【OFC 2026】 Connecting the World

The Optical Fiber Communications Conference and Exhibition (OFC) will be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center from March 17 to March 19, 2026. It is the world's largest annual event in optical communications. Not only will it celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2025, but also because of the factor of generative AI, OFC 2026 has attracted great attention. The exhibition brings together more than 706 industry leaders from 91 countries, invites 115 lecturers and attracts more than 17,800 attendees to provide solutions to key global issues such as quantum networks, artificial intelligence (AI), space optics and data center connectivity.

Topic 1: Micro LED CPO

ams OSRAM has accumulated almost 15 years of experience in Micro LED technology with the Micro LED headlight module EVIYOS. In addition, the company has been actively developing Micro LED solutions for optical communications for more than three years in collaboration with end customers. Based on this, ams OSRAM is preparing to launch its self-developed Micro LED-based optical interconnect solution, aiming to be available in 2027. This solution is expected to integrate Micro LED chips, optical components and dedicated ASICs.

Microsoft MOSAIC proposed the Micro LED CPO architecture, and MediaTek provided the AOC integration solution.

Avicena demonstrated the LightBundle eKit Demo at OFC, which can achieve a low bit error rate (Bit Error Rate, BER) of ≤10⁻9 and a transmission distance of 5 meters at 512 Gbps. Avicena said that 512 Gbps Micro LED optical interconnects are ready to be launched, and 896 Gbps solutions will be launched in 2Q26.

bEMC

In response to the optical communication market, bEMC provides 4-inch semi-polar (Semi-Polar) COW and 6-inch semi-polar (Semi-Polar) COC. The company can provide Micro LED CPO solutions (including fiber coupling) by integrating the supply chain.

Topic 2: Infrared Optical Communication

Lumentum not only actively expands the production of 100 / 200 Gbps EML and 70 / 100mW CW LD, but also successfully launched 400 Gbps/Lane EML to meet the 3.2 Tbps market demand. At the same time, Lumentum not only successfully launched 400mW CW LD in 2025, but also released 800mW CW LD at the OFC exhibition, which can provide more than 800 mW optical power at 50°C and a linewidth (Linewidth) of 40 dB, which can significantly improve the quality of optical communication signals. At the same time, the company launched a 1,060nm VCSEL optical interconnect solution.

Coherent accelerates production of 6-inch InP wafers to support high-volume production and is also developing 400mW CW LDs for silicon photonics pluggable optical transceivers and co-packaged optics. In order to meet the market demand for 3.2T bps, Coherent has launched two solutions, such as 420Gbps/Lane EML and 420Gbps silicon photonics PIC. In addition, Coherent has also cooperated with the three leading DSP manufacturers, Broadcom, NVIDIA, and Marvell, to jointly develop 1.6Tbps FRO/TRO optical transceiver modules. The LPO optical transceiver module eliminates the need for a DSP, which results in higher bit error rates and limited application range, but significantly reduces power consumption and solves heat dissipation issues, making it a very attractive solution in addition to SiPh CPO.

WIN Semiconductors is the world's largest 6-inch gallium arsenide (GaAs) foundry. Compared with other GaAs manufacturers, WIN Semiconductors has a comprehensive turnkey solution from epitaxy, chip foundry, AOI testing, and coating. For CW LD, Wenmao has successfully provided Ridge Waveguide (RWG) and Buried Heterostructure (BH) technologies, the latter of which has higher current density and output power (Output Power). Backside Emitting VCSEL uses flip chip technology and etches the gallium arsenide substrate (Etching), combining Micro Bump and Micro Lens to reduce parasitic effects. Effectively improve characteristics and reduce package size, it is used in 100 Gbps/100 meter optical communications, automotive/consumer electronics 3D sensing.

Dexerials acquired Kyoto Semiconductor and successfully launched 200 Gbps InGaAs Photodiodes. At 2V voltage, the low dark current is only 10nA, the bandwidth is 50 GHz, and the responsivity is up to 0.7 A/W.

Mitsubishi Electric has successfully launched 100 Gbps Un-cooled EML and 200 Gbps Cooled EML. In the next phase, 200 Gbps Un-cooled EML will be introduced with the goal of achieving a short-range transmission of 100 meters.

AOI demonstrated the high stability of 800 Gbps and 1.6 Tbps optical transceiver modules on site, as well as the actual measurement results of the 6.4 Tbps OBO optical engine. It used a self-made 400mW LD, paired with SiPh PIC, and achieved high-efficiency optical transmission capabilities with 32 × 200 Gbps / Lane technology.

Optoway focuses on EML / CW LD chips, packaging, and optical transceiver modules (Transceiver). Optoway already provides 100/200 Gbps EML and 70/100mW CW LD, and provides customized optical transceiver module services.

LuxNet focuses on EML / CW LD chips, packaging, and optical transceiver modules (Transceiver) foundry business, providing 100 / 200 Gbps EML and 70 / 100mW CW LD.

NTT Innovative Devices demonstrated a 102.4 Tbps SiPh CPO, built-in Broadcom's third-generation Ethernet switch Tomahawk 6, and compatible with ELSFPs from four vendors, including CPT, Furukawa, FIT, and O-NET, with 16 16.4 Tbps optical engines, reaching 102.4 Tbps.

Cisco demonstrated a 51.2 Tbps SiPh CPO on site, equipped with 64 800 Gbps FR8 optical engines, equipped with a complete liquid cooling solution and monitoring system, and its product life span meets the requirements of cloud service providers.

OFC 2026 Highlights

Wide and Slow: Due to the rise of generative AI, the demand for high-speed optical communications has increased rapidly. Micro LED consumes only 1-2 pJ/bit, has a data transmission density of up to 20 Tbps/mm2, and has a low bit error rate (BER) of ≤10⁻¹⁵. It is expected to replace copper interconnects and serve as the best solution for short-distance high-speed transmission within the cabinet (Intra-Rack) in scale-up data center networks. In addition, Lumentum, Coherent, etc. have also launched VCSEL NPO solutions to meet short-distance transmission needs.

Investment and R&D: In response to market demand above 1.6 Tbps, EML and CW LD manufacturers are actively expanding production capacity to increase product optical power. Dexerials is actively expanding its photodiode product line in order to provide product performance with higher sensitivity and faster response time.

Short Term and Long Term: Facing the increasingly severe energy and heat dissipation bottlenecks in data centers, Linear Pluggable Optics (LPO) and SiPh CPO technologies have become the focus. (Text: Joanne / TrendForce)

TrendForce 2026 Infrared Sensing Application Market and Brand Strategy

Publication date: January 01, 2026
File format: PDF / EXCEL
Report language: Traditional Chinese / English
Number of pages: 152

TrendForce 2025 Micro LED display and non-display application market analysis

Publication date: May 29/November 30, 2025
Language: Chinese / English
Format: PDF
Number of pages: 87