All Optics, Photonics & Laser Components

The Institute of Astrophysics (IA) at FORTH began its journey in 2019 and is the only research institute in Greece devoted exclusively to Astrophysics. It builds on nearly three decades of highly successful research activity by the astrophysics group within the Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) of Department of Physics of the University of Crete. Its goal is to understand the cosmos, and to have tremendous fun while doing so. Its work focuses on some of the most persistent open questions of theoretical and observational astrophysics, and in the process it trains the next generation of scientists and engineers for careers in astrophysics and beyond. The institute works within the strongly multidisciplinary environment of FORTH, building strategic international partnerships and acting as a home or meeting point for outstanding researchers from around the world. It gives back through outreach, education, innovation, and joint and mutually beneficial projects with the local authorities and the private sector.

The Foundation for Research and Technology Hellas (FORTH) is by far the most successful experimental research centre in Greece. The Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL) is the largest (180 personnel) of its six institutes. In a 2014 evaluation of all Greek research institutes, it was ranked at the top, being the only institute to be given the maximum possible score on all criteria evaluated. In the research activities at IESL, particular emphasis is placed on fundamental research and the involvement in high-technology areas. The institute is centred around five subject areas: Lasers and Applications, Materials (polymers, electronic, magnetic, and photonic materials), Microelectronics, Environment, and Theoretical/Computational Physics and Chemistry. Emphasis is placed on both fundamental research and the development of high technology. On the technological side, there is the development of novel industrial and medical applications of lasers and optoelectronic systems. In addition, there is a significant technological expertise in the use of lasers for the preservation of cultural heritage. IESL-FORTH has realised and/or managed more than 500 industrial and/or biomedical projects, including several RTD EC projects. FORTH has successfully concluded several contracts with ESA. The OBST project (OBST-ESA Contract No. 4000112744/14/NL/PA) has been successfully completed in April 2018, where a TRL3 fibre splitting module demonstrator breadboard, as specified by ESA, was successfully manufactured.

LÈΩ Space Photonics R&D (LEO-SPRD) is a fabless designer and developer of high-performance optical interconnect solutions, predominantly for space as well as diverse harsh environment applications. The company’s optical interconnect transceiver chipsets are designed according to radiation-hardened IC de-sign processes and fabricated within high-end European semiconductor foundries. The products are speci-fied to meet stringent system SWaP (size, weight & power) requirements of modern photonics-enabled very high throughput satellite communication payloads.

The Photonic Networks and Technology Laboratory aims at the development of all the critical technology for delivering advanced fibre optic components, tuneable devices for high-capacity optical networks, and fibre sensors. The photonic technology laboratory is a well-equipped laboratory. Its infrastructure includes 40 Gb/s electrical and lightwave test & measurement equipment, a state-of-the-art C-band DWDM testbed, and a 10 Gb/s, programmable GMPLS testbed. We are also working on fibre sensors and tuneable devices for either biomedical or telecom applications.

QRBIT develops hardware photonic systems and sub-systems for integration over optical ground station infrastructure, to assist in the future of satellite-based optical and quantum communications. Additionally, QRBIT provides software solutions for optical classical and quantum satellite communications, regarding scheduling and optimization on satellite optical communications based on the prediction and modelling of the atmospheric channel, aiming to increase the links availability and performance.

Stellar Phronesis is a Greek deep-tech company developing and licensing scalable RF payload and beamforming technologies based on integrated photonics.
The company develops architectures for the scalable processing and distribution of coherent RF signals across large, adaptive antenna systems, addressing the increasing bandwidth, capacity, flexibility and reconfiguration requirements of next-generation satellite communications and Earth-observation payloads. Its technology combines RF photonics, photonic integrated circuits (PICs) and intelligent control software, while remaining compatible with established RF front ends and system-integration workflows.
By transferring demanding RF signal-processing and distribution functions from conventional electronic hardware to photonic integrated circuits, Stellar Phronesis enables antenna and payload architectures to scale without equivalent growth in power consumption, size, weight, thermal burden and implementation complexity. The resulting architecture supports wide instantaneous bandwidth, large numbers of coherent RF channels and dynamic reconfiguration under the stringent SWaP constraints of space systems.
The technology is particularly relevant to satellite communication and multichannel Earth-observation payloads, large phased-array antennas and other advanced RF systems where increasing aperture size, bandwidth and spatial-resource requirements place growing demands on conventional electronic beamforming architectures.
Stellar Phronesis works with space-industry partners through feasibility studies, system co-development, technology integration and IP and software licensing, supporting the development of next-generation RF payload and antenna systems.