Semiconductors (2022)

1. 1. The promise of photonics

   → With the computational requirements of AI growing rapidly, current semiconductors will struggle to power the ever-faster chips needed to meet demand.

   → One solution may lie in photonic chips, which can theoretically transmit information more effectively and efficiently than traditional chips using light rather than electricity

2. 2. Tiny chips, big problems?

   → Making chips is expensive and complex and will remain so, so long as the number of transistors on a chip keeps doubling roughly every two years (the principle of Moore’s Law, which has held for over half a century).

   → Startups are chipping in to reduce some of this cost and develop evertinier circuitry, whether by providing advanced software to improve factory scheduling or developing new techniques to manufacture nanostructures.

3. 3. Material difference

   → Silicon-based chips have long held the crown, but materials like silicon carbide are gaining traction in subsectors like power electronics.

   → This contender material wastes less heat than silicon, which leaves more energy available for charging (and allows for smaller chargers). It’s increasingly used in the car industry, as well as in data centres and wireless chargers.

4. 4. Laser trailblazer

   → The chip-hungry laser and optics market is fragmented and has seen innovation slow over the past decade, but integrated devices are emerging that combine lasers with optics and sensors.

   → Startups in the field focusing on one of these subsectors may increasingly collaborate with each other to spur development.

Who early stage startups are up against