Tower Semiconductor and Xscape Photonics Unveil On-Chip Multi-Wavelength Laser Source for AI Datacenters

Tower Semiconductor and Xscape Photonics have announced the industry's first on-chip, optically pumped, multi-wavelength laser source, built on Tower's PH18 Silicon Photonics platform. This innovation aims to enhance CWDM/DWDM optical fabrics for AI clusters, offering improved bandwidth density, power efficiency, and scalability. The optical interconnect market is expected to reach $20 billion by 2030, representing a significant growth opportunity for Tower Semiconductor.

Tower Semiconductor (NASDAQ/TASE: TSEM) and Xscape Photonics have announced a groundbreaking innovation in optical interconnect technology, the industry's first on-chip, optically pumped, multi-wavelength laser source. Built on Tower's PH18 Silicon Photonics platform, this technology aims to enhance CWDM/DWDM optical fabrics for AI clusters, offering improved bandwidth density, power efficiency, and scalability.

The collaboration between Tower Semiconductor and Xscape Photonics marks a significant technological breakthrough in optical interconnect technology. Their on-chip, optically-pumped, multi-wavelength laser source addresses critical challenges in AI datacenter connectivity by enabling higher bandwidth density and improved power efficiency. Traditional solutions require either multiple externally modulated lasers or complex hybrid III-V integration, whereas this platform uses a single continuous wave external laser to optically pump a monolithically integrated laser array on Tower's PH18 Silicon Photonics platform.

The optical interconnect market for AI datacenters is projected to reach $10 billion by 2026 and $20 billion by 2030, doubling from 2024 levels [1]. This technology addresses a rapidly growing segment. For AI applications specifically, the reduced component count, lower latency, and simplified design are particularly valuable for GPU-to-GPU and GPU-to-HBM (High-Bandwidth Memory) optical links - critical data pathways in large AI computing clusters.

The ChromX platform based on proprietary CombX technology positions Xscape Photonics competitively in the AI infrastructure space, while Tower enhances its silicon photonics portfolio with differentiated technology that addresses emerging AI infrastructure needs. Monolithically integrated, optically pumped, programmable multi-color laser built on Tower’s PH18 platform enables scalable CWDM/DWDM optical fabrics for disaggregated AI clusters [1].

This breakthrough from Tower Semiconductor and Xscape Photonics enables a path toward high performance, high reliability, lower cost, and a simplified supply chain by monolithically embedding programmable multi-color lasers on-chip, pumped optically by a single CW external laser. It also eliminates the need to source for multiple externally modulated lasers or require hybrid III-V integration. Xscape Photonics’ solution simplifies design, reduces latency and component count, and is especially impactful for GPU-to-GPU and GPU-to-HBM optical links in AI clusters.

The collaboration between Tower Semiconductor and Xscape Photonics demonstrates how advanced custom solutions can be rapidly prototyped and scaled for emerging AI and data-driven markets. This technology offers a significant growth opportunity for Tower Semiconductor, particularly in the rapidly expanding AI optical interconnect market.

References:
[1] https://www.stocktitan.net/news/TSEM/xscape-photonics-and-tower-semiconductor-unveil-the-industry-s-first-h8vye6mmf0nz.html