STMicroelectronics begins mass production of silicon photonics platform to support AI data center connectivity!

STMicroelectronics has announced the start of high-volume manufacturing of its advanced silicon photonics platform, PIC100. The technology is designed to support optical interconnect solutions used in hyperscale data centers and artificial intelligence computing clusters, where the demand for faster, more energy-efficient data transmission continues to rise rapidly.

As cloud providers and technology companies expand AI infrastructure, the need for high-speed connectivity between processors, storage systems and networking equipment has become critical. Optical technologies are increasingly being adopted to meet these requirements because they enable faster data transfer rates while consuming less power compared with traditional electrical interconnects.

The PIC100 platform supports next-generation optical transceivers capable of operating at speeds of 800 gigabits per second and 1.6 terabits per second. These high-performance components enable significantly greater data throughput while reducing latency and power consumption—two key factors for data centers handling complex AI workloads and large-scale machine learning operations.

STMicroelectronics first introduced its silicon photonics technology in early 2025. Since then, the company has transitioned from the development phase to full-scale manufacturing for major hyperscale customers. The ability to move quickly into volume production has been supported by STMicroelectronics’ advanced 300-millimeter semiconductor fabrication facilities, which allow large-scale manufacturing while maintaining consistent quality and performance.

Fabio Gualandris, President of Quality, Manufacturing and Technology at STMicroelectronics, said the combination of the company’s silicon photonics platform and its large manufacturing capacity positions it strongly in the rapidly growing AI infrastructure market. He noted that the company is already planning significant capacity expansion to meet future demand.

According to the company, production capacity for the PIC100 platform is expected to increase more than fourfold by 2027. This expansion is supported by long-term commitments from customers who have already reserved manufacturing capacity in advance, reflecting strong confidence in the technology’s role in next-generation data center architectures.

Industry analysts expect the market for optical connectivity in data centers to grow significantly over the coming years. Research from LightCounting estimates that the market for pluggable optical modules used in data centers reached approximately $15.5 billion in 2025 and could exceed $34 billion by 2030. During the same period, optical technologies such as co-packaged optics are projected to generate more than $9 billion in revenue as computing systems evolve to support AI-driven workloads.

Silicon photonics technology is expected to play a major role in this growth because it integrates optical and electronic components onto a single semiconductor platform. STMicroelectronics’ PIC100 platform incorporates advanced optical capabilities including highly efficient silicon and silicon nitride waveguides designed to reduce signal loss. The platform also features high-performance modulators and photodiodes along with edge-coupling technology that improves overall system efficiency.

Looking ahead, the company is developing the next stage of its silicon photonics roadmap with the PIC100 TSV platform. This future technology will integrate through-silicon via (TSV) connections to increase connectivity density and enable more compact optical modules. The new platform is expected to improve thermal management and support emerging optical architectures such as near-packaged optics and co-packaged optics, which are increasingly important for high-performance AI computing environments.

STMicroelectronics will present its latest silicon photonics developments at the Optical Fiber Communication Conference in Los Angeles from March 15 to 19. During the event, the company plans to demonstrate a 1.6-terabit silicon photonics transceiver developed in collaboration with Sicoya, highlighting the growing role of optical interconnect technologies in enabling next-generation AI data centers.