by Mat Dirjish
Developer of miniaturization technologies CEA-Leti and NcodiN, a French startup specializing in nano-laser-enabled photonic interconnects, are collaborating to industrialize NcodiN’s optical interposer technology on a 300-mm integrated photonics process. NcodiN is developing optical interconnects that relieve data-movement bottlenecks that limit performance in next-gen semiconductors. The collaboration with CEA-Leti promises to accelerate the company’s proof-of-concept work into industrial-grade 300-mm processes, thereby moving beyond copper interconnects and moving closer to scalable, in-package long-reach optical links for future computing architectures and artificial intelligence (AI) chips.
As per the partners, AI systems require orders of magnitude increases in bandwidth and energy efficiency, initiating an industry shift from copper to optical interconnects. In response, NcodiN is building NConnect, an integrated optical interconnect platform employing what the company claims is the world’s smallest laser on silicon, i.e., 500 times smaller than current industry-standard devices.
NcodiN’s nano-laser-enabled photonic interposers forecast ultra-dense integration, in the realm of greater than 5,000 nano-lasers/mm², and low energy operation (0.1 pJ/bit). Relying on CEA-Leti’s photonics integration expertise, NcodiN is transitioning its nanolaser to a 30-mm silicon photonics platform. The partners believe this is a large step toward scalable, wafer-level optical interconnects for high-end computing and AI applications.
Francesco Manegatti, cofounder and CEO of NcodiN, explains, “NcodiN’s nano-laser-enabled photonic interconnects overcome the bottleneck of bulky, inefficient photonic components that prevent large-scale adoption. Our collaboration with CEA-Leti aims to demonstrate NConnect’s compatibility with 300-mm wafers, which is essential for commercial-scale production and cost-effective adoption in AI-centric processors and high-bandwidth computing systems.”
Sébastien Dauvé, CEO of CEA-Leti, adds, “Transitioning photonics to a 300 mm CMOS-compatible process is a turning point for optical interconnects that are producible at the scale, cost, and reliability the AI industry requires. This collaboration with NcodiN highlights a key part of CEA-Leti’s mission of transferring advanced semiconductor and microelectronics technologies to industry, where they serve a range of vital markets.”
Mat Dirjish Online 