A state-funded semiconductor lab in China said it has achieved a “milestone” in the development of silicon photonics, which could help the country overcome current technical barriers in chip design and achieve self-sufficiency amid US sanctions.
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JFS Laboratory – based in Wuhan, capital of central Hubei province and a national base for photonics research – was able to light up a laser light source integrated with a silicon-based chip, the first time this was successfully done in China, according to a blog post published by the lab last week.
The achievement means that China has filled “one of the few blanks” in its optoelectronics technology, state media People’s Daily reported on Friday.
Silicon photonics rely on optical signals instead of electric signals for transmission. It aims to address the restraints imposed by current technology, as the transmission of electric signals between chips is approaching its physical limit, the lab said.
Established in 2021 with 8.2 billion yuan (US$1.2 billion) in government funding, JFS is one of China’s key institutions tasked with pursuing technological breakthroughs.
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Major players in the global semiconductor industry have devoted resources into advancing silicon photonics, which is believed to hold the future to making better chips for data and graphics processing, as well as artificial intelligence (AI). Still, businesses have faced challenges in translating scientific breakthroughs into commercial products.