Simon Gross

"Everyone should benefit from the unlimited knowledge the Internet has to offer. However, a capacity crunch is imminent. Global data demand will soon be reaching the fundamental capacity limit of our fibre optic communication networks. Integrated photonic circuits, the optical equivalent of integrated electronic circuits, are the backbone of the Internet. However, they are limited to two dimensions and require sophisticated fabrication tools. The use of a novel laser based process, similar to 3D printing, enables photonic circuits to access the third dimension with the push of a button. For the first time, these 3D circuits unlock access to the many degrees of freedom of a photon for scaling the fibre optic transmission capacity and avoiding the capacity crunch."