China team cuts 3D optical chip production time from hours to seconds

A Chinese research team led by the Institute of Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new fabrication method that reduces production time for 3D optical chips from hours to seconds, potentially accelerating the development of next-generation AI hardware. The breakthrough, published in Advanced Materials, uses parallel processing to overcome manufacturing bottlenecks in photonic chips, which use light instead of electricity to transmit data.

Advertisement China team cuts 3D optical chip production time from hours to seconds New fabrication method speeds up production time for photonic chips via parallel processing technology 2-MIN READ2-MIN Chao Kong /author/chao-kong in Beijing Artificial intelligence https://www.scmp.com/topics/artificial-intelligence?module=inline&pgtype=article AI is driving unprecedented demand for computing, placing photonic chips at the centre of the race to develop next-generation AI hardware. By transmitting data with light rather than electricity, photonic technologies https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3360328/chinas-optical-chip-breakthrough-boosts-ai-speed-100-fold-using-fraction-compute-power?module=inline&pgtype=article are widely seen as a way to overcome bandwidth and power constraints.However, translating that potential into mass-producible hardware is often bottlenecked by slow, complex manufacturing. A Chinese research team says it has overcome one of the field’s biggest manufacturing hurdles, unveiling a fabrication method that cuts production time for complex three-dimensional optical structures from hours to seconds. Published in a peer-reviewed top journal Advanced Materials on July 4, the study was led by scientists from the Institute of Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences CAS , together with collaborators from the University of Hong Kong https://www.scmp.com/topics/university-hong-kong?module=inline&pgtype=article and several other Chinese institutions.“Our work establishes a versatile platform that bridges the gap between design complexity and scalable manufacturing for next-generation 3D integrated photonics,” wrote the research team led by PhD student Wang Yi. Advertisement Select Voice Select Speed 1.00x