The industry holds high expectations for photonic chips, which play a crucial role in data centers, especially in high-bandwidth and energy-efficient data transmission. With the growing demand for efficient data processing driven by the rise of artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and IoT devices, the research and development of photonic chips have become increasingly urgent.

China’s First Photonic Chip Pilot Line Launched in Wuxi

On September 25th, the first domestic photonic chip pilot line built by the Wuxi Photonic Chip Research Institute of Shanghai Jiao Tong University was officially launched. After the pilot line becomes operational, it is expected to reach an annual production capacity of 10,000 wafers. The first PDK will be released in the first quarter of 2025, providing external chip fabrication services.

The photonic chip pilot platform covers an area of 17,000 square meters, integrating research, production, and services. It is equipped with more than 100 top-tier international CMOS process machines, supporting a full closed-loop process for lithium niobate photonic chips, from lithography, thin film deposition, etching, wet processing, cutting, measurement, to packaging. The platform also supports other material systems like silicon and silicon nitride.

Jinan Achieves World’s First 12-Inch Lithium Niobate Crystal

in May of this year, Shandong Hengyuan Semiconductor Technology Co., Ltd. in Jinan successfully developed a 12-inch (300mm diameter) large-sized optical-grade lithium niobate crystal.

Shandong Hengyuan Semiconductor has been dedicated to the R&D of optoelectronic materials such as lithium niobate and lithium tantalate, as well as piezoelectric materials. Through technological advancements, the company has started mass production of 6-8 inch Z-axis and X-axis optical-grade lithium niobate crystals. Within three years, Hengyuan plans to increase its annual wafer production to 250,000 units.

Chinese Scientists Develop Mass-Produced New “Optical Silicon” Chips

In early May, the research team led by researcher Ou Xin at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystem and Information Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, made a breakthrough in the preparation of lithium tantalate heterogeneously integrated wafers and high-performance photonic chips. They successfully developed a new type of “optical silicon” chip that can be mass-produced. The research results were published in Nature on May 8th.

Tsinghua University Team Releases AI Photonic Chip

In August, Tsinghua University announced that the research group led by Professor Fang Lu from the Department of Electronic Engineering and the team led by Academician Dai Qionghai from the Department of Automation pioneered a fully forward intelligent optical computing training architecture. They developed the “Taiji-II” optical training chip, enabling efficient and precise training of large-scale neural networks in optical computing systems. This research, titled “All-Forward Training of Optical Neural Networks,” was published in Nature.

The previously released Taiji-I, in April, achieved 879 T MACS/mm²area efficiency and 160 TOPS/W energy efficiency, marking the first time optical computing was applied to complex AI tasks such as natural scene recognition with thousands of categories and cross-modal content generation.

Chinese Team Successfully Develops Fully Programmable Topological Photonic Chip

In late May, the “Extreme Optics Innovation Research Team” from Peking University’s School of Physics, in collaboration with Researcher Yang Yan from the Institute of Microelectronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, proposed and realized a fully programmable topological photonic chip based on large-scale integrated optics.

The chip built on a reconfigurable integrated optical micro-ring array, integrates 2,712 components in an area of just 11mm x 7mm. It successfully achieved the world’s first fully programmable optical artificial atomic lattice. The researchers also experimentally validated multiple topological phenomena on a single-chip platform, including dynamic topological phase transitions, multi-lattice topological insulators, statistical topological robustness, and Anderson topological insulators.

Has the new semiconductor manufacturing equipment capable of rivaling ASML’s EUV lithography machines been shipped? Canon has announced that it will deliver its latest lithography platform, the FPA-1200NZ2C nanoimprint lithography (NIL) system for semiconductor manufacturing, to the Texas Institute for Electronics (TIE), a semiconductor consortium based in Texas, according to its press release.

It is worth noting that in October, 2023, the Japanese tech giant became the first company in the world to commercialize a semiconductor manufacturing system utilizing NIL technology, which creates circuit patterns using a different approach than traditional projection exposure technology, the press release notes. Now it has officially sealed the deal with a new client.

Canon states that with reduced power consumption and cost, NIL lithography equipment enables patterning with a minimum linewidth of 14 nm, equivalent to the 5 nm node that is required to produce most advanced logic semiconductors currently available. In addition to producing 5 nm logic chips, with further improvements, it is expected to be capable of manufacturing 2 nm products as well.

Citing an interview with Kazunori Iwamoto, Deputy General Manager of Canon’s Optical Equipment Division by Nikkei, a report by MoneyDJ notes that Canon aims to sell “a dozen units each year within 3 to 5 years”.

According to Canon’s explanation, in contrast to conventional photolithography equipment, which transfers a circuit pattern by projecting it onto the resist coated wafer, the new product does it by pressing a mask imprinted with the circuit pattern into the resist on the wafer like a stamp.

Because its circuit pattern transfer process does not go through an optical mechanism, fine circuit patterns on the mask can be faithfully reproduced on the wafer.

According to MoneyDJ, Canon has been collaborating with Japan’s major mask manufacturers, Dai Nippon Printing (DNP) and Kioxia, which was still Toshiba’s subsidiary at that time, to develop NIL technology for the past decade.

Citing Canon CEO Fujio Mitarai’s previous remarks with the Japan Times in 2023, MoneyDJ notes that Canon’s NIL technology provides small semiconductor manufacturers with the opportunity to produce advanced chips that are currently dominated by large corporations, with the price probably be “one digit less” than ASML’s extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography systems.

According to Mitarai, the power consumption of NIL equipment is only one-tenth that of EUV machines. While NIL may be difficult to replace EUV, he believes it will create new opportunities and demand, and many customers have already expressed interest.

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• [News] Canon’s Nano-imprint Lithography Reduces Production Costs for Advanced Processes, Narrowing the Gap with ASML

(Photo credit: Canon)

The wild journey of Intel has yet to end, as tech giants have been approaching the company for potential acquisitions. In addition to Qualcomm, UK-based Arm is also said to inquire the possibility of acquiring the struggling chipmaker’s product division, according to the latest report by Bloomberg.

However, the report notes that Arm was informed by Intel that the division is not for sale, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Around mid-September, Intel settled down plans for restructuring after the board meeting, and revealed schemes to transform its foundry business into an independent unit with its own board. The strategy will allow its foundry business to explore independent sources of funding.

In April, Intel disclosed the financials for the foundry business for the first time, with an operating loss of USD 7 billion in 2023, a previous report by CNBC stated.

Arm, according to Bloomberg, showed little interest in Intel’s manufacturing operations. Instead, it reportedly expressed the intention to acquire Intel’s product division, which sells chips for PCs, servers, and networking equipment, though the request was turned down afterwards.

The move did make sense. With an 88% stake owned by SoftBank, Arm generates a significant portion of its revenue from selling chip designs to smartphone-related clients, including Qualcomm, Samsung and Amazon.

According to Bloomberg, Arm CEO Rene Haas targets to gain a foothold in various applications, such as personal computers and servers, in which Intel still takes a lead. A report by Reuters in June notes that Haas aims to capture 50% of PC market in five years.

If the company were to partner with Intel, it would reportedly enhance its market reach, while accelerate the shift toward selling more of its own products, Bloomberg observes.

Unlike Intel, which remains a bystander in the AI boom, Arm is considered to be a main beneficiary of the wave. After being acquired by Japan’s SoftBank in 2016 in a USD 32 billion deal, it went public in September, 2023, on Nasdaq, with a market valuation around USD 54 billion. A year after, its stock price has nearly tripled, with a market value exceeding USD 150 billion.

Representatives for both Arm and Intel declined to comment, Bloomberg notes.

On the other hand, another report by Financial Times, cited by MoneyDJ, reveals that Intel and the U.S. government are on track to finalize the USD 8.5 billion subsidy in direct funding under the CHIPS Act by the end of this year.

According to the reports, the two parties are working to complete the technical negotiations that have been ongoing for several months, while Intel is also undertaking large-scale cost-cutting measures. An insider familiar with Intel indicated that it wouldn’t be surprising if the negotiation results were announced around the upcoming presidential election.

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(Photo credit: ARM)

Amid an operational crisis, Intel has abandoned its “5 Nodes in 4 Years” plan, shelving the Intel 20A process node to focus entirely on the more advanced Intel 18A. Now, there is finally good news regarding the 18A process.

During the recent Enterprise Tech Tour in Portland, Oregon, CEO Pat Gelsinger made the first public reveal of the Clearwater Forest Xeon server processor, produced using the Intel 18A node. This chip is a crucial element in determining whether Intel’s ambitious transformation plan will succeed, according to Tom’s Hardware.

The report highlights that Clearwater Forest is the first high-volume chip to be fabricated on the Intel 18A node—a process so pivotal that Gelsinger has effectively staked the entire company’s future on its success. Although the chip was showcased at the event, it won’t hit the market until next year.

Tom’s Hardware also notes that while Intel will manufacture a range of other processors on the 18A node, delivering the Clearwater Forest chips on schedule is critical to restoring confidence in Intel’s foundry business among potential customers. This node is key to Gelsinger’s larger turnaround strategy, representing the culmination of his bold yet desperate push to develop five nodes in four years to revive Intel’s fortunes.

At the same event, Intel also introduced its Granite Rapids Xeon chips for data centers, boasting core counts that finally match those of AMD’s EPYC processors—an achievement Intel has struggled to reach since EPYC’s debut in 2017.

(Photo credit: Intel)

Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp. (PSMC) announced on the 26th that it has signed a definitive agreement with Tata Electronics in New Delhi to collaborate on building India’s first 12-inch wafer fab in Dholera, Gujarat. PSMC will transfer mature process technologies and train local employees as part of the partnership.

According to PSMC, the $11 billion facility, with a monthly capacity of 50,000 wafers, is expected to create over 20,000 high-tech jobs in the region.

PSMC Chairman Frank Huang and CEO Martin Chu also met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Prime Minister’s Office. Huang urged Modi to foster a business-friendly environment for Taiwanese companies investing in India, highlighting the vast potential for collaboration between Taiwan and India in the semiconductor space. He noted that the semiconductor supply chain involves thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises, and expressed hope for future partnerships between Taiwanese chip designers and India’s talent-rich market.

Prime Minister Modi, in PSMC’s announcement, pledged full government support for the Tata-PSMC wafer fab project and praised Huang’s vision of Taiwan-India cooperation in the chip design industry. He encouraged PSMC to play a key role in India’s semiconductor development and promised to assist Taiwanese businesses looking to invest in the country.

(Photo credit: PSMC)