UMC Delivers First Mass-Production Silicon Photonics Wafers

A major shift from electronics to photonics is underway, with Pilot Photonics securing €10.4 million from the European Innovation Council to advance its patented photonic chip technology. This innovative approach utilizes laser light to generate pure wireless signals, enhancing power efficiency and bandwidth capabilities for sectors like AI data centers and 5G networks. By making photonic components compact and cost-effective, Pilot Photonics is lowering barriers in critical industries, proving essential for the evolving landscape where bandwidth demands soar. As demand for photonic chip technologies grows, this funding will fuel the company's expansion in manufacturing and workforce. Discover how Pilot Photonics is reshaping the future of technology. https://lnkd.in/dqBYbkvD #photonicchips #technologyinnovation #6G

Advantest, OpenLight Join Forces to Develop Silicon Photonics Test Solutions for High-Volume Manufacturing Advantest and OpenLight have announced a strategic collaboration to develop scalable silicon photonics test solutions for high-volume manufacturing. By combining Advantest's expertise in semiconductor test systems with OpenLight's leadership in heterogeneous silicon photonics integration, the partnership aims to address the growing demand for efficient testing of next-generation photonic devices. The collaboration is expected to accelerate the adoption of silicon photonics and optical interconnect technologies for AI infrastructure, high-performance computing, data centers, and high-speed networking by enabling robust end-to-end test solutions for scalable production. Read more - https://lnkd.in/ediH9vNk #SiliconPhotonics #Semiconductor #OpticalInterconnect #DataCenters #Technology

One of the biggest shifts we've noticed over the past 12 months is just how quickly conversations around AI infrastructure and optical interconnects have accelerated. As AI clusters continue to scale, bandwidth, power efficiency and latency are becoming just as important as compute itself. That's driving innovation across: • Silicon photonics • Optical transceivers • Optical engines • Co-packaged optics (CPO) • High-speed laser technologies The next generation of AI infrastructure will be built through collaboration between semiconductor manufacturers, photonics innovators, equipment suppliers, foundries, software providers and the organisations deploying these technologies at scale. Microelectronics UK will be bringing together organisations from right across that ecosystem this September. Companies already involved include Hamamatsu Corporation, KLA, Oxford Instruments GmbH, CORNERSTONE, Eblana Photonics Ltd, Photon Force, Siemens EDA (Siemens Digital Industries Software), Synopsys Inc, Photodigm, Helia Photonics Ltd, Photronics and Cadence. They will be joined by visitors from the likes of Cisco, IQE, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Meta, Nokia, Ciena, Marvell Technology and Infineon Technologies, alongside speakers from BAE Systems, Airbus Defence and Space, BT Group, Intel, Arm, the University of Southampton and many of the UK's leading research institutions. These are exactly the kinds of conversations that will shape the future of AI networking, optical communications and next-generation data centre infrastructure. Really looking forward to seeing those conversations unfold in London this September. #Photonics #Semiconductors #SiliconPhotonics #AIInfrastructure #OpticalNetworking #DataCentres #Microelectronics #MicroelectronicsUK

𝐑𝐈𝐀𝐈𝐨𝐓 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐠𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 The 𝟑𝐫𝐝 𝐌𝐢𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐦 (MTF) 2026, held as part of the 𝐈𝐄𝐄𝐄 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐲 (EDS) 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 marking the 100th anniversary of the 𝐅𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐝-𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫 (FET), took place successfully on 18 June 2026 at #PolyU.  Jointly organised by the 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 (RIAIoT) under #PAIR and the 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐍𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 (SNA), and co-organised by IEEE EDS, the forum brought together renowned researchers, industry leaders and technology innovators to discuss the future of #semiconductors under the theme “𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝐈 𝐄𝐫𝐚”.  The event celebrated a century of #transistor #innovation while showcasing emerging technologies that will drive the next generation of #artificialintelligence, #computing and #intelligentsystems. Read more: https://polyu.hk/FKfBN #InterdisciplinaryResearch #ArtificialIntelligenceofThings #AI #microelectronics #sensingtech #computerhardware #neuromorphic #quantumcomputing #opticalcomputing #energyefficientintelligence #heterogeneousintegration #3DCMOS #CIM #industrialisation #computerchip #datacentre #infrastructure #SDG9

Jason Zhang, Chief Technology Officer of SiLith, said: “AI is driving an unprecedented demand for optical bandwidth, making silicon photonics a foundational technology for future data centre infrastructure. At SILITH, we are building a scalable silicon photonics platform that spans pluggable optics, co-packaged optics (CPO), and future optical I/O architectures. Together with UMC, we are bringing together leading-edge silicon photonics innovation and high-volume 12-inch manufacturing to deliver the performance, scalability, and cost efficiency required for the next generation of AI networks.” #SILITH #UMC #SiliconPhotonics #PhotonicChips #Semiconductor #AIInfrastructure #OpticalNetworking #DataCenters #ChipInnovation #SemiconLeadersAsia https://lnkd.in/d3i8RMnq

United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) has begun mass-producing advanced silicon photonics chips at its Singapore facility to strengthen global AI connectivity.

UMC & SILITH Mass-Produce 12-inch Silicon Photonics Wafers A major milestone for AI data center optical interconnects! On July 14th, UMC teamed up with Singapore-based silicon photonics designer SILITH to officially ship mass-produced 12-inch silicon photonics wafers from UMC’s Singapore fab. This breakthrough marks a critical shift for silicon photonics technology: moving from R&D validation to high-volume commercial production, laying a solid foundation for next-gen 1.6T optical solutions for AI and hyperscale data centers. The high-yield production platform has already passed qualification by a leading global cloud customer for large-scale deployment. As UMC’s key 12-inch silicon photonics partner, SILITH supplies top optical transceiver players including Innolight and Coherent — core suppliers for NVIDIA and Google’s data center infrastructure. Looking ahead, both sides will further upgrade the roadmap, advancing from current 200G/lane products to next-generation 400G/lane optical interconnect solutions. UMC is also accelerating its long-term layout: ✅ 2027: Launch self-developed 12-inch silicon photonics platform + advanced packaging services ✅ 2028: Release open silicon photonics platform to empower broader optical chip innovation ✅ Collaborate on TFLN solutions for future ultra-high-bandwidth interconnection Driven by booming AI infrastructure demand, the global CPO/NPO market is projected to exceed $39 billion by 2030, with rapid growth starting in 2028. Silicon photonics is becoming the core engine for breaking bandwidth bottlenecks in high-performance computing. The industrial mass-production era has officially arrived. Learn more about Ezkey Electronics： 🌐 www.e-z-key.com #Semiconductor #SiliconPhotonics #UMC #SILITH #AI #DataCenter #OpticalInterconnect #CPO #TechInnovation #HardwareSupplyChain

GlobalFoundries receives $300M US funding to advance silicon photonics, targeting 400Gb/s speeds and 5x energy efficiency for AI data centers. https://lnkd.in/dHNNJ7q6

SiLith and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) have achieved mass production of silicon photonics wafers for next-generation AI networking applications. Jason Zhang — Chief Technology Officer of SILITH G.C. Hung — Senior Vice President of UMC #SILITHTechnology #UMC #SiliconPhotonics #PIC #AIOpticalInterconnects #1_6T #CoPackagedOptics #OpticalIO #12inchWafer #Singapore #TFLN #MachZehnderModulator #AIDataCenters #OpticalNetworking https://lnkd.in/gU_7VwN3

SiLith and United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC) Achieve Mass Production Milestone for #Silicon #Photonics https://lnkd.in/e_sFgT_3 ✔️ UMC delivers first mass-produced silicon photonics wafers from UMC’s Singapore 12-inch fab, marking a step change from development to high-volume manufacturing. ✔️ The collaboration combines SILITH's silicon photonics innovation with UMC's high-volume 12-inch manufacturing platform. ✔️ UMC’s silicon photonics process integration is a scalable, foundry-ready manufacturing platform—aimed at delivering predictable cost, yield, and ramp timelines for customers building next-generation AI data center optical interconnects Read more at https://lnkd.in/e_sFgT_3 #chiplet #3DIC #AdvancedPackaging #MultiDie #semiconductor