Hard Krypton Exclusive | Tsinghua-affiliated Chip Enterprise Secures Tens of Millions in New Funding, Aims to Break Through AI Computing Bottlenecks with Cutting-Edge Technology
Hard Krypton has learned that the silicon photonics enterprise "Lingdong Xin Guang" has officially announced the completion of a multi - million - yuan Angel ++ round of financing. This round of financing was led by Panlin Capital, and followed by Huize Tiancheng, a sub - fund jointly established by Tsinghua Tongfang Investment and Shenzhen Angel Investment.
All the funds raised in this round will be focused on the R & D of core technologies for inter - chip optical interconnection and product implementation. The company will mainly promote the commercialization of the SmartComb multi - wavelength dense - wavelength light source and the R & D of the SmartPHY optical I/O small chiplet.
Lingdong Xin Guang was founded in 2022. It is a high - tech company dedicated to the design and application of silicon - based photonic integrated chips. It mainly targets the Internet of Things field, focusing on distributed fiber optic sensing, FMCW lidar, and optical I/O directions.
Its founder, Professor Chen, is a professor at the Department of Electronic Engineering of Tsinghua University and once served as the deputy director of the Institute of Information Optoelectronics at Tsinghua University. In 2009, during his visit to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor Chen started the R & D work on silicon photonics technology. The technology of Lingdong Xin Guang comes from the research results of him and his scientific research team over more than a decade. The co - founder, Wang Hui, also graduated from Tsinghua University. He has successively served as the R & D manager, technical director, general manager, etc. in enterprises such as O - Network, Multiplex, BKtel, and Xinfeng Electronics.
With the development of industries such as AI, quantum, and autonomous driving, the traditional electrical interconnection of copper wires has gradually failed to meet the requirements. Inter - chip optical interconnection has been widely recognized in the industry as the key direction to break through the bottleneck of computing power transmission efficiency. Among them, silicon photonics technology is currently a hot topic in the industry. Research results show that it is at a stage similar to the early days of integrated circuit development. Although Europe and the United States lead in advanced processes, high - end device design, and ecosystems, China is also in a stage of rapidly narrowing the gap between domestic and international silicon photonics technology.
The core technology of Lingdong Xin Guang lies in silicon - based photonic integration technology. Wang Hui introduced that this is not a single application technology or product, but a "bottom - layer technology platform": a technology that uses integrated - circuit - like processes to manufacture and integrate optical components on a silicon - based substrate, aiming to achieve the integration, miniaturization, and large - scale production of optoelectronic functions on silicon wafers. Simply put, silicon photonics technology integrates discrete optical components (detectors, waveguides, gratings, couplers, modulators, etc.) in an integrated - circuit way and then uses CMOS processes for large - scale production.
The company's current product pipeline includes ultra - narrow linewidth lasers, optical I/O, and FMCW lidar light sources. The ultra - narrow linewidth laser uses a silicon photonics chip + hybrid integration technology route, with independent innovation throughout the process. It has low cost and power consumption, better performance, and can be completely domestically produced. The company has achieved large - scale sales and orders and is in the process of mass production.
Optical I/O is currently a popular direction in the industry and is also the next R & D focus of Lingdong Xin Guang. Simply understood, optical I/O refers to directly converting electrical signals into optical signals for transmission inside the chip package using silicon photonics technology. The bandwidth requirements of AI computing clusters have exceeded the physical limit of copper wires. Only by realizing optical I/O can tens of thousands of chips work together like "a giant chip". Wang Hui said that the company has mastered the DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) multi - wavelength silicon photonics integrated light source technology and has strong competitiveness in the optical I/O direction.
The following is an excerpt from an interview with Wang Hui:
Hard Krypton: What are the advantages of the core technology platform, silicon photonics technology, compared with others? Do the investors have any additional comments?
Wang Hui: The advantages of silicon photonics technology are mainly reflected in high integration, low cost, and low power consumption. By integrating optoelectronic functions on a silicon substrate, we can significantly reduce the module volume. Compared with traditional solutions, silicon photonics technology can utilize the existing integrated circuit industry chain to achieve large - scale mass production, thereby significantly reducing costs. The investors added that silicon photonics technology is not only an evolution of technology but also a shift in the industry paradigm. Its energy - efficiency ratio in handling massive data throughput is unmatched by other traditional technologies, which is the core logic for our long - term optimism about the company's development.
Hard Krypton: The company's narrow linewidth laser has been applied in special scenarios. Can you introduce it?
Wang Hui: The narrow linewidth laser has been applied in military and civilian fields such as fiber optic hydrophones, distributed fiber optic sensing, precision measurement, and lidar. Its core advantage lies in its extremely high spectral purity, which can provide a very stable coherent light source. In practical applications, this means a longer transmission distance and higher sensing accuracy. Currently, we have reached in - depth cooperation with some leading customers in the industry, and the product has shown very stable performance under actual working conditions.
Hard Krypton: What are the company's R & D advantages in optical I/O?
Wang Hui: Our advantage lies in our in - depth understanding of the optoelectronic integration foundation. The R & D of optical I/O is not just about combining light and electricity but also involves complex packaging and heat dissipation challenges. Our leadership is reflected in our early resolution of the reliability issues of multi - chip hybrid integration, such as silicon photonics chips and laser chips. By optimizing the process flow, we have improved the yield while ensuring high performance. It can be said that we are indeed ahead of many peers in the conversion efficiency from laboratory prototypes to mass - producible products. In the future, we are expected to take a leading position in the field of AI optical interconnection, forming the company's second growth curve.
Hard Krypton: What are the company's technological advantages in the DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) multi - wavelength silicon photonics integrated light source?
Wang Hui: Lingdong Xin Guang uses the DWDM technology route to increase the bandwidth density of a single interface through high - density wavelength division multiplexing. Each wavelength corresponds to a high - speed channel, and it is multiplexed and demultiplexed with high - precision AWG/microrings. Currently, most existing products of domestic and foreign peers use the CWDM (Coarse Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology. In contrast, the company's multi - wavelength light source is expected to achieve 32 - 64 wavelengths or more, with higher bandwidth capacity, lower system cost, and lower single - wavelength energy consumption.
Hard Krypton: Optical I/O is currently very popular. How far is it from large - scale deployment?
Wang Hui: I think the large - scale deployment of optical I/O will evolve from internal interconnection in data centers to inter - chip interconnection. Currently, it is in the stage from technology verification to small - scale trial production. It is expected that in the next two to three years, with the explosion of AI computing power demand, we will see the first batch of truly mass - produced commercial solutions. By 2027 or 2028, with the maturation of the industrial chain, optical I/O is expected to enter a real industrial explosion period and become the standard for the next - generation computing power architecture.
Hard Krypton: What key critical points does silicon photonics technology need to break through to achieve large - scale development like integrated circuits?
Wang Hui: The key lies in breakthroughs in three dimensions: First, the establishment of standards. Currently, the silicon photonics field lacks unified design and manufacturing standards like CMOS; Second, the stability of yield and production capacity, which requires the further maturity of back - end packaging processes; Third, the prosperity of the application ecosystem. Only when the cost advantage of silicon photonics technology can cover the enterprise migration cost and enough downstream application scenarios (such as autonomous driving and consumer electronics) are developed will there be an explosion similar to that of integrated circuits. Currently, we are on the verge of breaking through these critical points.
Investor's view:
Li Yuhui, the managing partner of Panlin Capital, said: With the rapid increase in the demand for computing and communication rates in industries such as AI, embodied intelligence, and autonomous driving, traditional integrated circuits are facing physical limits, and Moore's Law is becoming invalid. The importance of silicon - based photonics technology is increasing. Relying on nearly 20 years of technical accumulation in the Tsinghua University laboratory, the company has formed a silicon photonics bottom - layer technology platform. The mass production of the silicon - based integrated ultra - narrow linewidth laser has fully verified the superiority of the company's technology platform. At the same time, Panlin Capital highly values the company's technical accumulation in inter - chip optical interconnection, and the company's multi - wavelength dense - wavelength light source has strong competitiveness compared with domestic and foreign competitors. We look forward to the smooth progress of the company's optical interconnection products to empower the upgrading of the AI infrastructure industry.