December 09, 2025 -- Eighteen research projects are jointly awarded more than 16 million euros for technological research on photonic chips. TU Delft has received funding for five projects. The funding comes from NWO and the National Growth Fund programme PhotonDelta. This investment will enable the development of new photonic technologies that form the basis for applications in areas such as medical technology, sustainable AI and wireless communication.

Photonic chips working with light particles are a lot more energy-efficient, faster and have more capacity than (traditional) electronic chips. Because of this enormous potential, it is one of the ten priority technologies from the Dutch government's National Technology Strategy (NTS).

With this research programme, NWO and PhotonDelta aim to stimulate research into innovative materials, components and systems within integrated photonics on new, promising themes that provide a valuable addition to the already existing projects at PhotonDelta.

NWO sees photonics as one of the important key technologies in the National Technology Strategy and has therefore added over 8 million euros to the budget from NWO's interest income and Technology Foundation STW's reserves. This is a one-off increase in the budget.
Read more about the awarded projects in the project summaries below.

The projects awarded to TU Delft are:

One ink to rule them all: Integrated Short-Wave Infrared Photodetectors and Light Emitting Devices Based on III-V Quantum Dots for Wearable Photonic Technologies (ONE INK)

Prof. dr. A.J.  Houtepen, Applied Sciences

ONE INK will develop a new printable material that can both emit and detect invisible light for wearable health sensors. Using tiny crystals called quantum dots, the technology will make it easier and cheaper to build devices that monitor important health markers like hydration and cholesterol — without needing blood tests. The project’s innovation allows light sources and detectors to be printed from a single ink directly onto electronics, simplifying manufacturing. ONE INK aims to make health monitoring more accurate, accessible, and reliable for everyone, while supporting the future of personalized medicine and preventive care.

Co-applicant

Dr. ir. T.J. Savenije, Applied Sciences

Photonics integrated circuits for high resolution imaging and sensing

Dr. I. Esmaeil Zadeh, Applied Sciences

Researchers are developing a small, integrated optical device designed to examine extremely tiny structures, known as nanostructures. Traditional high-resolution imaging tools, like electron microscopes, are often large, expensive, and not suitable for on-site use. The new system, proposed in this work, aims to overcome these limitations by being compact and efficient. The device utilizes special light-guiding components called waveguides and employs advanced techniques involving plasmonics to achieve high-resolution imaging. By focusing on efficient light transmission and innovative design, the system can operate across a wide range of light wavelengths, useful for biological samples and semiconductors.

Co-applicant

Dr. ir. S.F. Pereira, Applied Sciences

Multiphysics inverse design for next-generation programmable photonics

Dr. C.E.H.  Errando Herranz, QuTech and Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Photonic chips use light to process information, offering faster and more efficient alternatives to traditional electronics. But designing these chips is challenging because they involve many physical effects working together. We’re creating a new design method that combines these effects more effectively, leading to smaller, faster, and more energy-efficient components. This approach could improve technologies like high-speed internet, AI computing, and quantum sensors by making photonic chips more powerful and easier to scale.

Co-applicant

Dr. E. van Zwet, TNO

On-chip Photonic Neural Networks with In-situ Training

Dr. R.A.  Norte, Mechanical Engineering

Artificial intelligence (AI) is growing rapidly, but it consumes enormous amounts of energy. Our research explores how to run AI using light instead of electricity. By using nanophotonics — tiny light-based circuits — we can build smart chips that are extremely fast and energy-efficient. Our goal is to design these chips so that they can train and improve themselves without relying on traditional, energy-intensive computer hardware. This could lead to more sustainable AI technology that is better for the climate and less dependent on foreign chip manufacturers.

Co-applicant

Dr. S. Kumar, Mechanical Engineering

INTERPRETER: Integrated photonic crystal spectropolarimeter  

Dr. R.  Kohlhaas, Mechanical Engineering

Imaging sensors, which can both detect the spectrum and polarization of incident light, have numerous applications such as material inspection or air pollution monitoring. Such spectropolarimeteric applications would benefit from faster data acquisition, compactification of the optical instrument, and detection over a broad wavelength range. In the INTERPRETER project, this is addressed with the development of an integrated spectropolarimeter on an imaging detector. State-of-the-art technologies, such as photonic crystals and short-wave infrared extended CMOS detectors, are combined into one flat integrated element. The device will support for example future aerosol measurements from space.

Co-applicants

Prof. dr. K.A.A. Makinwa, Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science

Dr. N. Bhattacharya, Mechanical Engineering

Dr. F. Maucher, Mechanical Engineering