Taiwan is actively developing silicon photonics technology and accounts for more than half of the global semiconductor packaging and testing market.

A silicon wafer was displayed at Semicon Taiwan on September 11 last year. Photo: Ritchie B. Tongo, EPA

By Jianing Liao and William Heselton/Staff reporters, plus staff writer

Taiwan, which accounts for more than half of the global semiconductor packaging and testing market, has the conditions to develop chip packaging optical interconnects (CPO) and manufacture precision silicon photonic chips, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday.

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Silicon photonics technology is becoming the mainstream optical communication technology and is regarded as the key to overcoming the bottleneck of AI computing.

This technology is a key project of the government's "New Ten AI Infrastructure Construction". Industry, government, academia and research are working together to overcome key technical problems and build a self-sufficient silicon photonics supply chain, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.

Nvidia Corp invested $4 billion in silicon photonics technology in March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs added.

This technology was the main topic at Semicon Taiwan, which ended last Friday.

Silicon photonics technology uses optical signals to replace traditional copper wires to transmit electronic signals between chips.

Since light generates almost no heat during transmission, the technology can reduce power consumption by 30 to 50 percent, allowing devices to stream high-resolution content and generate artificial intelligence content more quickly, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.

Taiwan has key advantages in this transformation, including a complete semiconductor ecosystem and more than 90% of the world's advanced semiconductor manufacturing capabilities at 7 nanometers or below, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.

Taiwan accounts for more than half of the global semiconductor packaging and testing market, which makes it play a key role in the development of CPO technology, which aims to break through the bandwidth limit of 1.6 terabits per second of traditional electronic transmission.

The government launched the silicon photonics R&D initiative under the A+ Enterprise Innovation R&D Program earlier this year to support the development of key technologies.

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and SEMI have assisted more than 30 leading manufacturers, including TSMC (TSMC), ASE Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (ASE), MediaTek (MediaTek) and Hon Hai Precision Industry (Hon Hai Precision), to establish the Silicon Photonics Industry Alliance in 2024, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.

The alliance aims to overcome key technical difficulties, especially CPO, and ensure that Taiwan maintains control of the silicon photonics supply chain, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said.

News source: TAIPEI TIMES

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