News: Optoelectronics
16 June 2026
PicoJool introduces 200G VCSELs for scale-up AI data centers
PicoJool Inc of Palo Alto, CA, USA (which is developing optical chips and modules for high-bandwidth, low-cost connectivity in hyperscale AI data centers) is introducing its 200G vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) products, with a bandwidth exceeding 37GHz. The firm will begin sampling chip-level products in third-quarter 2026, including quad 100G, quad 200G and 32x50G NRZ micro-VCSELs for slow and wide applications. PicoJool says that it is already working with system startups and hyperscalers to define the next generation of pluggable, near-packaged optics (NPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO) solutions for AI data centers.
VCSELs have been the backbone of data-center optical connectivity since 1996, valued for their speed, reliability and unmatched cost efficiency. Up until now, the question has been whether the technology could scale to meet the bandwidth demands of modern AI infrastructure. PicoJool claims that its technology eliminates that question. The 200G VCSEL products pave the way for optical links as inexpensive, compact and manufacturable as traditional copper connections, with a clear roadmap to 800G, 1.6T and 3.2T speeds.
Picture: Optical microscope image of PicoJool 200G VCSEL chip fabricated on 6" GaAs wafer process by WIN Semiconductor foundry.
PicoJool’s high-bandwidth VCSELs combine what is claimed to be unique parallel optics and packaging innovations to deliver high performance at a cost that competes directly with copper at scale. The firm integrates its optical chips into massively parallel pluggable modules targeting large-scale AI systems. Underpinning the effort is a manufacturing partnership with WIN Semiconductor, the world’s leading VCSEL producer for 3D sensing applications, which has shipped more than a billion chips over the past decade.
“Our partnership with WIN Semiconductor has been very fruitful as we get ready to release a series of VCSEL products for high-volume manufacturing,” says founder & CEO Al Yuen.
PicoJool’s 200G designs and process recipes have already been transferred to WIN and other foundries, all of which specialize in gallium arsenide (GaAs). Because GaAs-based VCSELs are unconstrained in production capacity, PicoJool says it is avoiding the supply bottlenecks that limit competing laser technologies.
“By building on a GaAs supply chain that has already shipped billions of chips, Picojool has solved both sides of the equation: record bandwidth and the production scale to deliver it,” comments Pat Gelsinger, general partner at Playground Global. “That combination is what turns a lab achievement into an industry shift, creating a viable path from copper to optical at AI scale.”
Picture: High-speed optical frequency response plot of PicoJool 200G VCSEL showing –3dB bandwidth.
PicoJool will begin sampling its 200G VCSEL products in third-quarter 2026, with high-volume ramp expected in early 2027.
