UMC Partners with SILITH to Mass Produce First Silicon Photonics Wafers at Singapore Fab

(Central News Agency reporter Chang Chien-chung, Hsinchu, April 14) Wafer foundry UMC today announced it has partnered with Singapore-based SILITH to complete the first volume production and delivery of silicon photonics wafers at UMC's Singapore facility, marking a new milestone in advancing large-scale manufacturing of next-generation silicon photonics to meet growing demand for high-speed AI optical interconnects in artificial intelligence (AI) and hyperscale data center networks.

In a press release today, UMC stated that this collaboration with SILITH combines SILITH's silicon photonics design expertise with UMC's 12-inch wafer manufacturing and process capabilities to support the volume production needs of SILITH's 1.6 terabits per second (1.6T) solution, addressing the increasing demand for high-speed AI optical interconnects in AI and hyperscale data center networks.

UMC said that both teams achieved the goal of transitioning the silicon photonics platform from development to volume production within 18 months, demonstrating UMC's process integration capabilities in complex cross-domain technologies such as silicon photonics, as well as its ability to support customers' large-scale production requirements.

Hsu Kuei-chun, Senior Vice President at UMC, said, "UMC's Singapore facility not only possesses 12-inch wafer manufacturing capabilities but also serves as a key technology R&D hub for UMC. Moving forward, UMC will continue to strengthen its manufacturing capabilities to support our customers' growing needs and accelerate the development of next-generation silicon photonics applications."

UMC stated that after the successful commercialization of SILITH's 200G-per-channel silicon photonics custom process, UMC and SILITH are now jointly developing a 400G-per-channel pure silicon photonics platform.

Additionally, UMC is collaborating with ecosystem partners to develop solutions based on thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) to meet future ultra-high bandwidth optical interconnect demands. Combined with UMC's advanced packaging technologies, the silicon photonics and TFLN platforms will jointly support highly integrated architectures such as co-packaged optics (CPO) and optical input/output (I/O), helping to build next-generation AI infrastructure.

UMC expects to provide its own 12-inch silicon photonics platform by 2027, enabling more customers to conduct product development and volume production ramp-up. (Editor: Chang Liang-chih) 1150714

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