Whitepaper by Senior VP, Product Development Dr. Mo Jinyu and Chief Revenue Officer Raju Kankipati (based on documentation presented at ECOC 2025)

POET Technologies has introduced its Hybrid-Integrated 1.6T 2xFR4 Transmitter PIC that represents a leap forward in optical engine integration. The product represents three primary achievements that are notable for the industry:

1. It validates the POET Optical Interposer™ as a practical manufacturing platform for the world’s fastest and most efficient optical transceivers.
2. It unites photonic and electronic components within a single chip-scale package — delivering exceptional bandwidth, simplicity of manufacturing, and unmatched scalability for next-generation pluggable and co-packaged optics (CPO).
3. It efficiently utilizes an EML array (an industry first), which results in a dramatic capacity increase of Indium Phospide-based EML lasers at a time when the industry is facing shortages. With monolithically integrated optical multiplexers (MUX), the 1.6T transmitter PIC provides superior performance, scalability, and manufacturing efficiency that customers demand for next-generation artificial intelligence and cloud infrastructure.
   

Why the Industry Needs a Hybrid-Integrated Solution

The accelerating growth of AI, cloud computing, and hyperscale data centers is driving an insatiable demand for higher-speed, lower-power optical interconnects. Finding applications that meet this need is of urgent importance to the industry because end users desire more and faster connectivity to fulfill their corporate visions.

Change is required. Not only in device performance but also in integration efficiency. New processes, novel use of materials, and a more elegant approach to design and architecture are called for in this era of rapid evolution.

As network operators transition from 400G to 800G and 1.6T architectures, traditional assembly techniques are reaching physical and economic limits. Wire-bonded packages and micro-optical alignments add cost, magnify RF crosstalk and thermal challenges, and restrict yield.

Profit margins become thinner when using current approaches. A better way of moving data from one point to another has been sought for years. The POET Optical Interposer and the products built from it — including the Hybrid-Integrated 1.6T 2xFR4 Transmitter PIC — are perhaps the best solution for an industry in need. POET eliminates active alignment and wire bonds, providing a high-throughput, CMOS-compatible path to scale.

Product Overview: Hybrid-Integrated 1.6T 2xFR4 Transmitter PIC

Compact, integrated, and ready for volume production, the 1.6T 2xFR4 transmitter PIC integrates the below components:

• Four 2x200G EML arrays flip-chip bonded on POET’s optical interposer.
• Eight high-speed driver ICs, symmetrically positioned for optimal signal integrity.
• Two Arrayed Waveguide Gratings (AWGs) used as Multiplexers (MUX) for efficient wavelength multiplexing.
• Spot-Size Converters (SSCs) mode-matched to SMF with <0.5 dB coupling loss.
  
  Key Specifications:
• Total capacity: 1.6Tbps (8x106 Gbaud) PAM4 lanes
• Chip size (WxL): 7.975mm x 14.32mm
• Target reach: 2 km over duplex single-mode fiber
• Fully passive, wafer-scale assembly—no lenses, no active alignment.

Performance Highlights

Optical Eye Performance: At 106 Gbaud PAM4, all eight lanes demonstrate clear optical eyes with minimal penalty, confirming precise signal fidelity and excellent thermal uniformity.

Customer Benefits: Performance and Practicality Combined

The size, ease of adoption, functionality, value, and performance makes POET’s Hybrid-Integrated 1.6T 2xFR4 transmitter PIC a breakthrough solution for customers. The industry can unlock more of AI’s capabilities because POET’s advanced transmitter allows for an exponential increase in connectivity, data transfer and compute power. It is poised to become an essential component to the manufacturing of hardware devices for AI and data center hyperscalers. Among its notable features are:

1. Superior RF Integrity: Wire-bond-free interconnects deliver impedance-matched, low-loss RF paths.
2. Manufacturing Scalability: Passive wafer-level bonding enables automated, high-yield production.
3. Compact Thermal Design: Shorter electrical paths and reduced component count simplify cooling.
4. Future-Proof Scalability: The hybrid approach scales seamlessly to 3.2T and beyond.

Technology Foundation: The POET Optical Interposer™

POET’s photonic integration solutions are based on the POET Optical Interposer, a multiple award-winning novel, patented platform that allows the seamless integration of electronic and photonic devices into a single chip using advanced wafer-level semiconductor manufacturing techniques. POET's Optical Interposer-based products are lower cost, consume less power than comparable alternatives, are smaller in size and are readily scalable to high production volumes. With the optical interposer, POET is able to address the demand for products that can be applied to both scale-up and scale-out networks.

A universal platform for hybrid integration, the POET Optical Interposer has these key features:

• Monolithic integration of all passive optical elements (splitters, combiners, MUX/DMUX, waveguides, mirrors).
• Flip-chip bonding of all active components (lasers, modulators, drivers, TIAs).
• Multiple RF redistribution layers with low insertion loss and TSV compatibility.
• Passive wafer-level “pick-and-place” assembly—no active alignment required.
• Cross-material compatibility (InP, TFLN, SiPh, and others).

Conclusion: Accelerating the Path to 1.6T and Beyond

Using its “semiconductorization of photonics” approach, POET is redefining how light and electronics converge—creating the foundation for a faster, smarter, and more connected world. By improving chip-to-chip data communication within and between AI servers, POET is at the forefront of the next frontier of computing applications. Its innovations solve bandwidth and latency problems in AI systems as well as device integration challenges in 5G networks, machine-to-machine communication, self-contained "edge" computing applications and sensing applications.

POET’s Hybrid-Integrated 1.6T 2xFR4 transmitter PIC specifically enables a single, scalable platform adaptable to diverse optical engine configurations—ideal for 800G, 1.6T, and 3.2T applications. It’s a product that addresses the needs of today and prepares the industry to meet the demands of tomorrow.

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