News: Optoelectronics
1 October 2025
Photon Bridge unveils integrated tunable laser PIC to power AI data-center interconnects
Photonic integration firm Photon Bridge of Eindhoven, The Netherlands has debuted its integrated tunable laser photonic integrated circuit (PIC), powered by its patented cantilever waveguide coupling technology (which combines III-V speed with silicon scale).
The device is the first commercial demonstration of Photon Bridge’s integration platform and will be used by OE Solutions of Gwangju, South Korea (which makes indium phosphide-based lasers and optical transceivers for both wireless and wireline markets) as the laser engine inside its next-generation integrated tunable laser assembly (ITLA) modules. Qualification is ongoing, with broader PIC sampling to additional customers anticipated in fourth-quarter 2025. Module sampling from OE Solutions is anticipated in second-quarter 2026.
Unlike conventional approaches, Photon Bridge says that its platform enables seamless combination of the optimal materials for each function — without restrictions on material choices — through a scalable, OSAT-compatible integration process. This flexibility allows the laser PIC to pair III-V gain and detection with low-loss silicon passive elements, all within a cost-efficient model ready for high-volume manufacturing.
The new tunable laser PIC integrates gain, semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA), filter, and wavemeter functions into a single device with a highly compact form factor. Samples already demonstrate linewidths below 100kHz and a full C-band tuning range, with product designs targeting a footprint of just 15mm2, delivering a fully integrated, highly cost-effective solution. Beyond ITLAs, the same integration platform is designed to scale toward compact, fully integrated coherent subsystems, enabling a new class of miniaturized optical engines for both telecom and AI infrastructure.
Built on a silicon foundation, the platform also provides a direct path to integrating coherent and coherent-lite long-range scale-across links into data-center switches in a footprint compatible with co-packaged optics (CPO). This opens the door to next-generation switch architectures where advanced optical engines are natively embedded, maximizing bandwidth density while minimizing power and cost.
Photon Bridge notes that this development comes at a pivotal moment for the industry. Explosive growth in AI data centers is fuelling a global race to scale-across massive GPU clusters, creating unprecedented demand for faster optical interconnects. The firm claims that its unique integration technology directly addresses this challenge, combining performance, scalability and efficiency in a way that no other platform can.
“AI data centers are racing to scale-across massive GPU clusters, creating exploding demand for compact, energy-efficient tunable lasers,” says CEO Paul Marchal. “Our silicon-based integration platform is built for this moment — delivering the performance customers need today in ITLAs, while extending naturally to DWDM architectures, co-packaged optics (CPO) and fully integrated coherent links in next generation data-center switches,” he adds. “Partnering with OE Solutions to bring this technology to market underscores both the strength of our platform and the credibility of our execution.”
OE Solutions is already integrating the new PIC into its ITLA, positioning it at the forefront of next-generation coherent communication systems.
Picture: Photon Bridge’s CEO Paul Marchal joins OE Solutions global chief marketing officer Walter Lee at ECOC 2025.
“The ability to combine the best materials without compromise — and to do so with a scalable, cost-efficient process — enables compact, high-performance ITLAs and next-generation coherent modules,” comments OE Solutions’ CEO Y.K. Park.
Photon Bridge is exhibiting in booth C4119 at the European Conference on Optical Communication (ECOC 2025) in Copenhagen, Denmark (28 September–2 October), with a dedicated meeting and demo space at MR4 to connect with partners, customers, and industry leaders.
Photon IP rebrands as Photon Bridge as it commercializes cantilever waveguide coupling technology
