News: Optoelectronics
6 October 2025
Coherent introduces 2D VCSEL and photodiode arrays
Materials, networking and laser technology firm Coherent Corp of Saxonburg, PA, USA has announced what it reckons is a breakthrough in short-reach optical interconnect technology with the demonstration of its next-generation 2D vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) and photodiode (PD) arrays. Best suited for ‘slow and wide’ interconnections in scale-up AI networks, the arrays enable power-efficient and compact links optimized for short reach, addressing the surging data traffic demands in modern data centers.
Leveraging its proven 100G PAM4 multimode VCSEL and PD platform, Coherent has introduced a high-density 2D array architecture (1.6T, 850nm, 32x50G NRZ) that enables copper link replacement and optimal degree of parallelism. With advantages in low power consumption, reduced latency, and cost efficiency, the arrays are designed to support the transition to near-packaged optics (NPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO), accelerating the deployment of AI/ML workloads in hyperscale data centers.
“We are continuously anticipating the needs of next-generation data-center interconnects,” says Karlheinz Gulden, senior VP, Laser and Subsystems at Coherent. “Our high-density multimode 2D VCSEL and PD arrays represent an important step forward in enabling parallelism, power-efficient design, and flexible architectures that will shape the future of AI and machine learning networks.”
As an initial step toward enabling high-performance AI/ML scale-up links, Coherent will introduce 1060nm backside-emitting (BSE) flip-chip VCSEL/PD array variants in 2026, expanding its product portfolio for next-generation optical networking.
