STMicroelectronics Begins High-Volume Silicon Photonics Production for AI Data Centers

Data centers, cloud computing platforms, and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure increasingly rely on high-speed optical interconnect technologies to manage growing data traffic between processors, storage systems, and networking equipment. STMicroelectronics has entered high-volume production of its silicon photonics platform, PIC100, designed for optical transceivers used in hyperscale data centers and AI clusters. The platform supports 800 Gb/s and 1.6 Tb/s optical modules, addressing the bandwidth and latency requirements of large-scale AI workloads.

Silicon Photonics Platform for High-Bandwidth AI Infrastructure
The PIC100 platform is manufactured on 300 mm semiconductor production lines, enabling large-scale manufacturing suited for hyperscale cloud providers. Silicon photonics integrates optical components such as waveguides, modulators, and photodiodes directly onto semiconductor substrates, allowing optical communication links to be integrated into data-center networking hardware.

According to STMicroelectronics, the PIC100 platform delivers optical performance improvements through low-loss waveguide structures and optimized photonic components. Reported waveguide losses are as low as 0.4 dB/cm for silicon and 0.5 dB/cm for silicon nitride, which contributes to efficient optical signal transmission across photonic integrated circuits. The platform also incorporates advanced modulators, photodiodes, and edge-coupling technologies designed to improve optical link performance and integration into high-speed transceiver modules.

These characteristics are relevant for AI clusters, high-performance computing systems, and hyperscale cloud data centers, where optical interconnects must support rapid data exchange between GPUs, CPUs, and storage networks.

Capacity Expansion to Support Growing Optical Interconnect Demand
The demand for high-speed optical transceivers continues to expand as AI workloads grow. Market analysts estimate that the data-center pluggable optics market reached approximately $15.5 billion in 2025, with projected growth to more than $34 billion by 2030, representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 17 percent. Over the same period, the share of transceivers using silicon photonics modulators is expected to increase significantly.

To support this growth, STMicroelectronics plans to quadruple production capacity for the PIC100 platform by 2027, supported by long-term supply commitments from hyperscale customers. The use of 300 mm manufacturing lines allows the company to scale production while maintaining consistent manufacturing quality and supply stability for large data-center deployments.

Roadmap Introduces Through-Silicon Via Photonics Integration
Alongside current production, STMicroelectronics is developing the next generation of its silicon photonics technology: PIC100 TSV, a platform incorporating through-silicon via (TSV) integration.

TSV technology allows vertical electrical connections through the silicon substrate, enabling higher interconnect density and more compact integration between photonic and electronic components. The PIC100 TSV platform is intended to support future Near Packaged Optics (NPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO) architectures, which place optical interfaces closer to high-performance processors to reduce power consumption and latency in AI computing systems.

This approach addresses one of the emerging limitations in AI infrastructure, where electrical interconnect bandwidth and energy efficiency can become constraints as computing clusters scale.

Silicon Photonics Demonstrations at OFC 2026
STMicroelectronics will present its silicon photonics technology developments at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC 2026), held March 15–19 in Los Angeles, USA. The company will discuss its technology roadmap and demonstrate a 1.6T-DR8 silicon photonics transceiver developed in collaboration with Sicoya.

The conference presentation will also include a technical paper titled “An Innovative 300 mm Back Side Integrated Silicon Photonics Platform for 200 Gbit/s per lane Applications” and participation in the CEA-Leti event “Optical Interconnects: Driving Innovation in AI Factory and Beyond.”

www.st.com

Edited by Industrial Journalist, Natania Lyngdoh.

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