Progress in Integrated Photonics and Future Prospects

Dear Colleagues,

Integrated photonics is captivating due to its ability to shrink discrete bulk modules to the chip scale, offering a scalable solution for sensing, signaling, processing, and computing. A smaller footprint presents numerous benefits, including enhanced efficiency, reduced loss, and intensified light–matter interactions. Over the years, Photonics-Integrated Circuits (PICs) have been explored across various platforms like silicon (Si), silicon nitride (SiN), thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN), indium phosphide (InP), and AlGaAs-on-insulators (AlGaAsOIs). Each platform offers unique advantages; for instance, Si photonics benefits from mature CMOS facilities and is optimized for high-density integration, while TFLN and InP excel in ultra-high-speed modulation but are less friendly for mass production. The journey to uncover high-performance, multifunctional PICs on both monolithic and hybrid/heterogeneous photonics platforms remains ever-evolving.

We are pleased to invite contributions to this Special Issue of Photonics, entitled “Progress in Integrated Photonics and Future Prospects”. This Special Issue aims to highlight the recent advancements in photonics-integrated devices and circuits, focusing on innovative design methodologies, fabrication techniques, characterizations of device/PICs performance, and evaluations of system performance with devices or PICs. We welcome work in the form of reviews, articles, and perspectives. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Photonics integrated circuits (PICs) or device for on-chip light generation, routing, processing, detection, modulation, and computing;
• Hybrid and heterogeneous integration photonics technology;
• Nanofabrication on integrated platforms such as Si, SiN, TFLN, InP, and AlGaAsOI;
• Innovative design models and strategies for integrated photonics.

Dr. Kaiyi Wu
Dr. Mengyue Xu
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Photonics is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• integrated photonics
• photonics integrated circuits (PICs)
• thin-film photonics
• monolithic photonics integration
• hybrid/heterogenous photonics integration
• integrated quantum photonics
• integrated nonlinear photonics
• nanofabrication
• inverse design for integrated photonics