瑞士工程科技公司Lightium研发量产级薄膜铌酸锂光子芯片代工服务，实现光子芯片规模化量产

Core Insights - Lightium, a Swiss engineering technology company founded in 2023, specializes in providing mass production-level thin-film lithium niobate photonic chip foundry services, aiming to meet the growing demand for high-speed, low-energy data interconnects in data centers and telecommunications [2][6] Company Overview - Lightium was co-founded by Amir Ghadimi, Frédéric Loizeau, and Dirk Englund, with Ghadimi serving as CEO and having a PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from ETH Zurich [2] - The company has developed proprietary manufacturing processes for mass production of thin-film lithium niobate chips, making it the first production-level foundry of its kind in Europe [7] Industry Context - The rapid development of AI and products like ChatGPT has led to an explosion in data volume, with data center processing expected to increase 100-fold by 2030, consuming 10% of global electricity [4] - Current semiconductor-based interconnect technologies face significant challenges beyond 800 Gb/s, reaching physical limits in material performance, necessitating the demand for alternative materials with superior electro-optical properties [4][6] Product Capabilities - Thin-film lithium niobate can achieve data transmission rates of 1.6 Tb/s and 3.2 Tb/s while reducing environmental impact and costs, requiring less lithium material compared to bulk lithium niobate [6][8] - Lightium's production capabilities include a bandwidth greater than 100 GHz and stable operation at low voltages, with a wide transparent window covering 350–5,500 nm [8] Market Applications - The primary application areas for Lightium's services are telecommunications and data center communications, which require higher bandwidth and lower power consumption [8] - Future expansion plans include applications in satellite communications, quantum computing, new optical computing architectures, and lidar [8] Funding and Recognition - In September 2024, Lightium completed a $7 million seed funding round led by Vsquared Ventures and Lakestar, aimed at accelerating the commercialization of its thin-film lithium niobate foundry services [9] - Lightium was recognized in the 2025 TOP100 Swiss Startups list, highlighting its innovative potential and market prospects in the Swiss technology landscape [11]