Semi Doped Optical Networking Supercycle - ALL the Tech You NEED to know
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Feb 20, 2026 They explore why silicon photonics is surging and how optics beats copper for speed and distance. They outline scale-across, scale-out, and a new scale-up market for GPU connectivity. They dig into laser supply bottlenecks and indium phosphide limits. They highlight co-packaged optics, high-power lasers, and the rising role of optical circuit switches.
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Optics As The New Connectivity Bottleneck
- Optics is the next major bottleneck to solve GPU interconnect scaling as copper hits speed and distance limits.
- Silicon photonics and lasers must scale massively for data-center connectivity to keep up with AI growth.
Optics Reminds Vikram Of HBM Supply Dynamics
- Vikram compared optics' market structure to HBM where a few suppliers control supply and pricing power.
- He noted customers prepay for laser capacity and get multi-year bookings, echoing HBM dynamics.
Overlapping Generations Boost Vendor Revenue
- Moving from 800G to 1.6T requires faster lasers (e.g., 200G vs 100G) and drives higher ASPs.
- Overlapping S-curves let vendors sell both high-volume older parts and premium next-gen lasers simultaneously.