STMicroelectronics has launched a new data center photonics chip, developed in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Dubbed the PIC100, STMicroelectronics said the chip will support incoming 800Gbps and 1.6Tbps optical interconnects across all workloads, including artificial intelligence (AI).

The company said the PIC100 is the first offering in its new PIC product family which combines both its silicon photonics and next-generation BiCMOS technologies on a 300mm silicon platform.

STMicroelectronics said the offering will enable customers to integrate multiple complex components on a single chip whilst providing ultra-high speed and low-power optical technology, vital for the sustainability of AI growth.

BiCMOS combines both bipolar and CMOS (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor) transistors onto a single integrated circuit. The technology offers improved speed over CMOS and has a lower power dissipation than bipolar. STMicroelectronics says that as a result, its BiCMOS technology offers a level of performance that, until recently, has only been available with more expensive technologies.

“AI is changing the market, and it's pushing for higher speed, higher bandwidth, and a more energy-efficient solution. Today, STMicroelectronics has announced a comprehensive technology answer to that change, with silicon photonics and BiCMOS,” said Vincent Fraisse, general manager at the company's radio and communications chip division. “PIC100… has an innovative stack up and unparalleled performance for a new class of throughput, 300mm manufacturing for best in class yields, and, of course, a long-term roadmap for future additions to PIC100, with TSV (through-silicon via), faster modulators using foreign materials, and more integration.”

Nafea Bshara, VP and distinguished engineer at AWS, added: "AWS is working with STMicroelectronics based on their demonstrated capability to make PIC100 a leading silicon photonics technology for the optical and AI market. We are enthusiastic about the potential innovations this will unlock for silicon photonics.”

Both the silicon photonics and BiCMOS technologies will be industrialized and manufactured in STMicroelectronics’s 300mm fab in Crolles, France.