges the support of the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Impact Acceleration Account and the University of Southampton, whose funding has helped bring the Open Platform to life.
The Open Platform is now live on GitHub, providing a central hub for the photonics community to explore, contribute and accelerate the development of SiPh technologies.
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