Researchers at KIT are addressing the challenges posed by the rapid growth in data volumes and the demands of AI technologies through the ATHENS project.
The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded a Synergy Grant to the ATHENS research project, led by Professors Christian Koos and Stefan Bräse from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The project aims to enhance the performance and energy efficiency of optical communication systems, addressing the increasing need for high-speed data transmission driven by artificial intelligence (AI) applications. With a six-year funding commitment of €14 million (~$15 million), the project will also benefit from the facilities at the Karlsruhe Center for Optics and Photonics (KCOP), scheduled to open in 2025.
Data Growth Challenges
The rapid increase in data volumes poses a significant challenge for information and communications technology. Training large language models for AI applications is particularly demanding, requiring massive computational resources and efficient communication between thousands of processors in parallel computing systems.
Optical transceivers are crucial in this process, converting electrical data into optical signals that travel quickly and efficiently through glass fibers or waveguides. Traditionally, silicon components have been used for this conversion, but they are now struggling to keep up with the growing data demands. Moreover, current transceivers consume large amounts of energy, contributing to high CO2 emissions associated with AI technologies.
Innovations in Optical Transceivers
The ATHENS project investigates new material systems and components for electronic-to-optical signal conversion. “Our goal is to make transceivers not only more powerful but also more efficient so that higher data transmission rates can be reached with the same or even lower energy consumption,” said Professor Christian Koos from the Institute of Photonics and Quantum Electronics and the Institute of Microstructure Technology at KIT.
“With the funding from the ERC Synergy Grant, we can now carry out the entire ATHENS project, from the selection of suitable materials to the simulation of organic molecules and a working transmission system in the lab.”
Hybrid Approaches in Material Science
The four-member team, which in addition to Koos includes Professor Stefan Bräse from the Institute of Organic Chemistry and the Institute for Biological and Chemical Systems at KIT, Professor Carsten Ronning from Friedrich Schiller University Jena, and Professor Tobias Kippenberg from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, is taking a hybrid approach by combining silicon with other materials.
“Silicon components are inexpensive and available in large quantities, but there are limits to their optical capabilities. To compensate for these limitations while continuing to enjoy the benefits of silicon, we combine silicon with other material systems,” Koos said.
One approach being tested by the team is the use of organic materials, i.e. carbon-based compounds. “We can simulate these molecules on computers before producing materials with the characteristics we want in the lab and then printing them on silicon wafers,” Bräse said.
Another method involves combining silicon photonic chips with other chips to form additional material platforms, for example, crystal-on-insulator platforms in which a thin monocrystalline layer is placed on an insulating substrate for later processing into optical components.
Funding Enhances KIT’s Standing in Photonics
“Rapid advances in artificial intelligence are a major challenge for the information technology sector. Viable solutions need to be found quickly,” said Professor Oliver Kraft, Vice President for Research at KIT. “I’m pleased that with ATHENS, the European Research Council is funding a project at the interface between materials science and information technology. This research enhances KIT’s outstanding position in photonics, which is set to grow further as the Karlsruhe Center for Optics and Photonics (KCOP) is completed.”
Benefits for Quantum Technology and Medical Engineering
Beyond AI models, hybrid material systems for transceivers could also have uses in quantum technologies and medical engineering, for example in sensors for wearable devices or in optical lab-on-a-chip applications for analyzing blood samples.
ERC Synergy Grant
With its Synergy Grants, the European Research Council funds promising research teams. The grants are intended for projects that are only possible through collaboration among the designated scientists and will lead to discoveries at the interfaces between established disciplines and to significant advances at the frontiers of knowledge. In 2024, 548 grant applications were submitted. The ERC selected 57 projects for Synergy Grants. Germany is involved in 34 of the selected projects, by far the highest share. This is the fourth time that a prestigious ERC Synergy Grant has gone to KIT researchers.
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