As one of the 5 enabling technologies or KET (Key Enabling Technologies), the impact of photonics is very broad and can give value to areas as diverse as health, communications, the environment, or the aerospace sector, among many others.

This is why the Photonics Node extends its area of influence to other nearby technology sectors. By strengthening its links of interaction with all these other technology environments, it helps in providing more comprehensive solutions to businesses, both local and foreign, meeting needs all along the value chain, and reinforcing the industrial, technological and knowledge Catalan ecosystems.

Coordinators

Partners

Services

Technological consulting

Industrial Photonics

The photonics node provides specialized technical advice on the use and potential applications of specific tools and techniques (i. e. nanofabrication and nano-characterization, advanced engineering, biology laboratory, post-processing techniques…). These are ad hoc activities that can be adapted to the needs of the interested party.

Testing and experimenting

Access to infrastructure

The following infrastructure access services are available to companies:

The use of the Photonics node’s High Resolution Light Microscopy and Nanoscopy (SLN) equipment provides advanced-image tools and related technologies to help biomedical science solve difficult challenges that cannot be addressed with current technology. SLN is equipped with cutting edge microscopy techniques that operate a step beyond the commercial panorama in image and nanoscopic techniques. The available facilities include advanced photography and fluorescence techniques, super resolution image and light sheet and Raman image microscopy.
The NanoFabrication Lab (NFL) is a cross-cutting facility dedicated to the manufacture and characterization of nanostructured photonic devices. This lab includes advanced nanofabrication tools and techniques for a wide range of optical applications, ranging from biosensitivity to optical communications, and covers a wide array of materials, including polymers, semiconductors, metals and crystals, among others. The lab is also provisioned with tools for the advanced characterization of materials and devices.
The goal of the Advanced Engineering Lab (AEL) is to bring stakeholders closer to the latest technologies in electronics and precision mechanical engineering. The lab provides state-of-the-art tools for electronic design, assembly and characterization, as well as micromechanical engineering. Applications range from cutting edge devices for ultrafast space and optoelectronic communications, ultra-sensitive devices for quantum, nano and biophonic optics, to the optimization of optical systems and the design of new optomechanical elements, among others.
The Biology Lab (BIL) is a cross-cutting facility with the aim of providing scientific assistance and technical support to stakeholders in the handling, preparation and maintenance of biological samples. The post-processing laboratory (PPL) is designed to support the processing, manufacturing, and characterization of optical materials and components for research and industry stakeholders.
Electronic prototyping service: design, construction and testing of advanced control circuits for prototyping or short series of electronic boards, including PICs, FPGAs, microcontrollers or precision motor control, especially for their integration into instrumentation.

Partner search and innovative ecosystem

Innovation Workshops

Innovation workshops are aimed at generating collaborative innovation projects between researchers, technology companies and end-user companies in industrial sectors.

SECPHOLAND

Secpholand is an interactive virtual environment that works as a collaborative online platform based on virtual elements that allow interaction within an entire innovation ecosystem. The platform will operate in the cloud and allow the generation of connections and collaborations along the production value chain of deep tech technologies, from knowledge transfer to the market.

Access to financing

Access to financing for SMEs and start-ups

As a complementary service to research and technology transfer activities, guidance services are offered to SMEs and start-ups with funding needs for innovation. Based on the needs of the company and the level of development and available TRL (technological pre-diagnosis), orientation is given regarding public and private financing options. In regards of public funding, we have experience in the various financing calls of the Catalan, Spanish and European system, and are connected through clusters and platforms to offer the capacity to identify the potential partners for R+D collaborative projects. In regards of private financing, we have experience with venture capital funds, business angels and related associations.