OpenLight and Tower Semiconductor Unveil 400G Modulators for AI and Data Centers

OpenLight and Tower Semiconductor have successfully demonstrated a 400G/lane modulator on Tower's integrated silicon photonics platform, PH18DA, announced in a press release. This innovation is aimed at supporting next-generation 3.2T optical communication architectures for data centers and AI applications.

The demonstration utilized OpenLight's intellectual property on Tower's existing platform, which already supports 100G and 200G/lane. The 400G/lane modulator achieves a better than 3.5db extinction ratio using the PAM-4 modulation format at a drive voltage of 0.6 volts peak-to-peak. This advancement provides a scalable solution for high-speed data transfer, operating across all four CWDM wavelengths.

The collaboration between OpenLight and Tower Semiconductor offers a cost-effective and manufacturable solution for 400G/lane, addressing the limitations of pure silicon-based modulators. The platform integrates heterogeneous devices, including lasers and optical amplifiers, into a single photonic integrated circuit, enhancing performance and efficiency for datacom and AI applications.