Photonic Hybrid Integration: Strategies and Promises of Advanced Additive Manufacturing

Abstract Hybrid photonic integration plays a vital role in combining the complementary properties of diverse materials such as silicon, III‐V semiconductors, and electro optic crystals to create compact and multifunctional devices with advanced light generation, routing, and detection capabilities. However, integration faces significant challenges in ensuring material compatibility, achieving efficient coupling, and enabling scalable fabrication. This review examines the latest integration strategies, including wafer bonding, transfer printing, and additive manufacturing using multi‐photon lithography, not as isolated techniques but as connected approaches for addressing these challenges. Advances in materials and post processing are described such as silica and ceramic conversion, improvements in metrology including refractive index and durability characterization, and emerging functionalities such as stimuli responsive 4D components, polarization control, photoluminescent elements, and integrated micro‐optics. The discussion highlights performance tradeoffs between precision, throughput, and material properties, and shows how new processing and design methods extend the scope of photonic integration. By presenting a unified perspective, the review outlines how additive manufacturing can advance the development of next generation photonic systems that are efficient, scalable, and highly functional.