China's photonic chip debut to power AI, 6G and quantum computing advances, expert says
As China joins the international drive to mass produce high-performance photonic chips, an industry pioneer said the technical performance of its chips will position the country for major advances in artificial intelligence (AI),
6G and
quantum computing
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Chip Hub for Integrated Photonics Xplore (CHIPX) announced on June 5 that it had begun producing 6-inch (15.2cm) wafers for thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) photonic chips, which rely on light – or photons – rather than electrical signals for information transmission and processing.
While this is China's first pilot production line for photonic chips, Europe and the US are already established in the field. Dutch company SMART Photonics last year upgraded its line to process 4-inch InP wafers, and California-based PsiQuantum revealed in February that it was adapting a 300mm silicon photonics line.
China's pilot production line, built on the new TFLN material, may have come later but it is already showing gains in terms of technical performance by overcoming a global limit for high-speed optical links.
TFLN is an emerging high-performance optoelectronic material known for its ultra-fast electro-optic effect, high bandwidth and low power consumption. But its brittle nature has hindered large-scale manufacturing.
The team at CHIPX worked for several years to create the country's breakthrough in photonic chips. Photo: Handout
'Establishing this stable production line is the result of nearly 15 years of effort,' said Professor Jin Xianmin, director of CHIPX.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Standard
3 hours ago
- The Standard
Hong Kong banks take Fed's lead, maintain prime rates
The HKMA said the Fed's decision to keep rates unchanged was in line with market expectations. SING TAO
South China Morning Post
5 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
How to answer Xia's call for Hong Kong? Tap global ties and lure talent, experts say
Hong Kong should maintain its international connectivity and attract talent to speed up its economic transformation, analysts and figures from the commerce sector have said, as they hailed the enactment of the national security law for improving the business environment. Some political analysts also called on government officials to take bolder steps and adopt new thinking, taking advantage of the social stability and order brought by the security law Beijing imposed on the city in 2020. Their suggestions came after the director of the State Council's Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office, Xia Baolong, said the implementation of the law was a 'watershed' for the financial hub that brought order after chaos. But Xia, who made the remarks at a forum on Saturday marking the anniversary of the implementation of the national security law, also warned against complacency, calling for unity to support the government and urging the administration to come up with innovative governance concepts to enhance effectiveness. Political scientist Hung Wing-lok of the School of Governance and Policy Science at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said: 'Hong Kong should seize the opportunity to attract more foreign talent to speed up its economic transformation. 'As tensions between China and the United States remain high, Hong Kong should continue to keep its international connectivity to maintain its status as a global financial hub.
South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong unions call for labour import scheme review amid rising job losses
Hong Kong catering and construction unions have called for a review of the labour import scheme amid high jobless rates in these sectors, with some local workers complaining about being replaced or forced to work fewer days after cheaper staff from outside the city were recruited. Chau Sze-kit, chairman of the Hong Kong Construction Industry Employees General Union, said on Saturday that the unemployment rate of the construction sector reached a high level of 6.7 per cent, attributing this to the reduced number of local private projects. He said although the policy of importing workers might not directly affect the unemployment rate, the scheme still led to fewer job opportunities for local staff. Chau added he received complaints from some workers about being sacked by their employers or having their working days slashed because of the recruitment of imported staff. He called on the government to be more targeted in importing labour for specific occupations in short supply. '[Jobless rates] have kept rising. Do we still need to import workers? I think it should be more targeted. The workers should only be imported where there is such a need,' he told a radio programme.
