Editor's note: This article is written by Bregje van Dommelen and is featured in the High Tech Campus special edition of Frits Magazine. It is published here with permission.
Imagine this: Instead of hospital visits for an MRI, you use a portable, affordable device to monitor your health at home. Or using ChatGPT in a more sustainable, energy-efficient way. A futuristic vision? Perhaps, but not for long if SMART Photonics CEO Johan Feenstra has his way. “The optical chips we produce here at High Tech Campus Eindhoven will make these and countless other advancements possible,” he says.
The chips developed by SMART Photonics don’t use electrical signals but light, offering enormous advantages. “Moving light doesn’t consume energy. Fiber optics don’t generate heat, unlike copper wires. This saves a tremendous amount of power. Additionally, our chips can transmit much more information simultaneously. An electron can only be on or off—1 or 0. Light, on the other hand, can be on or off, but also come in different colors and phases. This gives us far more possibilities. We’re truly on the brink of monumental technological breakthroughs. I often compare this to the 1970s when no one could imagine we’d all carry mobile phones in our pockets one day.”
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SMART Photonics' CEO Johan Feenstra. Photography: Charlotte Verhagen - DCI Media.
SMART Photonics was among the first companies to develop complex optical chips back in 2012. Today, the company is riding the wave of growing interest. Policymakers in the Netherlands and Europe increasingly recognize the importance of having a homegrown chip industry.
“We outsourced semiconductor production to Asia years ago, and the rest is history... Europe doesn’t want to make that mistake again. There are now funds available, and more major companies are showing interest in what we offer.”
SMART Photonics and design houses assist companies in creating the perfect chip tailored to their needs. “Think of it as a box of LEGO. From individual pieces, you can create various designs, all fitting on a single square millimeter chip. There’s a laser, a waveguide, an amplifier, and much more. The combination and arrangement of these components can be customized to meet specific requirements.” 
Developments are progressing rapidly, with SMART Photonics hitting one milestone after another. “But the most significant achievement this year is transitioning from 3-inch to 4-inch wafers. This makes applications much cheaper and therefore more attractive. A 3-inch wafer can hold 200 to 300 complex chips, depending on the application. A 4-inch wafer doubles that. It sounds simple, but it took us a year and a half to achieve.”
SMART Photonics’ philosophy is to bring others’ innovations to life. “We help other companies make significant strides with our chips.” That doesn’t mean Feenstra underestimates his company’s importance. “We aim to be the global leader in our field, and we’re well on our way. We want to be the first company that comes to mind when someone needs optical chips.”
Achieving that position is no easy feat. “SMART Photonics started as a lab with a group of incredibly smart researchers. The challenge now is to maintain an innovative culture while also becoming a reliable, commercially operating factory. Our next step is to reach tier one, the top level.”
Being located in Brainport is undoubtedly a factor in SMART Photonics’ success. “The term ‘ecosystem’ is often overused, but here, it truly applies. We collaborate fruitfully with research institutes and other companies. There’s an incredible amount of expertise here.”
Not every startup successfully scales, but SMART Photonics has managed to do so. Feenstra’s secret? “It’s never too early to bring in great people. Don’t hesitate. Only with fantastic people can you build a fantastic company.”
Read the article and download the entire list of more than 30 integrated photonics players here.
