Black Semiconductor

Black Semiconductor, founded in Aachen, Germany, in 2020 by brothers Dr. Daniel Schall and Sebastian Schall, is developing a new generation of chip technology that integrates graphene-based photonics with traditional electronic circuits. The company's core innovation is a process that allows chips to compute with electrons and communicate with photons, or light, by seamlessly integrating optical systems into the final layers of chip designs. This approach overcomes the bandwidth limitations of traditional electronic connections, enabling faster, more energy-efficient data transfer between chips.

The firm's technology facilitates optical chip-to-chip connections, allowing multiple chips to interact as if they were a single, more powerful unit. By using graphene as a translator to convert electronic signals into optical ones and vice versa, Black Semiconductor addresses critical bottlenecks in data-intensive applications. This has significant implications for sectors such as high-performance computing, generative AI, data centers, and autonomous driving. The company states its method can reduce manufacturing costs by requiring 60% fewer production steps.

Black Semiconductor has secured significant financial backing to realize its vision. In June 2024, the company announced one of Europe's largest funding rounds for a deep-tech chip manufacturer, totaling €254.4 million. This includes €228.7 million in public funding from the German Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Action and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, committed over seven years under the IPCEI ME/CT program. This was supplemented by an additional €25.7 million in equity funding led by Porsche Ventures and Project A Ventures, with participation from Scania Growth Capital, Vsquared Ventures, and others. This capital is being used to advance product development and establish a 300mm wafer pilot production facility, FabONE, in Aachen. The company aims to begin pilot production by 2027 and transition to mass production by 2031.

Keywords: graphene photonics, optical interconnects, chip-to-chip communication, semiconductor manufacturing, data center efficiency, high-performance computing, AI hardware, autonomous driving technology, photonic integrated circuits, deep tech, optical signals, electro-optic conversion, CMOS compatibility, European semiconductor, silicon photonics, advanced materials, wafer-level graphene, next-generation chips, venture capital, IPCEI