Chip Talk > Lighting Up Silicon: The European Push in Photonics Technology
Published September 25, 2025
Silicon photonics (SiPho) is a burgeoning field that stands at the intersection of semiconductor technology and photonics. Marked by the STARLight Project, Europe is making substantial advances in establishing a foothold in this domain. Under the leadership of STMicroelectronics, the initiative involves 24 technology companies and universities striving to make Europe a leader in 300mm SiPho technology. This ambitious enterprise seeks to tackle challenges and devise solutions tailored to pivotal sectors, including data centers, AI, telecommunications, and automotive industries. Read more about the STARLight Project.
The STARLight Project is uniquely application-driven, focusing on crafting solutions that cater to specific industry needs. A significant facet of their plan is the development of modulators capable of operating at over 200 Gbps per lane, ensuring high data transfer rates crucial for next-generation data centers and AI clusters. Moreover, the initiative will yield prototypes for free-space optical transmission systems bespoke for both terrestrial and spatial communication. For AI, the STARLight team aims to create a state-of-the-art photonic processor optimized for tensor operations—a key component in AI systems.
In the telecommunications arena, partners like Ericsson will revolutionize mobile network efficiency by developing an integrated switch and Radio over Fibre technology, targeting improved data traffic management. Meanwhile, in the automotive sector, collaborations with companies like STEERLIGHT focus on advanced LiDAR sensor development, which promises enhanced sensing capabilities for autonomous vehicles. Details on telecommunications applications.
The backbone of the STARLight Project is its consortium members: academic institutions like CEA-LETI and Université Paris-Saclay, and industry leaders such as Imec and THALES. This synergistic collaboration is essential for not only addressing current technical challenges but also for driving future SiPho innovations, such as a 400Gbps per lane optical demonstrator leveraging new materials. Such advancements underscore the importance of multi-sectorial cooperation in building the next-generation SiPho technologies.
Remi El-Ouazzane of STMicroelectronics highlights that SiPho technology is pivotal in positioning Europe at the nexus of future AI and industrial technologies. By fostering innovation and collaboration among Europe’s tech elite, the STARLight Project sets the stage for Europe’s ascendance in silicon photonics—ushering in a new era of technological advancements across data centers, AI, telecommunications, and automotives. Learn how these advancements shape Europe's tech future.
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