Stream 3 (Tuesday): Photonics Components
Power efficient optical technologies for data centers
Matt Sysak, Lumentum
Power efficient optical technologies are critical to continue scaling AI interconnect bandwidth. In this presentation we will review high speed InP modulation, optical switching, and high power laser technology and how innovations in these areas allow data center operators to meet the demands of AI/ML workloads.
Multi-wavelength amplification with SOA’s for energy efficient data center interconnects
Liam Barry, Professor of Photonic Systems, School of Electronic Engineering Dublin City University
High-capacity data transmission for intra-data center links is essential to handle the massive increase in traffic, with IEEE working on creating specifications for 800 GbE (IEEE 802.3df) and 1.6 TbE (802.3dj) using multi-lane distribution. Optical frequency comb sources based on semiconductor mode-locked lasers (MLL), and semiconductor optical amplifiers (SOA) are cost- and energy-efficient photonic sources that can enable multi-lane transmission systems. In this work we demonstrate energy efficient data center links using the MLL and SOA, with different modulation formats, to achieve Terabit/s links with energy efficiency below 300 fJ/bit for the optical sources employed. This is achieved by using a single SOA for amplification of the multi-wavelength signal with minimal distortion.
Passive Optical Networks Towards 200Gb/s for the Future Intelligent Access Network
Giuseppe Talli, Team Lead & Research Expert | Optical Access at Huawei Technologies
The imminent proliferation of AI-driven applications, from physical AI in vehicles, robots, and drones to pervasive edge-AI, will create an unprecedented demand for multi-gigabit data streams with near-zero latency. These demands are not just a future challenge; new, high-performance use cases are already arising that will push the capabilities of the current Passive Optical Networks (PONs), which are the access backbone. The next-generation PON must therefore evolve fundamentally, targeting capacities of 200Gb/s. However, scaling speed alone will not be sufficient to meet the stringent quality-of-service requirements, and these networks must become intelligent by embedding AI to enable dynamic resource provisioning, predictive maintenance, and autonomous network optimization. This presentation will discuss the technical challenges and options for delivering multi-hundred-Gigabit/s optical access, exploring the parallel evolution of PONs built for AI and operated by AI.
Development of Photonic Crystal Devices with COMSOL Multiphysics®
Charlie Johnson, COMSOL
Photonic crystals are optical metamaterials with a wide range of applications in the transport and manipulation of light, from low-loss sharply curved waveguides to signal filtering and demultiplexing. The development of devices based on photonic crystals involves several key stages. First, a periodic structure must be designed to exhibit a desired photonic bandgap. Functional devices are then created by making deviations from this periodic structure. Finally, the resulting design must be optimised to achieve the required performance characteristics. In this talk, we will explore how COMSOL Multiphysics® can be used to support each stage of this workflow.
Stream 5 (Wednesday): Photonic Components
Integrated Photonics for Future Systems
Prof Mike Wale, Professor of Optical Communications, UCL
Integrated photonics is a vital component in the world’s communications networks and the demands of these systems are continuing to escalate. We are seeing an explosion of demand for optical links in data centres, particularly for AI, and integrated photonics is also key to many other applications, including vehicular LIDAR, healthcare and quantum technology systems. In this talk, we will look at the technologies that are coming on stream to augment existing capabilities and thus address industry needs. In particular, we shall look at how the photonics and silicon worlds are converging and how new materials and capabilities, including III-V quantum dots, thin film lithium niobate, other ferroelectrics and 2D materials such as graphene, can work in tandem with silicon photonics, microelectronics and manufacturing technology in order to deliver unprecedented performance and system-enabling capability.
All-Optical Switches for AI Data Centres: Advancing Integration and Performance
Dr Ning Zhang, Senior Researcher, CSA Catapult
AI data centres are approaching the limits of electronic interconnects in power, latency, and scalability, particularly for high‑bandwidth bulk flows. This talk motivates the role of all‑optical switching in addressing these constraints and positions it alongside today’s mature MEMS optical circuit switches. It then examines the shift toward photonic‑integrated‑circuit (PIC)–based switching, with potential benefits in port density, wavelength‑aware operation, microsecond‑class reconfiguration, and co‑packaging with optical I/O—reducing energy per bit, latency, and total cost of ownership. We will briefly outline our team’s recent progress on integrated optical modules and packaging, share indicative early results, and conclude with a concise roadmap for advancing from prototypes to rack‑level deployment.
Silicon Nitride Photonics for High‑Performance Visible and NIR Integrated Circuits
Dr Thalia Dominguez Bucio, Senior Research Fellow, Optoelectronics Research Centre
Silicon nitride has become a leading platform for applications that require high‑performance photonic integrated circuits across the visible and near‑infrared spectrum. Its wide transparency range, low propagation losses, and compatibility with established CMOS fabrication processes enable the demonstration of photonic components that operate effectively beyond the constraints of traditional silicon‑on‑insulator technologies, particularly in the visible and short‑wavelength regimes where silicon absorption severely restricts device operation. This talk will discuss how the spectral transparency of the platform, together with flexible and scalable process flows, can be leveraged to design high‑performance photonic devices for emerging photonic applications, while maintaining manufacturability compatible with industrial deployment.