tag: lasers

Lasers Are The Heartbeat Of The Optical AI Data Center
By Geoff Tate - 13 May, 2026 - Comments: 0

Last month we discussed how all interconnects will be optical in the data center in five years, but that's only part of the story. Every optical interconnect needs a laser. The laser provides the carrier, which is modulated and manipulated by the transmitter optical engine through fibers and connectors to the receiver optical engine. Each fiber, connector, and photonics device that the laser... » read more

Laser Arrays May Simplify Co-Packaged Optics
By Bryon Moyer - 19 Feb, 2026 - Comments: 0

Key Takeaways Moving photonic ICs into the same package as silicon helps improve performance, but lasers remain outside. A new monolithic laser array allows hundreds of colors, each individually software-tunable New options are being turned into products, which could help commercialize CPO. The move to co-packaged optics (CPO) holds the promise of putting photonic ICs (PICs)... » read more

Leading At Light Speed: What Makes Photonics Leadership Different
By Jan-Bart Smits - 19 Feb, 2026 - Comments: 0

By Jan-Bart Smits and David Harap Every time a transistor switches, it generates heat. Pack enough transistors together and you hit a wall: the chip melts before it computes. This thermal ceiling is why Splunk notes that "as physical and economic limitations are reached, the pace predicted by Moore's Law is slowing." Light solves this problem. Photons carry information without generating ... » read more

Research Bits: Jan. 20
By Jesse Allen - 20 Jan, 2026 - Comments: 0

ALD for Ru wiring Researchers from Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Hongik University, and Tanaka Precious Metal Technologies developed an atomic layer deposition (ALD) process for creating chip interconnects using a ruthenium (Ru) precursor with a thermal stability up to 400 °C. The high-temperature ALD process can produce dense, high-quality Ru films without deg... » read more

Can Cheaper Lasers Handle Short Distances?
By Bryon Moyer - 04 Aug, 2025 - Comments: 0

Optical technology is well established for long-haul communications, but the distances it serves are shrinking — especially in the data center. Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) already drive short fiber links. But efforts are underway to further scale them down to provide more connections through waveguides than fiber can provide. “We have seen the transition from long... » read more

Quantum well interband semiconductor lasers highly tolerant to dislocations
By Technical Paper Link - 11 Nov, 2021 - Comments: 0

Abstract "III-V semiconductor lasers integrated on Si-based photonic platforms are eagerly awaited by the industry for mass-scale applications, from interconnect to on-chip sensing. The current understanding is that only quantum dot lasers can reasonably operate at the high dislocation densities generated by the III-V-on-Si heteroepitaxy, which induces high non-radiative carrier recombination ... » read more

Will Co-Packaged Optics Replace Pluggables?
By Bryon Moyer - 14 Oct, 2021 - Comments: 0

As optical connections work their way deeper into the data center, a debate is underway. Is it better to use pluggable optical modules or to embed lasers deep into advanced packages? There are issues of convenience, power, and reliability driving the discussion, and an eventual winner isn’t clear yet. “The industry is definitely embracing co-packaged optics,” said James Pond, principal... » read more

Automotive Lidar Technologies Battle It Out
By Bryon Moyer - 05 Aug, 2021 - Comments: 1

Lidar is likely to be added to the list of sensors that future cars will use to help with navigation and safety, but most likely it won't be the large rotating mirror assembly on the top of vehicles. Newer solid-state radar technologies are being researched and developed, although it’s not yet clear which of these will win. “The benefits of lidar technology are well known dating back to ... » read more

Chipmakers Getting Serious About Integrated Photonics
By Brian Bailey - 12 Jul, 2021 - Comments: 3

Integrating photonics into semiconductors is gaining traction, particularly in heterogeneous multi-die packages, as chipmakers search for new ways to overcome power limitations and deal with increasing volumes of data. Power has been a growing concern since the end of Dennard scaling, which happened somewhere around the 90nm node. There are more transistors per mm², and the wires are thinne... » read more

Power/Performance Bits: Sept. 1
By Jesse Allen - 01 Sep, 2020 - Comments: 0

Cooling sensors with lasers Researchers at the University of Washington developed a way to cool a solid semiconductor sensor component with an infrared laser. The laser was able to cool the solid semiconductor by at least 20 degrees C, or 36 F, below room temperature. The device uses a cantilever, similar to a diving board, that can oscillate in response to thermal energy at room temperatur... » read more

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