What is the NanoTest PIC-HD and what does it measure?

The NanoTest PIC-HD is a state-of-the-art characterisation system engineered for high-density photonic integrated circuits (PICs). It combines optical probing, electrical testing, and automated alignment to deliver fast, repeatable, and precise measurements. With sub-micron positioning accuracy, integrated vision, and programmable workflows, the system enables comprehensive validation of PIC performance under real-world operating conditions. Its modular design supports multiple device formats — from wafers to packaged chips — making it suitable for both R&D and production environments. By reducing manual intervention and increasing throughput, NanoTest PIC-HD accelerates innovation in optical communications, semiconductor manufacturing, and advanced photonic device development.

What is the difference between optical probing and electrical probing in PIC characterisation?

Optical probing in a PIC characterisation system refers to the coupling of light into and out of the device under test through its optical input and output ports — typically via lensed fibres, fibre arrays, or free-space objective lenses aligned to the chip’s edge facets or surface grating couplers. Optical probing enables measurement of the device’s photonic performance: insertion loss, coupling efficiency, spectral response, group delay, dispersion, and optical power at each port. Electrical probing involves making electrical contact to the device’s bonding pads or electrode contacts using precision RF or DC probes, enabling measurement of drive current, bias voltage, IV characteristics, small-signal S-parameters, and modulation bandwidth. For active PIC devices — modulators, photodetectors, electrically driven lasers, and semiconductor optical amplifiers — both optical and electrical probing are required simultaneously to characterise the complete device behaviour under operating conditions. The NanoTest PIC-HD integrates both probe types within a single automated platform, enabling combined opto-electronic characterisation without manual probe repositioning between optical and electrical measurement steps.

Please contact us for the technical details : sales@unitedspectrum.in

High-Density PIC Testing with Sub-Micron Alignment

The NanoTest PIC-HD is purpose-engineered for high-density photonic integrated circuits where waveguide pitch, port density, and coupling mode field dimensions demand sub-micron fibre positioning accuracy to achieve reproducible, low-uncertainty optical measurements. High-density PIC characterisation cannot be reliably performed with manually positioned fibre probes — the coupling efficiency sensitivity to fibre position at sub-micron scales means that small position variations between measurements introduce insertion loss uncertainty that masks device-to-device performance variation and process-induced defects. The NanoTest PIC-HD’s automated sub-micron alignment eliminates this source of measurement uncertainty, providing coupling-accuracy-independent optical measurement data for reliable device characterisation and process monitoring.

Active and Passive Fibre-to-Chip Alignment

Supports both active alignment — using real-time optical power feedback to find and hold the optimum coupling position during measurement — and passive alignment using vision-based fiducial recognition for rapid, repeatable port-to-port navigation across multi-port PIC devices. Active alignment maximises coupling efficiency and measurement sensitivity for critical loss and spectral measurements where absolute insertion loss accuracy is required. Passive alignment with stored position recipes accelerates measurement throughput for multi-port sweep measurements where repeatable relative port access is more important than absolute coupling optimisation at each port. The combination of both alignment modes within the same platform allows the measurement strategy to be matched to each measurement type within a single automated test sequence.

Comprehensive Optical and Electrical Test Suite

Performs optical loss measurements, coupling efficiency characterisation, spectral response sweeps, polarisation-dependent loss, group delay and dispersion measurement, and optical power monitoring at each device port — combined with electrical IV curve measurement, drive current control, bias voltage sequencing, small-signal S-parameter measurement, and high-speed electrical characterisation for active PIC devices. This combined optical and electrical test suite covers the complete characterisation requirement for silicon photonic modulators, photodetectors, germanium photoreceivers, on-chip lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, and hybrid photonic-electronic integrated circuits within a single automated measurement sequence.

Temperature-Controlled Device Testing from 20°C to 80°C

Integrated temperature control with fast-response heating elements enables device testing across 20°C to 80°C at defined temperature setpoints within automated characterisation sequences. Temperature sweep measurements — characterising device performance at multiple defined temperatures within a single automated sequence — provide temperature coefficient data, thermal stability assessment, and operating range verification without manual thermal management or separate climate chamber test setups. This capability is essential for silicon photonic ring resonator filter characterisation, thermally tuned modulator calibration, InP laser threshold temperature dependence, and any PIC application where the device specification includes a temperature operating range.

TestMaster Automation Software with MATLAB, Python, and LabVIEW Integration

The NanoTest PIC-HD is controlled by TestMaster — the same automation software environment used across the Nanosystec platform range — providing a graphical sequence editor for building complex multi-step characterisation routines without programming expertise, and full API access for MATLAB, Python, and LabVIEW for advanced users and production automation integration. TestMaster enables the creation of complete PIC characterisation sequences — covering alignment, optical sweep, electrical bias, temperature stepping, and data export — as stored recipes that are executed consistently across operators and measurement sessions, ensuring measurement reproducibility and enabling direct comparison of results across multiple devices, wafers, and fabrication runs.

Modular Design Supporting Wafer-Level and Packaged Chip Formats

The NanoTest PIC-HD’s modular design accommodates both wafer-level characterisation — where the device is tested on the wafer before dicing, typically via grating couplers or cleaved edge facets — and packaged chip characterisation of diced, mounted, or wire-bonded devices. Support for multiple device formats within the same platform is particularly valuable for silicon photonic device development workflows, where early-stage wafer-level characterisation informs dicing and packaging decisions, and post-packaging chip-level characterisation validates the impact of the packaging process on optical and electrical performance. Recipe-based format switching allows rapid changeover between wafer-level and chip-level measurement configurations within the same NanoTest PIC-HD installation.

Integrated Vision System for Accurate Port Navigation

Integrated high-resolution vision with programmable illumination supports automated chip recognition, port identification, fiducial-based position correction, and quality inspection within the characterisation workflow. The vision system enables automated navigation between multiple optical and electrical probe positions across dense PIC layouts — identifying and aligning to each port in sequence without manual intervention — and provides visual confirmation of coupling quality and probe contact before each measurement. Vision data is captured and logged alongside measurement data for every device tested, providing full optical and positional traceability for process monitoring and yield analysis.

Scalable Platform for R&D Through Production

The NanoTest PIC-HD scales from single-device R&D characterisation — where flexibility, comprehensive measurement capability, and detailed per-device data are the priorities — to automated high-throughput production test of wafer lots, where throughput, measurement repeatability, and automated pass/fail determination against specification limits are required. The transition from R&D characterisation to production test mode uses the same platform and the same TestMaster software environment: R&D measurement sequences are refined and simplified into production test recipes, with go/no-go limits set based on R&D characterisation data, and executed at production throughput without platform replacement or re-qualification.

Photonics and Optical Communications

Validates photonic integrated circuits used in high-speed optical transceivers, coherent DWDM communication modules, wavelength multiplexing and demultiplexing devices, and optical switching fabrics for data centre and telecom network infrastructure. Silicon photonic transceiver PIC characterisation requires comprehensive measurement of insertion loss across all optical ports, modulator Vpi and bandwidth, photodetector responsivity and dark current, and thermal tuning coefficient of ring resonator wavelength filters — a full measurement suite that the NanoTest PIC-HD delivers within a single automated characterisation sequence. Applied at silicon photonics foundry customers, transceiver module developers, and optical sub-assembly manufacturers qualifying PIC wafers before packaging.

Semiconductor and Microelectronics

Supports wafer-level and packaged chip testing of photonic and opto-electronic devices, ensuring device reliability and scalability for commercial production. In semiconductor manufacturing, PIC characterisation at wafer level enables early detection of process-induced defects — waveguide propagation loss variation, modulator contact resistance, photodetector leakage current — before the cost of dicing, packaging, and module assembly is incurred. The NanoTest PIC-HD’s automated wafer-level measurement capability with temperature control and combined optical and electrical testing provides the comprehensive process monitoring data required for silicon photonics and compound semiconductor foundry yield improvement programmes.

Data Centres and Cloud Infrastructure

Ensures that PIC-based optical transceivers, co-packaged optics modules, and silicon photonic interconnects meet the bandwidth, insertion loss, and power efficiency requirements for high-speed data centre networks operating at 400G, 800G, and beyond. Data centre optical interconnect qualification requires verification of PIC performance across all DWDM channels, under thermal load, and after environmental stress testing — measurements that the NanoTest PIC-HD delivers with the automation and throughput required for the volume of PIC devices consumed by data centre optical component supply chains. Applied at co-packaged optics module developers, optical transceiver manufacturers, and silicon photonic foundries supplying devices for hyperscale data centre deployment.

Aerospace and Defence

Tests ruggedised photonic integrated circuits for satellite optical communication terminals, secure fibre-optic network modules, lidar sensor PICs, quantum key distribution photonic chips, and advanced defence optical sensing systems. Aerospace and defence PIC qualification requires characterisation across a wide operating temperature range, verification of performance stability under vibration and shock exposure, and measurement traceability documentation compatible with aerospace quality management standards. The NanoTest PIC-HD’s temperature-controlled testing and TestMaster automation software’s complete measurement data logging capability support these stringent qualification requirements, providing the measurement infrastructure for photonic device qualification programmes at DRDO, ISRO, and defence system integrators in India.

Research and Development

Universities, national research laboratories, and corporate photonics R&D centres use the NanoTest PIC-HD to characterise new PIC architectures, validate novel waveguide and device designs, measure fabrication process performance, and accelerate the development cycle from design through wafer fabrication to packaged device validation. The system’s comprehensive optical and electrical test suite, combined with TestMaster’s flexible automation and Python/MATLAB scriptability, provides R&D engineers with the measurement capability required to extract complete device physics from new PIC structures — insertion loss, group index, dispersion, electro-optic coefficient, two-photon absorption, and nonlinear optical behaviour — within a single, well-characterised measurement platform. Relevant to IIT and NIT photonics research groups, C-DOT silicon photonics programmes, and corporate R&D centres working on next-generation integrated photonic devices in India.

Industrial Laser Systems

Evaluates integrated photonic chips for laser diode driver circuits, on-chip power monitoring waveguides, wavelength-selective feedback elements, and integrated beam-combining structures used in fibre-coupled and direct-diode industrial laser systems. Industrial laser PIC characterisation requires precise measurement of coupling efficiency from chip to fibre or free-space beam, wavelength accuracy of on-chip filter structures, electro-optic modulation performance of integrated amplitude control elements, and thermal stability of all performance parameters — all of which the NanoTest PIC-HD addresses within its standard characterisation capability set.

Medical Devices and Biophotonics

Applied in characterisation of optical sensors for point-of-care diagnostic platforms, biomedical imaging modules using integrated photonic circuits, lab-on-chip microfluidic optical systems, implantable photonic biosensors, and photonic integrated circuits for OCT signal processing. Medical PIC characterisation requires measurement precision sufficient to verify device compliance with clinical performance specifications, combined with measurement traceability and process documentation compatible with ISO 13485 medical device quality management systems. The NanoTest PIC-HD’s automated measurement with complete data logging and TestMaster recipe management provides the measurement infrastructure required for medical PIC qualification programmes.

Automotive and EV Industry

Used in characterisation of PIC-based solid-state LiDAR transmitter and receiver chips, optical sensor arrays for ADAS perception systems, and photonic integrated circuits for in-vehicle optical communication networks. Automotive PIC qualification requires characterisation across the AEC-Q102 temperature range, measurement of performance stability across the automotive vibration and shock profile, and documentation compatible with IATF 16949 automotive quality management systems. The NanoTest PIC-HD’s 20–80°C temperature-controlled testing and comprehensive optical and electrical measurement capability provide the characterisation infrastructure required for automotive PIC qualification — with TestMaster automation enabling the structured, repeatable measurement sequences required by automotive component qualification protocols.

United Spectrum Instruments is the authorised distributor of Nanosystec’s NanoTest PIC-HD Optical and Electrical Characterisation System in India, delivering advanced PIC testing solutions with comprehensive local technical support. We support customers from initial application evaluation and system configuration through to installation, measurement workflow development, operator training, and long-term after-sales service.

Genuine NanoTest PIC-HD Systems with Manufacturer Warranty and Dedicated Local Support

Every NanoTest PIC-HD system supplied by United Spectrum Instruments is a genuine Nanosystec GmbH product backed by manufacturer warranty and supported locally by our photonics characterisation engineers. We coordinate directly with Nanosystec for application-specific system configuration — including fibre probe selection, electrical probe specification, temperature control configuration, and TestMaster workflow development — ensuring the system delivered is correctly matched to your PIC device types and characterisation requirements.

• Photonics Characterisation Application Expertise — our engineers bring direct knowledge of silicon photonics, InP PIC, and opto-electronic device characterisation, enabling meaningful consultation on measurement methodology, fibre coupling strategy, electrical probe selection, and TestMaster automation development for your specific PIC device types and measurement objectives.
• Pan-India Installation, Measurement Workflow Development, and Training — United Spectrum Instruments provides on-site installation, TestMaster measurement sequence development for your specific device types, and comprehensive operator training at customer facilities across India, with follow-up measurement support to ensure productive and accurate NanoTest PIC-HD deployment from the first day of operation.
• Application-Specific System Configuration Consultation — we provide pre-purchase device type review, coupling geometry assessment (edge vs grating coupler), electrical probe specification guidance, and measurement capability mapping to ensure the NanoTest PIC-HD configuration selected supports all optical and electrical measurements required for your PIC characterisation programme.
• R&D to Production Transition Support — for customers expanding from R&D characterisation to production test deployment, United Spectrum Instruments provides measurement recipe productionisation support, pass/fail limit setting guidance, throughput optimisation, and production data management integration assistance to accelerate the transition from R&D to volume test.