IEEE Study Highlights How Micro-Transfer Printing Can Lead to Advanced Silicon Photonics

Micro-transfer printing can enable heterogenous integration of diverse material systems in silicon photonics

PISCATAWAY, N.J., July 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Silicon photonics has emerged as a promising technology for addressing bandwidth and latency bottlenecks of conventional electrical interconnects and therefore are being explored for future artificial intelligence infrastructure. However, heterogenous integration of multiple material systems remains a challenge. Now, researchers show how micro-transfer printing can enable highly versatile heterogenous integration to expand the functionality of silicon photonics, paving the way for advanced photonic systems.

The rapid growth of artificial intelligence and related computing infrastructure has exposed the limited bandwidth of conventional electrical interconnects in integrated circuits as a major bottleneck to system performance. Silicon photonics, which transmits data using photons instead of electrons, has emerged as a promising approach for overcoming bandwidth and latency limitations. The platform is now widely used for photonic integrated circuits (PICs), particularly in telecom and datacom applications.

A major strength of silicon photonics lies in its compatibility with standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology, enabling scalable PIC fabrication using existing semiconductor infrastructure. However, this also introduces a fundamental limitation. CMOS fabrication infrastructure is highly specialized and optimized and therefore cannot integrate non-standard materials. Conventional group-IV semiconductor materials cannot satisfy all requirements of advanced photonic systems, particularly for functions such as on-chip light generation. Materials such as III–V semiconductors and lithium niobate (LiNbO₃) can provide these capabilities, highlighting the need for heterogeneous integration approaches to expand the functionality of silicon photonics.

A new study published in Journal of Lightwave Technology on April 30, 2026, highlights micro-transfer printing (MTP) as a promising approach for realizing heterogenous integration in silicon photonics. "Among the various approaches being pursued for enabling wafer-scale heterogeneous integration, MTP is an emerging highly versatile technique that combines benefits of die-level assembly with wafer-scale processing," explains Ir. Ye Chen from Ghent University – imec, Belgium.

The study highlights the limitations of existing heterogeneous integration techniques before describing how MTP can address several of these challenges. The MTP process begins with fabrication of thin-film devices, called coupons, on a dense source wafer, followed by selective etching of a sacrificial release layer. An elastomeric stamp is then used to pick up and print multiple devices onto a target wafer. Finally, adhesive or direct bonding secures the devices in place, enabling seamless co-integration of diverse material systems onto large-area silicon photonics platforms.

Notably, one of the main advantages of MTP is its broad material compatibility, which allows multiple material systems to be integrated within a single architecture. This enables individual chiplets to be independently optimized using the most suitable fabrication processes before integration, while maintaining compatibility with CMOS-based photonic platforms.

Recent demonstrations of the MTP process include a fully integrated silicon photonic engine capable of processing both optical and microwave signals using indium phosphide (InP) lasers; gallium arsenide lasers integrated with silicon nitride waveguides for applications in virtual reality, quantum technologies and microwave photonics; widely tunable narrow-line width InP lasers integrated with silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) waveguides for coherent communications and light detection and ranging; wafer-level integration of LiNbO₃-based modulators with Si₃N₄ photonic circuits; and heterogeneous electronic-photonic optical receiver platforms.

The study also presents a new pilot line focused on developing key aspects of MTP for large-volume industrial manufacturing. In addition, the authors outline several remaining challenges, including yield, reliability, throughput, and the need for a robust and scalable manufacturing ecosystem, along with possible solutions for some of these issues.

"The MTP technology is still in its early stages of commercial application; however, we believe that consistent advancements will soon lead to large-scale industrial manufacturing, paving the way for advanced silicon photonics that will benefit several industries," concludes Ir. Chen.

Reference
Authors: Ye Chen et al.
Title of original paper: Micro-Transfer Printing on Silicon Photonics: Tutorial, Recent Progress and Outlook
Journal: Journal of Lightwave Technology
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1109/JLT.2026.3689409
Affiliations: INTEC Ghent University, Belgium

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SOURCE IEEE Photonics Society