JFS Laboratory, a Chinese government-backed company, has developed a silicon photonics chip, a first for the country, reports the South China Morning Post. Processors with laser-based I/O are expected to have particular advantages over traditional chips with copper interfaces in high-performance applications like AI and HPC.
Neither JFS nor SCMP disclose what exactly was achieved and how the silicon photonics chip connects to the processor, so we can only wonder about its characteristics in terms of data transfer rates and power. In fact, the only thing that we know about JFS Laboratory is that it is based in Wuhan and was established in 2021 with 8.2 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) in funding from the government. Therefore, it has taken the company three years to successfully integrate a laser light source into a silicon-based chip.
