Ottawa - Photonics

In the late 1980s, photonics was earmarked as one of the "hot"disciplines in telecommunications and has since grown to be a key enabling technology in other scientific fields.

To preserve Ottawa's reputation as a seat of pioneering photonics R&D, NRC is mobilizing industry and research organizations to seize the potential of photonics in such fields as nanotechnology and biotechnology. The prospective markets are enormous — ranging from life sciences and manufacturing to security and solar power.

Close-up of wafer showing its fine detail.

Responding to an evolving industry

The excellence of Ottawa's photonics cluster is rooted in a tradition of community cooperation. In the late 1980s,NRC brought cluster players together in response to a critical need for a collaborative approach to R&D. It established the Solid State Optoelectronics Consortium, a partnership with Bell-Northern Research, local businesses, universities, and government laboratories.

In 2002 NRC brought together local universities, R&D centres, government, and industry to create the NRC Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre — a $43 million investment in a pioneering photonics prototyping facility and a leading-edge training facility for skilled workers.The Centre's primary aim is to support cluster growth by offering stakeholders a suite of leading-edge commercialization and prototyping services. Services include simulation, design, fabrication, testing and prototyping of photonics technologies — offering companies a competitive edge worldwide by giving them the resources to reduce their time to market.

		BUILDING ON A FIRM FOUNDATION
		Today, Ottawa has the most vibrant photonics cluster in Canada and among the top five in the world for innovation. The community comprises close to 100 pioneering companies, various levels of government, and the best minds and research facilities at Ottawa's universities. NRC has developed a bold strategic plan to build on existing expertise as it leads the cluster in a new direction.

Uniting major players

To construct the fabrication centre, NRC worked with three partners: the federal government, which contributed $30 million, and the Government of Ontario,which added $13 million, of which $3 million is to be used by Carleton University towards the training of highly qualified personnel. In addition, NRC has concentrated the efforts of three of its own research institutes and in recent years, has launched five photonics-related biotechnology projects and initiated a separate venture focused on the marriage of photonics and medical imaging.

NRC has been a dynamic player in the photonics industry, helping create the Agile All-Photonic Networks Research Network,working closely with the leading-edge National Capital Institute for Telecommunications and pursuing a major collaborative research project funded by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Research and Technology Initiative.

Glove box and metal organic chemical vapour deposition.

World-class facility

The cutting-edge NRC Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre consists of a 1056 square-metre clean-room (class 100 and 1000) fabrication facility and a threestory office wing. Operational since 2005, the centre features pioneering technology to help Ottawa companies and research organizations maintain the cluster's position at the forefront of photonics research worldwide. Facilities include:

• a multi-wafer semiconductor growth reactor
• contact lithography and nanoimprinting
• an I-line projection lithography system (stepper)
• a suite of dielectric and metal deposition instruments
• advanced dry and wet etching tools

During the planning phase for the Centre, NRC collaborated closely with Photonics Research Ontario (PRO), a division of the Ontario Centres for Excellence, and CMC Microsystems. NRC signed a pivotal memorandum of understanding with both organizations allowing for their presence at the centre, to help attract a critical mass of companies, research organizations and universities.

Transforming technology into business

NRC offers strategic services to businesses that wish to take their innovations to market — easing the transition from small start-up company to bona fide industrial presence.

Quality control of finished wafer.

Assisting with industrial research

The NRC Industrial Research Assistance Program — aimed specifically at helping small- and medium-sized businesses develop technologies for market — contributes funding and expertise to all NRC clusters, including Ottawa's.

Best available science and technology literature

NRC is a world leader in electronic publishing, and Canada's largest and best resource for scientific, technical & medical information.NRC's information specialists are highly active in Ottawa's photonics technology cluster, conducting several hundred information searches a year and putting key publications in the hands of the region's pioneering innovators.They offer technical and business users leading-edge information and businessrelated services, including access to hundreds of relevant databases and thousands of scientific and technical journals.

		MILE STONES FOR COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
		1988 — NRC leads creation of Solid-State Optoelectronics Consortium
		2001 — NRC signs memorandum of understanding with Photonics Research Ontario
		2002 — $43 million funding for NRC Canadian Photonics Fabrication Centre
		2005 — Fabrication Centre opens its doors
		2005 — Cluster stages firstever photonics commercialization symposium in Ottawa, including facility tour and special event at NRC
		2005 — NRC through its ERI initiative funds the formation of the International Photonics Commercialization Alliance, showing leadership and support for the commercialization of photonics in Canada

"NRC-IRAP has been extremely useful for a number of emerging photonics companies — assisting them with R&D, product development and business expertise. Certainly, it is very highly spoken of among members of the photonics business community in Ottawa and elsewhere."

Mike Scott, Chair, Ottawa Photonics Cluster

NRC scientists working under controlled environmental conditions.

		NRC'S CLUSTER PARTNERS
		Carleton University
		Government of Ontario
		Photonics Research Ontario
		Agile All-Photonics Network
		Canadian Photonics Consortium
		Canadian Optoelectronic Packaging and Assembly Consortium
		Advanced Bio-photonics Consortium
		Ottawa Life Sciences Council
		Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation
		Ottawa Photonics Research Alliance
		National Capital Institute for Telecommunications
		CMC Microsystems
		Canadian Association of Physicists
		International Photonics Commercialization Alliance

Cluster facts at a glance

• Ottawa's photonics cluster comprises nearly 100 companies, various levels of government and local university laboratories.
• The cluster is Canada's most vibrant in photonics and among the top five photonics clusters in the world.
• Photonics has evolved into an enabling technology with applications in a wide range of science disciplines.

"The photonics industry is changing rapidly.We have arrived at a juncture where convergence with other technologies creates new opportunities if we can assemble the requisite collaborative, interdisciplinary teams.As a multidisciplinary organization with decades of understanding about collaboration and technology convergence, NRC is poised to shine, and will continue to make meaningful and lasting contributions to the Ottawa Photonics cluster."

Ray Novokowski, President and CEO, EcoVu Analytic

http://ims-ism.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca