Washington DC– House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Chairman John Moolenaar (R-Mich.) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) It sent a letter to Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo about the threat. , this represents the next frontier in semiconductor competition and demonstrates the need to strengthen domestic innovation in this field. Photonics is a technology that relies on particles of light to transmit information. Most computer systems use electronic signals in semiconductors to transmit information, but photonics provides systems with greater bandwidth and efficiency.
Chinese Communist Party economists recognize that photonics technology could “allow the country to ‘change lanes and overtake’ the United States” in semiconductors. Other Chinese state-owned companies have also invested billions of dollars in the industry, which can be used for military purposes.
“Some experts believe that photonic chips can improve computational speed by a factor of 1,000 compared to existing electronic chip designs,” Chairman Moolenar and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi wrote in the letter. It has the potential to transform the industry and redefine the battle lines for America’s technology competition with China, overriding the October 7, 2022 export control regulations and creating a critical barrier for the future semiconductor supply chain.”
they continue, “The U.S. government is committed to ensuring continued U.S. leadership in critical and emerging technologies like silicon photonics, deterring adversaries from supporting U.S. investments and know-how, and strengthening domestic innovation.” We should consider the means at our disposal.”
they added “The Department of Commerce should consider investigating major photonics companies in China, especially those designing equipment for China’s second photonics chip production line.”
Mr. Moolenar and Mr. Krishnamoorthi concluded by posing the following questions to the Commerce Secretary:
1. What do you think is the national security threat posed by China’s silicon photonics industry?
2. What is the current state of the silicon photonics industry in the United States?
3. What resources, including the knowledge and talent needed to evaluate silicon photonics, will Commerce need to carry out this effort?
Click here to view the letter or read the text of the letter below.
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We write to the U.S. Department of Commerce to ask it to consider steps to protect America’s national security and competitiveness in the increasingly important silicon photonics industry. Specifically, we urge the Ministry of Commerce to consider investigating large photonics companies based in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and amend the Commercial Control List (CCL) to explicitly include silicon photonics equipment and products. We request that you consider this matter. Silicon photonics represents the next frontier in the semiconductor competition with China, but the United States is currently not winning this competition. To ensure continued U.S. leadership in critical and emerging technologies such as silicon photonics, the U.S. government will use liberal We should consider methods that can be used to
America’s advantage over China in semiconductor technology is based on etching ever smaller features onto the surface of silicon wafers. In doing so, U.S. chip designers and manufacturers are expanding the processing power and energy efficiency of their products to improve accuracy, speed, and cost-effectiveness for artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and other high-intensity algorithms and deep learning applications. is improving. However, the chips are very small. As we reach the physical limits of current technology, industry and government turn to new solutions.
One such solution is photonics. Rather than using electrons or electronics to transmit information, photonics relies on photons, or particles of light. Combining silicon photonics technology with semiconductor electronics can “go beyond the physical limitations of traditional electronic chips and build large-scale computing systems with higher bandwidth and improved energy efficiency.” Some experts believe that photonic chips could increase computational speed by a factor of 1,000 compared to existing electronic chip designs. Silicon photonics has the potential to transform the semiconductor industry and redefine the front lines of the U.S. technology competition with China, overriding the October 7, 2022 export control rule and creating new challenges for the future of the semiconductor supply chain. Creates an important barrier.
The Chinese Communist Party recognizes this potential and makes no secret of its ambitions. Chen Wenlin, an economist at a Chinese government think tank, last year called silicon photonics a technology that could allow China to “switch lanes and overtake” the United States and leapfrog its current technology. did. China has incorporated efforts to advance photonics technology into its national strategy. In the 14th Five-Year Plan, it was specified as part of the technology for which national research institutes should be built, and General Secretary Xi Jinping stated in 2022 that silicon photonics is “a high-tech industry that our country has the conditions to achieve.” Ta. We have made groundbreaking progress ahead of our competitors. ” China’s state-owned enterprises and state-run research institutes, which are known to pose a national security risk to the United States, have begun investing billions of dollars in the technology. Xu Wenwei, director of Huawei Strategic Research Institute, declared that the company would greatly support photonic research and development in 2021, and the company filed a patent for a “photonic chip” in the same year. Additionally, researchers at the Nanjing Electronic Device Research Institute have determined that photonics is a disruptive technology with immense military potential. Both Huawei and Nanjing Electronic Device Research Institute (also known as China Electronics Technology Corporation’s 55th Research Institute) are on the Entity List subject to a denial license policy for unauthorized military end uses.
China has been ramping up photonics research and development for years with support from the United States and has begun commercializing the technology in semiconductor manufacturing. Shintone (Zhongke Xin StreetLast year, the Chinese photonics company built China’s first photonics chip production line in Beijing.
The company’s president, Sui Jun, told Chinese media that because SinTone’s photonic chips can be manufactured using materials and equipment that have already been found, the production line will allow China to restrict access to China by the United States and its allies. He argued that innovation can be achieved without the need for existing technology. In China. We believe that the Department of Commerce should consider investigating major photonics companies in China, particularly those designing equipment for China’s second photonics chip production line. These companies may be conducting activities that are directly contrary to U.S. national security and foreign policy interests, and U.S. technology should no longer support these efforts.
Additionally, the Department of Commerce should consider the possibility of amending the Commercial Control List (CCL) to explicitly incorporate photonics technology and photonic chips as part of the regulated technologies. The dual-use nature of photonics technology makes it particularly susceptible to diversion into military end-uses by problematic actors. Although U.S. technology with clear military applications should be fully protected, existing CCLs may not include references or references to photonics equipment or products. Although some photonics equipment may be classified under Export Control Classification Number (ECCN) 6A005, the equipment that falls under that ECCN represents a narrow subsection of silicon photonics as a field. Additionally, photonic chips and hybrid electronic photonic chips may not be covered by existing ECCNs due to their unique configuration and physical behavior. Ensuring that the U.S.’s existing safeguards are honed and strengthened to cover emerging and critical technology advances is critical to protecting U.S. national security, and the amendments to the CCL will do so for photonics. This could be one way.
We thank the Department of Commerce for taking important steps on this issue. Additional measures, such as restricting the flow of U.S. technology to major Chinese photonics companies and investing in domestic photonics competitiveness, will go a long way toward securing U.S. leadership in this important industry. Additionally, we ask that you brief the Task Force staff and answer the following questions by December 1, 2024.
1. What do you think is the national security threat posed by China’s silicon photonics industry?
2. What is the current status of the silicon photonics industry in the United States?
3. What resources does the Department of Commerce need to carry out this effort, including the knowledge and personnel needed to evaluate silicon photonics?
