Through dramatic expansion in the scale of integration of photonic circuits, there is potential for a transformative impact on applications in biomedical, environmental, chemical, and navigational sensors in both commercial and defense applications, as well as advances in communications technologies that are still required to meet the demands of tomorrow's broadband services. To address this opportunity, we proposes a NSF-sponsored workshop on "Very Large Scale Photonic Integration". The objective of this workshop is to gather experts in the field together to discuss opportunities and challenges related to very large scale photonic integration. The workshop will produce a recommendation for future program emphases and possibly special initiatives for the National Science Foundation. The intellectual merits include the identification of promising approaches for enhanced active functionality and new nanoscale device engineering for integrated photonic solutions, identification of critical issues that limit scaling and complexity of integrated photonic solutions, and identification of the most promising paths to overcome these limits. The broader impact includes identification of the multidisciplinary educational opportunities enabled by enhanced research activities in these areas. Furthermore, if successful, acceleration of new large-scale photonic integration technologies will be enabling in expanding the global reach and capabilities of novel broadband services, and also enable the proliferation of many new non-traditional sensing applications, both with tremendous impact on our economy and quality of life.
