Coherent is at ECOC, presenting a broad slate of optical technologies aimed at scaling AI infrastructure. The European Conference on Optical Communication Conference in Málaga, Spain, sees the exhibition floor running through Wednesday.
Coherent is using the show to put live demonstrations in front of the industry rather than simply announcing on paper.
At Stand 2100 in Hall 2, visitors can see demonstrations covering AI data centre connectivity, co-packaged and near-packaged optics (CPO/NPO), next-generation pluggables, optical transport, specialty fibres, optical circuit switching, advanced materials, and thermal management for increasingly dense power environments.
The headline launch: PhotonLink
The centrepiece of Coherent's presence at the show is the launch of PhotonLink™, a new integrated optics platform. Rather than a single component, PhotonLink brings together Coherent's optical technologies and integration capabilities under one platform purpose-built to support CPO, NPO, and emerging chip-to-chip connectivity, the interconnect tiers closest to the compute itself, where AI infrastructure is under the most pressure to scale.
What sets PhotonLink apart is the combination it offers: individual components and complete optical assemblies, backed by manufacturing designed to run at volume. That pairing is significant for an industry moving from proof-of-concept optics to production-scale AI clusters. It signals Coherent positioning itself not just as a component supplier, but as an integration partner able to take customers from design through to scaled manufacturing.
Coherent says further details on PhotonLink will follow in a separate announcement, suggesting this ECOC reveal is a first look at a platform the company intends to build out significantly.
Dr Sanjai Parthasarathi, Chief Marketing Officer at Coherent said: "Scaling AI infrastructure requires more than bandwidth, it requires solving power, integration and thermal challenges together. At ECOC, we are demonstrating how Coherent's expertise across materials, components and optical systems helps customers address those challenges – from connections near compute to links between data centres."
Live on the show floor
Alongside the PhotonLink launch, Coherent's stand features several technology demonstrations running throughout the event:
3.2T pluggable transceiver: Housed in an OSFP-size package, built around dual 1.6T optical paths. The design uses eight 425G PAM4 line-side optical lanes together with Coherent's differential EMLs and photodiodes, pointing toward 400G-per-lane optical connectivity.
6.4T NPO optical engine: Targeting high-density AI scale-up and scale-out fabrics. It combines silicon photonics, fibre-attach technology, ELSFPs, and Coherent's laser technology to demonstrate the payoff of vertical integration across key optical interfaces.
High-density 2D VCSEL and photodiode arrays: Designed for highly parallel optical architectures, aimed at low-latency CPO and NPO connectivity in scale-up systems.
LS200 full C-band pluggable optical line system: Demonstrated live for datacentre interconnect and scale-across applications, bringing pluggable line-system functionality closer to the router or switch while supporting flexible point-to-point transport.
New optical components, assemblies, and modules
Coherent is also using ECOC to introduce a wide selection of new products and emerging technologies across its optical networking portfolio:
FlexConnect: A detachable fibre array unit connector for CPO applications designed to simplify assembly and maintenance, featuring repeatable plug-unplug performance, interchangeability, and an epoxy-free optical path compatible with high-power lasers.
OptiAlign: A high-precision fibre array unit for CPO applications supporting precise pitch control and high fibre-channel counts. Coherent combines an internally developed V-groove with customized fibre dimensions to meet demanding optical alignment requirements.
OptiFocus: A two-in-one coupling lens design for external laser sources (ELS), intended to simplify optical assembly while delivering high coupling efficiency.
FiberPack: A passive fibre assembly kit for scale-up and scale-out architectures that integrates fibre attach, micro-lens, tray, and termination technologies, drawing on Coherent's vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities.
OptiPolar Array X: A multi-channel Polarization Beam Splitter Array in a super-compact form factor, built from glass material optimised for multi-lane systems.
2D micro-VCSEL and PD array: A high-density 2D array of individually addressable emitters and photodiode arrays with integrated lenses, designed for flip-chip bonding in NPO or CPO architectures.
Specialty fibres: High-precision options including tight geometry-controlled Polarization Maintaining Fibre, Mode-Matched Fibre for improved coupling efficiency into edge-coupled silicon photonics, and multi-core fibre for high-density AI datacentre solutions.
Ultra-High-Power (UHP) CW laser: Built on a proprietary design and advanced manufacturing processes, this ultra-high-power continuous-wave (CW) laser delivers high spectral stability, narrow linewidth, and low relative intensity noise (RIN) across its full operating range.
Pluggable Optical Line System (POLS): A full C-band optical line system with a high-power, variable-gain amplifier in a compact QSFP form factor. Designed for 800G ZR/ZR+ digital coherent optics, it supports up to 32 DWDM wavelengths over a single fibre pair, carrying up to 25.6Tbps across links from 2km to 200km.
Thermal management, partner, and quantum tech
Addressing the rising power demands of AI clusters, Coherent is showcasing its Thermadite™ materials, diamond-based solutions, and advanced thermal components engineered to handle increasing heat density.
Finally, the company is demonstrating partner and quantum technologies on the floor. In addition to participating in OIF interoperability testing, Coherent is collaborating with Quside to demonstrate quantum random number generation for encryption using live quantum entropy alongside Coherent optical connectivity. The company is also participating with CUbIQ in a quantum key distribution (QKD) demonstration using a compact pluggable architecture.
