en.Wedoany.com Reported - STMicroelectronics is ramping up its efforts in the silicon photonics market, seeking growth momentum from the surging demand for optical networking technology in AI data centers. The company is currently collaborating with customers in the United States and China to strengthen its market position.
Park Joong-ho, a director at STMicroelectronics, revealed at an AI data center optical communication and interconnection technology conference held on June 24 at Posco Tower Yeoksam in Seoul that the company has been preparing for silicon photonics technology for nearly a decade, but previously, the demand for large-scale deployment of high-performance optical communication was not strong. He stated that with AI models and data center infrastructure now reaching the gigawatt (GW) level, optical communication has become a key foundational technology.
In addition to its traditional core businesses such as microcontrollers (MCUs) and power semiconductors, STMicroelectronics has recently begun generating revenue from photonic integrated circuits (PICs). Park introduced that one of China's largest optical transceiver manufacturers recently ordered PIC100 chips, with the order value roughly equivalent to 5% to 10% of the company's annual revenue. Park noted that although the product has not yet fully entered mature mass production, the customer has shown a strong willingness to cooperate, ready to jointly complete the entire development process and collaborate on addressing challenges. This optical transceiver, used to convert electrical signals to optical signals and vice versa, highlights the robust market demand for photonic chips.
The PIC100 is a high-efficiency silicon photonic device based on a 300mm wafer platform. It integrates optical modulators for converting digital information, photodetectors for receiving signals, and passive components such as silicon and silicon nitride (SiN) waveguides onto a single chip. This architecture reduces component count and power consumption while enhancing reliability. Previously, STMicroelectronics had developed earlier-generation products such as the PIC10, PIC20, and PIC50. The optical modulation section of the chip employs a high-speed Mach-Zehnder Modulator (MZM) with an optimized p-n junction structure. By significantly reducing resistance during signal transmission, the device achieves electrical and optical bandwidths exceeding 50 GHz, with higher bandwidth allowing more electrical signals to be converted into optical signals. When high-speed electrical signals are applied, the rapid formation and dissipation of the charge barrier on the p-n junction subtly changes the phase of light passing through adjacent waveguides, enabling electro-optical conversion.
On the optical signal receiving side, the device integrates a germanium-silicon photodiode optimized for high-performance detection, with a photodetector bandwidth reaching 80 GHz, surpassing that of the optical modulator. The data transmission rate per optical channel is 200 Gbps, with design support for future speeds of 400 Gbps. The optical coupling loss between the chip and the fiber is controlled to below 1 decibel (dB). To further exploit performance, STMicroelectronics pairs the PIC100 with the B55X electronic integrated circuit (EIC). The B55X manages functions such as laser source control and electrical signal processing, based on a 55nm BiCMOS platform that integrates bipolar junction transistors (BJTs) with complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) devices on the same substrate, combining the high speed and power of BJTs with the integration density and energy efficiency of CMOS. The B55X efficiently processes electrical signals in the 400 GHz to 500 GHz range.
STMicroelectronics has adopted a 3D architecture similar to high-bandwidth memory (HBM), vertically stacking the PIC100 with the B55X using through-silicon vias (TSVs) and micro-bump interconnect technology to create a high-performance optical engine. This design minimizes signal loss and enables high integration with central processing units (CPUs) and graphics processing units (GPUs) through co-packaged optics (CPO) technology. Park mentioned that the rapid rise of the silicon photonics market has significantly boosted investor interest, with STMicroelectronics' stock price increasing approximately fourfold in just a few months. He expects the share of silicon photonics technology in the optical transceiver market to continue expanding in the coming years. Last year, STMicroelectronics revealed it was closely collaborating with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to deploy PIC100 technology in data center applications.
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