Move2THz

Move2THz (full title: Sustainable Indium Phosphide (InP) Platform and Ecosystem Upscaling, Enabling Future Mass Market (Sub-)THz Applications) is a European research and innovation project running from June 2024 to May 2027, with a total investment of €40.67 million, of which €11.96 million comes from the EU.

The project is funded through the Chips Joint Undertaking (Chips JU) under the EU’s Horizon Europe program, with additional co-funding from France, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Belgium. A consortium of 27 partners from 8 European countries is working together across the full value chain — from materials to applications.

The core challenge Move2THz addresses is that Indium Phosphide (InP) — a semiconductor material with exceptional high-frequency performance — has so far been limited to niche markets due to high costs and material scarcity. The project aims to change this by developing a breakthrough InP manufacturing infrastructure, enabling large-scale, cost-efficient production.

The three main goals are:

1. Manufacturing scale-up — Establish a competitive, high-volume InP production facility in Europe fit for industrial use.
2. Ecosystem development — Build and strengthen a mature European InP ecosystem spanning materials, design, foundry services, and applications, targeting markets such as 6G communications, radar sensing, imaging, photonics, and AI infrastructure.
3. Sustainability — Demonstrate a measurable reduction in CO₂ footprint across the entire product life cycle, from raw material sourcing to end-of-life recycling, in line with the European Green Deal.

In doing so, Move2THz aims to secure Europe’s technological sovereignty in next-generation high-frequency semiconductors and position the continent as a global leader in sub-THz and THz technologies.

Microwave Photonics plays a key role within the Move2THz project by leveraging the unique high-frequency capabilities of the InP platform for real-world photonic applications. As a project partner, Microwave Photonics is developing photonic integrated circuits (PICs) designed for intra-satellite communication, enabling ultra-fast, low-power optical data links for next-generation space systems. In parallel, the team is advancing the fabrication of photonic receivers tailored for 6G communication networks, pushing the boundaries of bandwidth and signal integrity at sub-THz frequencies. Through these contributions, Microwave Photonics bridges cutting-edge semiconductor technology with the demands of future wireless and space communication infrastructures.