Tower Semiconductor and NewPhotonics have begun high-volume shipments of laser-integrated silicon-photonics optical engines for AI data-center networks, moving high-speed fiber-optic interconnects from development into volume production.

The companies say NewPhotonics’ NPG102 photonic integrated circuits now support 800G through 1.6T data rates using 200G-per-lane designs. These are optical links carried through fiber and optical transceiver systems, not Cat6 or Cat6A twisted-pair copper Ethernet cabling.

The devices use Tower’s PH18DA silicon-photonics platform, which integrates indium-phosphide components with silicon. That architecture can combine lasers, semiconductor optical amplifiers, modulators and photodetectors on one photonic integrated circuit. Tower and NewPhotonics say the approach is designed to improve bandwidth density, power efficiency and manufacturing consistency as AI clusters grow.

The next step is considerably faster. The companies plan to begin volume shipments of CPX-MSA-compliant NPC505 chipsets for 6.4T near-packaged optics during the first half of 2027. Near-packaged optics move optical interfaces closer to the switching and compute hardware, reducing the electrical distance signals must travel before entering fiber.

For technicians, the physical layer still matters. Higher-speed optical networks increase the importance of connector cleanliness, polarity, cable management and bend radius. BitcoinVersus.tech’s Data Center Cabling Fundamentals 101 covers that physical infrastructure, while our recent 3.2T fiber Ethernet coverage examines the same bandwidth transition from the networking side.

Tower Semiconductor’s full technical announcement details the NPG102 architecture, supported module types and 6.4T roadmap.

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