Black Semiconductor GmbH is a startup company that plans to use graphene to manufacture chips to chip interconnects, and has received 254.4 million euros in funding to support its research.
This investment was disclosed today. Black Semiconductor, a subsidiary of Aachen University of Technology in Germany, stated that most of the funding is provided by the German federal government and the state of North Rhine Westphalia. About one tenth of the funds (25.7 million euros) will come from an investor consortium led by Porsche Venture Capital and Project A Ventures.
Supporters of Black Semiconductor also include six other venture capital firms. The investor group includes Onsight Ventures, a fund under Hermann Hauser, co-founder of Arm Holdings plc.
At present, data center servers transmit data between internal components in the form of electrical pulses sent through copper wires. Black Semiconductor is developing a technology that allows data to be transmitted in the form of light, which travels faster on copper wires than electricity. The faster the information is transmitted to the server chip, the earlier the processing can start, thereby accelerating the computing speed.
Black Semiconductor is one of several startups developing interconnections between optical chips. The company's unique feature is that its interconnection will be based on graphene, a form of carbon that has aroused great interest among researchers. This material has multiple physical properties and may be very suitable for semiconductor production.
Under a microscope, graphene is a carbon sheet with a thickness of one atom. Carbon atoms are arranged in a hexagonal shape, with edges connected to each other. Graphene is a type of crystal that is not printed or assembled, but grows, typically on a substrate made of another material, such as copper.
The central processing unit and other chips process data in the form of electricity. Therefore, electricity must first be converted into light before data can be transmitted through optical interconnections (such as those being developed by Black Semiconductor). Once the light reaches the chip to be sent, it must be converted into electricity before processing can begin. Black Semiconductor states that its interconnection will use graphene to implement the components responsible for these tasks.
Graphene is highly effective in both conductivity and transparency. It has no bandgap, which is a physical property that interferes with the movement of electrons, and only absorbs 2.3% of the incident light. The remaining 97.7% of photons can pass through, which may be useful for optical data transmission tasks.
The company stated that its interconnection will "integrate optical and electronic components together.". There are many methods for integrating optical and silicon components. The traditional method is to place two sets of components on the same motherboard. A newer and more efficient technology called co packaging optical components allows for direct integration of optical hardware into processors.
Black Semiconductor believes that its technology can be used to improve the performance of artificial intelligence servers. According to the company, transmitting data between server chips in the form of light can accelerate processing speed and improve energy efficiency. Black Semiconductor believes that graphene based interconnections can also improve the performance of automotive onboard computing modules.
The investment announced today will quadruple the number of employees in the company to 120 by 2026. In the same year, Black Semiconductor also planned to launch a prototype manufacturing factory in Aachen. The company plans to start mass production of graphene based interconnect components by 2031.
"As traditional chip technology approaches its technological and economic limits, our innovation paves the way for faster, more powerful, more cost-effective, and more energy-efficient computing," said Daniel Schal, co-founder and CEO of Black Semiconductor (right image, photo taken with co-founder Sebastian Schall)
Researchers are currently exploring whether graphene can be used to optimize data movement between and within chips.
Electric pulses carrying information are transmitted between processor transistors through miniature embedded wires, which used to be made of copper. In order to improve processor performance, chip manufacturers have to make these wires finer, which increases the risk of hardware failures. Some scientists suggest that the wires inside the chip can be coated with a layer of graphene, which is 200 times stronger than steel, to improve its durability. Other research teams are exploring methods for manufacturing entire chips using graphene.