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China team cuts 3D optical chip production time from hours to seconds

Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving unprecedented demand for computing, placing photonic chips at the centre of the race to develop next-generation AI hardware.
By transmitting data…

By Samantha Johnson / July 19, 2026
Artificial intelligence (AI) is driving unprecedented demand for computing, placing photonic chips at the centre of the race to develop next-generation AI hardware.
By transmitting data with light rather than electricity, photonic technologies are widely seen as a way to overcome bandwidth and power constraints.

However, translating that potential into mass-producible hardware is often bottlenecked by slow, complex manufacturing.

A Chinese research team says it has overcome one of the field’s biggest manufacturing hurdles, unveiling a fabrication method that cuts production time for complex three-dimensional optical structures from hours to seconds.

Published in a peer-reviewed top journal Advanced Materials on July 4, the study was led by scientists from the Institute of Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), together with collaborators from the University of Hong Kong and several other Chinese institutions.

“Our work establishes a versatile platform that bridges the gap between design complexity and scalable manufacturing for next-generation 3D integrated photonics,” wrote the research team led by PhD student Wang Yi.

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