Europe has chosen the STARLight Project to take the lead in next-generation silicon photonics development on 300mm wafers, marking a major milestone in the region’s semiconductor and photonics strategy. The consortium brings together 24 leading technology companies and universities from 11 EU countries under the leadership of STMicroelectronics. Operating through 2028 and supported by the EU CHIPS Joint Undertaking, STARLight aims to establish a full-scale European manufacturing line for silicon photonics and create an end-to-end value chain spanning design, materials, fabrication, packaging, and applications. Initial applications will target datacenters, AI clusters, telecommunications, and automotive systems.
Silicon photonics combines the high-yield manufacturing benefits of CMOS silicon with the speed and energy efficiency of photonics. The STARLight program will tackle several technical challenges that currently limit scaling. These include high-speed modulation beyond 200Gbps per lane, integration of reliable on-chip lasers, and advanced packaging to minimize signal loss and power consumption. In addition, the consortium will explore new material platforms—including silicon-on-insulator (SOI), lithium niobate (LNOI), and barium titanate (BTO)—with contributions from major European R&D institutions such as CEA-LETI, imec, Université Paris-Saclay, III-V Lab, Lumiphase, and Soitec. By combining these approaches, the project aims to enable next-generation photonic integrated circuits (PICs) that can scale from 200G to 400G per lane and beyond.
In the datacenter domain, STMicroelectronics, Sicoya, and Thales will collaborate on PIC100 demonstrators capable of 200Gbps per channel, with a development path toward 400Gbps per lane optics. These will support future pluggable modules for AI clusters and hyperscale facilities. The project will also explore free-space optical transmission systems for both terrestrial and space-based communication. In AI acceleration, STARLight is targeting a photonic processor optimized for tensor operations—matrix-vector multiplication and multiply-accumulate—that promises reduced size, higher data throughput, and superior energy efficiency compared to today’s silicon-based processors. This effort directly aligns with the growing computational demands of large-scale neural networks.
Telecom applications will be advanced through Ericsson’s leadership in two areas: an integrated switch to enable optical offload within radio access networks, and radio-over-fiber solutions to relocate power-intensive processing away from antenna units. Both approaches promise to boost capacity and reduce embodied CO2 in mobile networks. Complementing these developments, MBryonics will deliver a free-space-to-fiber interface for optical communication systems, bridging space and terrestrial links. In automotive, the consortium will validate performance in sensing applications, particularly LiDAR. Steerlight will work closely with automakers to industrialize photonic-based sensors, while Thales will focus on advanced signal generation and processing for autonomous robotics and vehicles.
By consolidating efforts across multiple industries, STARLight underscores Europe’s ambition to reduce dependency on external foundries and secure its own supply chain for advanced photonics. The project’s success would establish Europe as a global player in silicon photonics manufacturing, enabling both economic resilience and technological leadership in the AI-driven data economy.
• 24-member consortium across 11 EU countries
• Led by STMicroelectronics under the EU CHIPS Joint Undertaking
• Target markets: datacenters, AI clusters, telecom, automotive, space
• Technical goals: >200Gbps per lane modulators, integrated lasers, advanced packaging, new materials (SOI, LNOI, BTO)
• Demonstrators: 200G/400G datacom optics, AI photonic processors, RAN optical offload, radio-over-fiber, LiDAR and robotics sensors
“Silicon Photonics technology is critical to put Europe at the crossroads to the AI factory of the future and the STARLight project represents a significant step for the entire value chain in Europe,” said Remi El-Ouazzane, President, Microcontrollers, Digital ICs and RF products Group at STMicroelectronics.
STARLight Consortium Members & Focus Areas
| Organization | Country | Focus Area(s) |
|---|---|---|
| STMicroelectronics (Lead) | Switzerland/France/Italy | Overall leadership, datacenter demonstrators, 200G PICs |
| Sicoya | Germany | Datacenter optics, 200G/400G modules |
| Thales | France | Datacom optics, advanced sensors, autonomous robotics |
| Ericsson | Sweden | Telecom, RAN optical offload, radio-over-fiber |
| MBryonics | Ireland | Free-space-to-fiber optical interfaces |
| Steerlight | France | LiDAR sensors for automotive integration |
| Soitec | France | Materials – SOI wafers for SiPho |
| CEA-LETI | France | Research in new materials, packaging |
| imec | Belgium | Advanced photonics R&D, integration of novel materials |
| Université Paris-Saclay | France | Academic research in photonic materials |
| III-V Lab | France | III-V materials integration, lasers |
| Lumiphase | Switzerland | Barium titanate modulators, advanced PIC materials |
Note: This list highlights confirmed participants mentioned in the STARLight press release. The consortium spans 24 organizations; additional members will be added as their roles are detailed by the project.
https://www.starlight-h2020.eu
🌐 Analysis: STARLight aligns with Europe’s broader semiconductor autonomy efforts while responding to soaring demand for AI-ready optical interconnects. The initiative parallels U.S. investments in Intel’s silicon photonics and GlobalFoundries’ heterogeneous integration, as well as Asian scaling of photonics platforms by TSMC and Japanese research centers. If STARLight achieves its technical milestones, Europe could emerge as a key competitor in next-generation optical interconnects, especially in the race toward 224G and 448G lanes for hyperscaler AI clusters.
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