Etteplan accelerates photonics technology breakthrough

Etteplan Oyj, Press Release, April 11, 2023 at 1:15 P.M. EEST

Etteplan accelerates photonics technology breakthrough

Etteplan has developed a smart solution to accelerate the global breakthrough in photonics. Using a modular machine platform, lightning-fast assembly of optical elements with extreme accuracy is possible. With the latest innovation, particularly prototypes of photonics products can now be produced much faster.

Photonics is an emerging technology where instead of electrons, photons (light waves) are used in chips or data transport, along with other applications. This technology is more energy-efficient and faster, which is why significant investments are being done worldwide. The number of applications is growing rapidly; for example, photonics is already being used in data centers and in LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), but the big breakthrough is yet to come. One of the challenges companies worldwide are struggling with is being able to quickly produce different prototypes. Normally, it would take days of adjustments to the settings of a machine, capable of making these products, to switch in assembly from one prototype to another.

Modular Machine Platform

'Etteplan Indigo' is the modular machine platform which was developed in part to make this R&D process much easier. The machine can assemble a wide range of micro-optical elements because both the hardware and software are modular. One example is the alignment and connection of glass fibers to a chip. The innovative software is easy to use and allows the operator/company to quickly create and modify the programming themselves. The changeover time required to make another product is thus drastically reduced. Assembly costs are thereby lowered and with that also ultimately the cost price of photonic application produced with the machine platform.

High-tech partnership

Europe is highly engaged in developments in the field of photonics. For example, within the Ultrapho project there is cooperation between Etteplan, Graphenea, Black Semiconductor and AMO. A great deal of knowledge is gained here in order to develop the photonic products of tomorrow. Within this project, a photodetector made of graphene is being developed, suited to cope with the exponentially growing data streams used in the future. On Etteplan's machine platform, these products are assembled.

Etteplan in brief

We are a rapidly growing technology service company specializing in software and embedded solutions, engineering solutions, and technical documentation solutions. We are a forerunner in the engineering industry and we differentiate ourselves by the wide-ranging competence of our experts. Our customers include world’s leading companies in the manufacturing industry. We help them to create a better world through engineering, innovation and digitalization.

Etteplan has lead the way in the engineering field already since 1983. In 2022, we had a turnover of EUR 350.2 million. The company currently has some 4, 000 professionals in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Denmark and China. Etteplan's shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd under the ETTE ticker. www.etteplan.com

For more information or pictures, please contact:

Etteplan
Joris van der Linden, Marketing Professional Etteplan the Netherlands
Email: joris.vanderlinden@etteplan.com
+31 (0)6 34605614