China team cuts 3D optical chip production time from hours to seconds

Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving unprecedented demand for computing, placing photonic chips at the centre of the race to develop next-generation AI hardware. By transmitting data with light rather than electricity, photonic technologies are widely seen as a way to overcome bandwidth and power constraints. However, translating that potential into mass-producible hardware is often bottlenecked by slow, complex manufacturing. A Chinese research team says it has overcome one of the field’s...