Crazy Rich Singapore | Photonics, Lasers and the Optical Technology Economy begins with a piece of technology so familiar that its industrial importance is easy to miss: light.
Did you know Singapore has been building silicon-photonics capability for nearly two decades, with A*STAR IME launching a national silicon-photonics R&D programme in 2007? By 2026, Singapore’s semiconductor R&D push was explicitly targeting silicon photonics, advanced photonics and optical interconnects for AI infrastructure, while the National Centre for Advanced Integrated Photonics linked university and industry research into a broader national translation ecosystem.
That makes “silicon photonics Singapore”, “photonics Singapore”, “laser technology Singapore”, “optical interconnect Singapore” and “integrated photonics Singapore” powerful search themes. The Crazy Rich story is not simply lasers in laboratories. It is the attempt to make light do more of the work inside data centres, sensors, medical devices, communications and future semiconductor systems.
Crazy Rich Singapore can move data with photons instead of electrons.
Did You Know? Photonics Is the Technology of Controlling Light
Photonics is the science and engineering of generating, guiding, detecting and manipulating light.
It appears in:
- fibre communications;
- lasers;
- medical imaging;
- sensors;
- semiconductors;
- data centres;
- quantum systems;
- AR and VR;
- manufacturing; and
- precision measurement.
The visible beam is only one tiny part of the field.
Much of modern photonics works invisibly inside chips, fibres and sensors.
Why AI Is Creating a Photonics Bottleneck
AI systems move enormous amounts of data between processors, memory and network equipment.
Traditional electrical interconnects consume power and encounter bandwidth limits as data rates increase.
A*STAR’s 2026 photonics programmes therefore focus heavily on optical interconnects for AI-scale computing.
Light can carry information at very high bandwidth with low latency.
The AI hardware problem increasingly becomes a communications problem inside the machine itself.
Silicon Photonics: Putting Light onto Semiconductor Platforms
Silicon photonics integrates optical functions onto semiconductor-compatible platforms.
The approach can combine waveguides, modulators, detectors and other optical components into chip-scale systems.
A*STAR and GlobalFoundries announced a major collaboration in 2025 to advance silicon photonics for AI-era applications.
A*STAR described the technology as foundational to fast, energy-efficient data transfer.
The chip begins to carry light as well as electricity.
Singapore’s Silicon Photonics Programme Started in 2007
A*STAR IME launched Singapore’s silicon-photonics R&D programme in 2007.
The Lux Photonics Consortium followed in 2015 to connect research institutions, academia and industry.
Advanced Micro Foundry was later spun out from Singapore’s ecosystem and became part of GlobalFoundries.
This is a useful innovation-chain example:
research → pilot capability → company → global industrial scale.
Why 400G per Lane Is an Important Threshold
At A*STAR’s Innovate Together 2026 conference, researchers and industry partners discussed photonics heterogeneous integration for optical links at 400 gigabits per second per lane and beyond.
The challenge is that silicon alone has material limitations for high-performance active photonic devices.
Future systems increasingly combine silicon with other materials such as:
- III-V semiconductors;
- lithium niobate; and
- silicon nitride.
The photonics system becomes heterogeneous in the same way advanced chip packages combine different electronic dies.
Photonics Heterogeneous Integration
A*STAR IME is developing multi-material photonics integration to overcome the limitations of any one material.
Silicon is attractive for large-scale fabrication.
Other materials can provide better light generation, modulation or other optical functions.
Combining them creates a new integration challenge: how do you bring the best materials together without making manufacturing too expensive or unreliable?
The Advanced Packaging Connection
Optical interconnects increasingly have to sit very close to processors.
That creates strong links between photonics and advanced packaging.
A*STAR IME’s 2026 work includes co-packaged optics and photonic heterogeneous integration for AI systems.
That connects directly to Crazy Rich Singapore | Advanced Semiconductor Packaging, Chiplets and the AI Hardware Stack.
The future AI package may carry electronic chiplets and optical engines inside the same system.
Why Data Centres Care About Light
Data centres depend on moving data rapidly between racks, servers and accelerators.
Optical fibre already dominates longer data-centre links.
The frontier is moving optical communication closer to the computing silicon itself.
This connects directly to Crazy Rich Singapore | Data Centres, Cloud and AI Infrastructure.
The data centre becomes richer when less energy is wasted moving bits around it.
Flat Optics: Replacing Bulky Lenses with Nanostructures
A*STAR IME and IMRE are developing flat-optics platforms based on metasurfaces and metalenses.
Instead of relying only on curved glass, flat optics uses nanostructures to control the phase, amplitude and polarisation of light.
Potential applications include compact cameras, AR and VR, sensors, medical imaging, automotive sensing and metrology.
The lens becomes a patterned surface rather than a thick optical shape.
The 12-Inch Flat-Optics Platform
A*STAR IME has demonstrated flat-optics structures fabricated on 12-inch wafers using semiconductor-style lithography.
That is economically important because mass adoption requires manufacturing scale.
A brilliant metalens made once in a laboratory is science.
A metalens made repeatably on production-compatible wafers begins to look like industry.
MetaOptics: Research Becoming a Singapore Company
A*STAR’s 2026 Innovate Together programme highlighted Singapore-based MetaOptics as a company commercialising metalens technology.
The company represents a broader pattern: research becomes intellectual property, intellectual property becomes a startup, and the startup attempts to move the technology into real products.
That connects to Crazy Rich Singapore | Intellectual Property, Patents and the Intangible Economy.
Lasers Are Manufacturing Tools
Photonics is not only communications.
Lasers are used to cut, weld, mark, inspect and process materials with high precision.
NTU’s Photonics Institute explicitly includes manufacturing with light as one of its major research domains.
That connects optical science to Crazy Rich Singapore | Precision Engineering, Metrology and the Machines Behind the Machines.
Light can become a machining tool.
Photonics and Medical Technology
Optics and lasers support imaging, diagnostics, surgery, sensing and spectroscopy.
Flat optics may help miniaturise optical systems.
Photonics therefore connects directly to Crazy Rich Singapore | Private Healthcare, Specialist Care and Medical Technology.
A future diagnostic instrument may become smaller because the optical system became flatter.
Photonics and Quantum Technology
Quantum communication, sensing and computing depend heavily on precise control of photons.
NTU’s Centre for Disruptive Photonic Technologies includes quantum control of light, single-photon devices and photonic systems relevant to quantum applications.
That connects directly to Crazy Rich Singapore | Quantum Computing, Quantum Networks and Deep Tech.
Photons are information carriers in classical networks and quantum ones.
Why Photonics Needs Materials Science
Silicon photonics is only one platform.
Future systems increasingly use III-V semiconductors, lithium niobate, silicon nitride and engineered metasurfaces.
That connects directly to Crazy Rich Singapore | Advanced Materials, Polymers and the Materials Science Economy.
Light is manipulated by matter.
Better optical systems begin with better control of materials.
The National Centre for Advanced Integrated Photonics
The National Centre for Advanced Integrated Photonics is an NRF-funded mid-sized centre involving university and research expertise.
NTU describes its objective as developing new photonics technologies that can be translated into the semiconductor industry.
The centre matters because photonics research can otherwise remain fragmented across physics, electrical engineering, materials and fabrication groups.
A national centre creates a shared translation layer.
Why Photonics Talent Is Multidisciplinary
A photonics engineer may need to understand optical physics, semiconductor fabrication, materials, electronic circuits, packaging, software simulation and system architecture.
That makes photonics an excellent example of modern high-value work.
The most important expertise often sits between traditional academic departments.
What Students Can Learn from Photonics
Physics
Waves, interference, refraction, diffraction and quantum behaviour all become practical technology.
Mathematics
Optical design depends on geometry, wave equations and numerical simulation.
Computing
AI and data-centre hardware increasingly depend on optical interconnects.
Chemistry and Materials
Different optical materials enable different device functions.
Engineering
Photonics shows how a laboratory discovery becomes useful only after fabrication, packaging and reliability problems are solved.
Ten Vocabulary Words for the Photonics Economy
1. Photonics
The science and technology of generating, controlling and detecting light.
2. Silicon photonics
Integrating optical functions onto silicon-compatible semiconductor platforms.
3. Waveguide
A structure that guides light along a controlled path.
4. Modulator
A device that changes properties of light to encode information.
5. Photodetector
A device that converts incoming light into an electrical signal.
6. Metalens
A flat optical element using nanostructures to control light.
7. Metasurface
A nanostructured surface engineered to manipulate electromagnetic waves.
8. Co-packaged optics
Integrating optical communication components close to electronic processors or switches.
9. Optical interconnect
A data link that transmits information using light.
10. Nanophotonics
The control of light using structures at nanometre scales.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long has Singapore worked on silicon photonics?
A*STAR says IME launched Singapore’s silicon-photonics R&D programme in 2007.
Why does AI need photonics?
AI infrastructure needs enormous data bandwidth, and optical links can reduce latency and power compared with some electrical interconnects.
What is NCAIP?
The National Centre for Advanced Integrated Photonics is an NRF-funded research centre focused on translating photonic technologies toward semiconductor-industry applications.
What are flat optics?
Flat optics use nanostructured surfaces such as metasurfaces and metalenses to manipulate light in very thin devices.
Is photonics only about communications?
No. It also supports manufacturing, sensors, medical imaging, quantum technology, AR/VR and precision measurement.
Helpful Reading Across the Singapore Graph
- Crazy Rich Singapore | Data Centres, Cloud and AI Infrastructure
- Crazy Rich Singapore | Advanced Semiconductor Packaging, Chiplets and the AI Hardware Stack
- Crazy Rich Singapore | Quantum Computing, Quantum Networks and Deep Tech
- Crazy Rich Singapore | Advanced Materials, Polymers and the Materials Science Economy
References and Current Sources
- A*STAR, A*STAR and GlobalFoundries Collaborate on Silicon Photonics in Singapore, 18 November 2025.
- A*STAR IME, SEMICON Southeast Asia 2026.
- A*STAR IME, Innovate Together 2026.
- A*STAR IME, Photonics & Sensors.
- Nanyang Technological University, The Photonics Institute and National Centre for Advanced Integrated Photonics.
- Singapore Economic Development Board, Budget 2026 Semiconductor R&D.
Crazy Rich Singapore Builds Highways for Light
Electronics taught the modern economy to move information through electrons.
Photonics is teaching it to move more information with photons.
Did you know? Some of Singapore’s richest future infrastructure may fit inside a chip—and look like a microscopic road system built for light.