Photonect and ficonTEC Collaborate to Accelerate the Industrialization of Laser-Fusion Photonic Packaging

Photonect is excited to announce a new collaboration with ficonTEC, a global leader in automated photonic assembly, test, and fiber preparation solutions, to accelerate the industrialization of laser-fusion photonic packaging for high-volume manufacturing. 

Supported by an NSF Technology Enhancement for Commercial Partnerships (TECP) award, the collaboration will focus on integrating Photonect's PIX Attach technology with automated photonic assembly environments. 

Photonect and ficonTEC Collaboration

Photonect's PIX Attach machine was developed to address one of the most persistent challenges in photonic packaging: achieving lower-loss, more robust fiber-to-chip attachment while dramatically reducing packaging time. 

Through this collaboration, Photonect and ficonTEC will work together to develop a modular, automation-ready version of PIX Attach that can be seamlessly integrated into industrial photonic assembly workflows and high-volume production environments.

PIX-Attach Machine, Current version

Today's photonic packaging processes often rely on epoxy-based attachment methods that can limit performance, scalability, and long-term reliability. By combining Photonect's laser-fusion attachment technology with ficonTEC's expertise in intelligent manufacturing, photonic assembly automation, and production scale-up, the companies aim to enable a new generation of packaging solutions that are faster, more scalable, and capable of delivering superior optical performance.

The project will focus on: 

• Developing a modular PIX Attach platform for automated manufacturing environments 

• Demonstrating integration with industrial photonic assembly workflows 

• Advancing a plug-and-play laser-fusion attachment solution for next-generation photonic production lines 

We are grateful for the support that makes this work possible and excited to collaborate with the ficonTEC team as we work toward bringing this technology from the laboratory into scalable commercial manufacturing environments.