Letter to Secretary of Commerce Encouraging Restrictions of Advanced Photonic Semiconductor Technology to China and Bolstering American Innovation

Chairman John Moolenaar (R-MI) and Ranking Member Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL) of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and Chinese Communist Party wrote to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo about the threat of China’s growing silicon photonics industry, which represents the next front in semiconductor competition, and the need to bolster domestic innovation in this field. Photonics is a technology that relies on light particles to transmit information. While most computer systems use electronic signals in semiconductors to transmit information, photonics offer systems greater bandwidth and efficiency. 

CCP  economists have recognized that photonic technology “could allow the country ‘to change lanes and overtake’ the United States” in semiconductors. Other Chinese state-owned enterprises are investing billions of dollars into the industry that can be used for dual-use military purposes. 

In the letter, Chairman Moolenaar and Ranking Member Krishnamoorthi write, “Some experts believe photonic chips can offer a 1,000-fold improvement in computational speed compared to existing electronic chip designs. Silicon photonics has the potential to upend the semiconductor industry and redefine battlelines in the United States’ technological competition with the PRC, rendering moot the October 7, 2022, export control rules and creating a critical chokepoint for future semiconductor supply chains.”

They continue, “The U.S. government should examine the tools at its disposal—both preventing U.S. investment and know-how from supporting our adversaries and bolstering domestic innovation—to ensure continued American leadership in critical and emerging technologies like silicon photonics.”

They add that “Commerce should consider investigating leading PRC photonics companies, especially those designing equipment for the PRC’s second photonic chip production line.” 

Moolenaar and Krishnamoorthi conclude by posing the following questions to the Commerce Secretary:

1.  What do you assess to be the national security threat posed by the PRC silicon photonics industry?

2.  What is the current landscape of the U.S. domestic silicon photonics industry?

3.  What resources are needed for Commerce to carry out this effort, including the knowledge and talent that is required to assess silicon photonics?

Click HERE to view the letter