Photonics-Electronics Convergence: NEDO Project for AI Chiplets

NTT Group Japan

Overview

NTT Innovative Devices leads a four-company consortium selected by NEDO to develop mass-production technologies for photonics-electronics convergence (PEC) devices. The project targets a tenfold increase in manufacturing productivity for optical chiplets to support high-capacity, low-power next-generation AI computing.

In Depth

Key Findings

A joint R&D proposal led by NTT Innovative Devices has been selected for NEDO’s Research and Development Project of the Enhanced Infrastructures for Post-5G Information and Communication Systems. The consortium, comprising NTT Innovative Devices, Japan Semiconductor Corporation, Furukawa Electric Co., Ltd., and SHINKO ELECTRIC INDUSTRIES CO., LTD., will focus on establishing mass-production technologies for photonics-electronics convergence (PEC) devices. NTT will serve as an advisor for the project.

Technical Details

The project focuses on the development of optical chiplets, which are PEC devices that integrate photonic integrated circuits (PIC) and electronic integrated circuits (EIC) through high-density packaging. These chiplets replace electrical signals with optical signals for data transmission between processing chips, such as GPUs and CPUs, to overcome bandwidth limitations and power consumption increases associated with transmission distance.

The consortium aims to achieve the following technical milestones:

• Establishment of a pilot production line for future commercial manufacturing.
• A more than tenfold increase in manufacturing productivity compared to current R&D-stage processes.
• Development of the full manufacturing value chain, including photonic device fabrication, testing, optical interconnects, and advanced packaging.

Background & Context

The initiative responds to the unprecedented growth in data processing demand driven by generative AI in high-performance computing (HPC) systems and AI data centers. Since fiscal year 2023, NTT has led research into optical chiplet packaging technologies under a similar NEDO framework to address the rising power consumption of chip-to-chip communications.

Significance & Outlook

By combining expertise in silicon photonics, optical semiconductors, and semiconductor packaging, the participating companies intend to strengthen Japan’s domestic semiconductor manufacturing capabilities. The project seeks to establish a globally competitive supply chain for PEC devices, ultimately reducing the energy consumption of AI-driven data centers and supporting a sustainable information and communications society.

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