NVIDIA and TSMC have developed a silicon photonics-based chip prototype, according to a report in the Taiwanese press. TSMC is the world’s leading contract chip manufacturer, and with Intel’s troubles, it has also established itself as the most advanced chip manufacturer on the planet. Silicon photonics is an emerging chip manufacturing technology that blends photonic circuits with traditional circuits to overcome physical limitations with semiconductor fabrication. According to the report, the prototype was developed late last year, with NVIDIA and TSMC also working on optical packaging technologies to improve AI chip performance.
NVIDIA & TSMC Are Working On Advanced Packaging Technologies, Says Report
TSMC’s latest chip manufacturing technology, the 2-nanometer node, is believed to have a minimum gate and metal pitches of 45 and 20 nanometers, respectively. In semiconductor fabrication, a gate pitch measures the distance between two gates on a chip, while a metal pitch measures the distance between two metal interconnects. A gate controls the flow of electrons on a transistor, while an interconnect ensures inter-transistor communication on a chip.
