Last year, the Shanghai Municipal Government included silicon photonics in the first batch of major municipal special projects, and invested a lot of money in the development and production of silicon-based optical interconnect chips. Today, many people in the industry lament that Shanghai is really planning ahead, because the silicon-based optical interconnect chip is a new generation of communication chips, and domestic communication companies have been stuck on this device.
The reporter recently learned from the Municipal Science and Technology Commission that the city-level major project of silicon photonics led by Zhangjiang Laboratories has made breakthroughs in process technology and has the ability to tape out chips. It is expected that this year, China's first silicon photonics R & D pilot line will be completed in Shanghai. This special purpose is to build a complete industrial chain of silicon photonic chips in Shanghai, master key core technologies, and let domestic enterprises get rid of dependence on foreign optical chip suppliers.
Build a global silicon photonics R & D center
Yu Mingbin, the principal of silicon photonics city-level major special technology and a researcher at the Shanghai Institute of Microsystems and Information Technology, said that optical chips are flourishing in the world, and they are gradually replacing traditional electrical chips and becoming the mainstream of communication chips. Between chip dimensions, why is electrical transmission replaced by optical transmission? He explained that when a large number of electrons move in a high-density circuit, the device will heat up and electromagnetic losses will be generated, which affects the speed and power consumption of the chip. Compared with it, the movement of light is much lighter-the fastest in the universe, it does not generate heat during movement, and multiple light rays can move in the same space-time and maintain their independence, thereby greatly saving signals Transmission channel.
Because of the superior physical properties of light, in the field of communications, optical cables are replacing cables; optical chips are also beginning to replace electrical chips to realize the transmission of optical signals on silicon-based materials. At present, the industrialization of optical chips is still at an early stage. There are only a few optical chip suppliers in the world, all in the United States.
In 2015, Wang Xi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Zhangjiang Laboratory, learned about the research and development of silicon photonics at the Singapore Institute of Microelectronics (IME). IME is a global R & D center of common technology of integrated circuits with the same name as the Belgian Microelectronics Research Center (IMEC). Both of these units have built a silicon photonics R & D pilot line to attract R & D institutions and companies from all over the world to test stream. At that time, Wang Xi had an idea: Shanghai Microtechnology Industry Research Institute will also build a pilot line for silicon photonics research and development to become another R & D center in the world.
After demonstrating this concept, the Municipal Science and Technology Commission proposed that Shanghai should form a complete silicon-based optical interconnect chip industry chain and build a world-class silicon photonics base. Last year, Silicon Photonics was included in the first batch of major municipal projects.
Create a complete industry chain of silicon photonic chips
Today, China's first silicon photonics research and development pilot line is under construction. The 8-inch "Beyond Moore" pilot line of the Shanghai Jiading District Line in September last year is part of it, and the other part of the equipment is still in the process of procurement. It is expected that within this year, the silicon photonics equipment of "Beyond Moore" R & D pilot line will be put into operation. The so-called "beyond Moore" means that non-digital, diversified semiconductor technologies and products can be developed on mature process production lines without following Moore's Law, that is, there is no need to make the process size smaller and smaller.It's time to wait. Although some equipment is not in place, Yu Mingbin has already started to lead the team to develop supporting process technology. "The equipment is hardware, and the process technology can be regarded as software." Yu Mingbin told reporters, "In the process of buying hardware, we must pay close attention to the development of the software. After the hardware is in place, the silicon photonics research and development pilot line can immediately provide services to customers. "The good news is that he found a partner through his personal connections and used a process production line to develop optical chips. This production line has been successfully taped and is serving some customers. After the pilot line for silicon photonics research and development is completed, Shanghai Microtechnology Institute will have the ability to serve a large number of customers.
Qian Bin, deputy director of the Municipal Science and Technology Commission, introduced that the major project of silicon photonics was led by Zhangjiang Laboratory, and a number of domestic enterprises, universities and scientific research institutes participated. Break through the common key technologies of silicon-based optical interconnect chips and devices, thereby attracting resources from all parties, and strive to make Shanghai an important source of new technological innovations and new industrial directions in this strategic field of silicon-based optoelectronics.
"We want to build a whole industrial chain in Shanghai, including chip design, manufacturing, packaging, testing and other links." Yu Mingbin said. According to reports, Shanghai enterprises that undertake downstream projects of major special industrial chains all have sales targets. For example, Shanghai Guibo Communication Technology Co., Ltd. ’s target is to replace imported silicon photonic chips with annual sales of 100 million US dollars, and cost and process advantages. Traditional technology. In this regard, Guibo's project team is very confident, because the global optical chip market is in the ascendant, and supply is in short supply. At present, each wafer is priced at more than 15,000 US dollars. If you have mastered the key core technologies of the industrial chain, you don't need to worry about market performance.
In addition to communications, optical chips can also be used in cutting-edge projects with huge development potential, such as lidar, parallel computing, large-scale optical switches, and three-dimensional optoelectronic integration. They have become core components in areas such as autonomous driving, new-generation computers, and ultra-high-definition television. With the advancement of silicon photonics major municipal projects, Shanghai is expected to produce a series of achievements. Wang Xi said that the special team will implement major special projects with a global perspective by establishing efficient project management mechanisms, strengthening strategic planning research, and further opening up collaboration, etc., and will turn Shanghai into a world-class silicon photonics base as soon as possible.
