Optics Monthly · October 2026
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35 major Optics stories in October
LightCounting: Ethernet optical module market forecast to grow 120% in 2026
LightCounting's latest report says growth in the Ethernet optical module market was originally expected to slow in 2026, but data from the first nine months defied expectations: cloud provider capital expenditures accelerated sharply from late January to early February and remained strong over the following six months. The full-year Ethernet optical module market is now forecast to grow 120%.
Innolight: 2027 Orders Essentially Cover Full Year, No Customer Demand Guidance Cuts Seen
Innolight said orders from major customers essentially cover the full year 2027, and it has seen no order cancellations or cuts to customers' 2027 demand guidance. The company posted third-quarter revenue of 27.769 billion yuan and net profit of 8.587 billion yuan. Shipments of 800G and 1.6T products continue to expand, while core materials such as DSPs remain in varying degrees of tight supply. The company expects new products such as NPO to ramp up gradually in the second half of 2027, with truly large-scale deployment expected in 2028.
Lumentum CEO: 2029 Capacity Almost Fully Booked
Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston said in an interview in Tokyo that about 70% of demand for some products will remain unmet next year, while other products still face a 30% demand gap through 2028. The company's 2029 capacity is almost fully booked, and it is ramping production at full speed.
Eoptolink: 1.6T Ramps Up Steadily, NPO Sees Firm Order Guidance for 2027
Eoptolink said 1.6T is ramping up gradually this year, and NPO has received firm order guidance for 2027, with volume shipments expected in 2027. The company posted third-quarter revenue of 10.940 billion yuan and net profit of 3.843 billion yuan. Tight raw material supply has had some impact on shipments, while capacity is being expanded rapidly in parallel in Chengdu and Thailand. The company expects NPO delivery demand to grow further in 2028, with the potential for large-scale shipments.
Kunyou Optoelectronics Completes C+ Round of Over 1 Billion Yuan; 12-Inch Wafer-Level Optics Line to Come Online in 2027
Kunyou Optoelectronics announced the completion of a C+ round exceeding 1 billion yuan, with investors undisclosed. The company's 12-inch wafer-level optics production line in Lingang, Shanghai, built with an investment of 2 billion yuan, is expected to be completed and come online in 2027, targeting AR, fiber optics, optical communications, automotive optics and optical computing markets. This follows its C round in January 2026 and a C+ round of nearly 400 million yuan in April.
Marvell Reportedly in Talks to Acquire Lumentum: Is AI Interconnect Heading Toward Full-Stack Competition?
Marvell is in advanced talks to acquire Lumentum, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, and an announcement could come as early as next week, although no final agreement has been reached. Neither company has publicly confirmed the talks, and terms such as price and closing have not been disclosed. The article discusses the integration logic in light of Marvell's silicon photonics, high-speed SerDes and co-packaged optics (CPO) portfolio, and notes that Nvidia's investments in both companies and potential financing needs add complexity to the deal.
Wen Ku: AI Drives Fiber Optic Cable Demand, Calls for Price Negotiation and Rational Capacity Expansion
Speaking at the Global Optical Fiber and Cable Conference, Wen Ku said AI, computing power and data centers are reshaping fiber optic cable demand, and urged upstream and downstream players to establish long-term price negotiation mechanisms and expand capacity rationally. He noted that global fiber demand grew 4.1% in 2025, with data communications and data center-related demand up 76%, while expanding optical fiber preform capacity takes two years. Wen Ku warned that high prices could trigger a concentrated release of new capacity, recommending more long-term contracts and navigating price cycles through low-latency, low-loss, high-density technologies and diversified applications.
Tencent Publishes 102.4T NPO Switch Design Specification, a Step Closer to Large-Scale Deployment?
Tencent recently released the 102.4T NPO Switch Design Reference Specification, making public its design plans covering system architecture, chassis structure, fiber management, and software operations. The switch carries 32 3.2T NPO modules and 32 ELSFP external light source modules, providing 128 800G MPO16 optical ports. Tencent says that, compared with traditional pluggable switches, total system power consumption is reduced by about 1000W and end-to-end transmission latency by nearly 100ns.
NVIDIA Launches DSX POD, Targeting AI Factory Deployment in as Little as 14 Days with CPO Interconnects
NVIDIA has launched DSX POD, a modular AI factory reference design expected to cut deployment time from about six months to as little as 14 days. The solution consists of 7 NVIDIA Vera Rubin NVL72 liquid-cooled racks, with a 17 km Scale-out network interconnected by fully mass-produced Spectrum-X co-packaged optics (CPO) Ethernet switches.
JEDEC Releases First Silicon Photonics AI Network Reliability Standard, JESD264
JEDEC has released the JESD264 standard, setting new certification and reliability requirements for the emerging silicon photonics market. It is the first reliability standard for silicon photonics in AI networks.
NVIDIA and Cisco Jointly Define New USFP Pluggable Optical Module
NVIDIA and Cisco jointly announced plans for the USFP (Ultra-Small Form Factor Pluggable) optical module on October 12. This high-density pluggable optical module supports 400Gb/s per lane and targets the scaling needs of next-generation AI factory networks, helping control network complexity, power consumption and cost as connection scale grows.
ams OSRAM Joins SRMO Working Group to Advance AI Data Center Optical Interconnect Specifications
ams OSRAM has joined the SRMO working group, led by Credo, as a founding member. The group plans to submit an interoperable technical specification to OCP in 2027. SRMO advocates operating large numbers of parallel micro-emitters at their optimal individual rates, targeting 20 to 30 times the transmission distance of copper cabling while maintaining comparable bandwidth density, energy efficiency and cost efficiency.
Corning Expects Fiber Adoption in Scale-up Networks to Accelerate in 2028
Corning expects fiber adoption in Scale-up networks to accelerate in 2028. Third-quarter optical communications sales reached $2.38 billion, up 44% year over year. The company said each GPU currently needs about 16 fibers in Scale-out networks; if Scale-up networks switch entirely to optical interconnects, the fiber count could rise to 160, with bandwidth and demand increasing tenfold. Corning also disclosed long-term agreements with Zayo, Verizon and AT&T, and is using customer prepayments to support capacity expansion, with prepayments rebated based on purchase volume.
Google Blog · XR/ARFirst-partyOptics industryOptics and AIOct 29XREAL AURA Officially Launched, a Wired XR Headset for Watching, Working and Gaming
Google and XREAL have officially launched XREAL AURA, wired XR glasses running Android XR, with orders opening today in the United States, Canada and South Korea. The transparent lenses provide a 70-degree field of view, the glasses weigh less than 95 grams, and the battery and Snapdragon Reality Elite platform sit in a portable computing unit connected by a cable, supporting Gemini, multi-window apps and USB-C wired mirroring.
Rokid GlobalFirst-partyOptics and AIOct 30Hi Rokid 1.16.0 launches, bringing offline visual understanding to Vision AI
Hi Rokid 1.16.0 is now available, with upgraded Vision AI supporting real-time visual understanding and scene descriptions without an internet connection. Rokid says its partnership with Google makes it the only smart glasses company in the world to offer users on-device multimodal large language model capabilities.
How Four Diffractive Optical Waveguide Pathways Drive Volume Manufacturing
SRG diffractive optical waveguides use four complementary pathways - nanoimprint, DUV lithography etching, SiC substrates and single-layer full color - to improve mass production, precision, field of view and image quality respectively. The article cites AAC Technologies' single-layer full-color SRG mass production yield of over 80%, a 52-degree FOV for the SiC solution, and the commissioning of Goertek Optics' 12-inch DUV lithography etching production line. Plans for million-unit-level capacity and ramp-up do not mean the industry as a whole has achieved stable million-unit-scale delivery; cost, yield and whole-device integration remain the next hurdles.
Silicon Carbide Joins the Mass-Production Race as a Next-Generation Material for AR Optics
Silicon carbide AR waveguides are moving toward wafer-level manufacturing and small-volume production, but low-cost, high-volume consumer shipments remain some way off. A recent preprint from the Zhejiang Provincial Key Laboratory of 3D Micro/Nano Fabrication and Characterization, the Institute of Optoelectronics at Westlake University, and the Mude Micro-Nano team presents a full-color silicon carbide diffractive waveguide measuring 0.35 mm thick and weighing 1.98 g, with patterning of four pairs of lenses demonstrated on an 8-inch SiC wafer. The high refractive index helps widen the field of view and enable monolithic full color, but manufacturing challenges remain, including consistency of optical-grade substrates, micro- and nanofabrication of hard and brittle materials, and light leakage at packaging interfaces.
TDK Shows Meta-Optics Reflector for Retinal Projection Smart Glasses at CEATEC
TDK showcased at CEATEC an ultrathin meta-optics reflector designed for retinal projection smart glasses. The prototype is monochrome green with 750p resolution and a 45-degree diagonal field of view. The reflector is only 150 nanometers thick and achieves 80% visible-light transmittance. TDK plans to launch the green version by the end of 2026, a full-color version in May 2027, and mass production within a few years.
How TDK's Meta-Reflector Retinal Projection Differs from Waveguides and BirdBath
TDK's AR display solution uses a 150 nm thick meta-optic reflector in place of a conventional curved mirror, forming images through direct retinal projection (DRP). The reflective film has a visible-light transmittance of about 80%, and the current demonstration is still a monochrome prototype. Full-color demonstrations and mass production remain several years away, while consumer-level costs and processing yields are also key hurdles.
Analyzing the Second-Generation Leqi Optical Solution: How to Balance Invisibility, Rainbow Artifacts, Thinning and Brightness
The second-generation Leqi Glasses 2 uses a monochrome green display approach. Its optical analysis summarizes the upgrades as four trade-offs: grating invisibility, rainbow artifact suppression, thinner wear and anti-reflection brightness retention. Compared with the previous generation, the company says rainbow artifact intensity is reduced by 60%, reflectance by 70% and in-coupling grating efficiency improved by 30%, while eye brightness is maintained at 1500 nit, with resolution of 480x380 and FOV of 25 degrees.
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) · Research UpdatesFirst-partyOptics industryOct 21SHINE Hard X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility Achieves First Light
On October 15, 2026, the Hard X-ray Free-Electron Laser Facility (SHINE) achieved first light, moving a step closer to completion and commissioning by the end of 2027. The electron beam produced by a 4 GeV continuous-wave superconducting linac drives a series of 18 undulator lines, each 4 meters long with a 55 mm magnetic period. Once completed, the electron energy will reach 8 GeV, and the first two undulator lines will produce free-electron laser radiation covering 0.2 to 15 keV, with optical pulses as short as femtoseconds and a maximum repetition rate of up to 1 MHz.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 22LCLS Measures Hard X-Ray Pulses of About 9 keV and 100 to 400 Attoseconds
A research team at SLAC's LCLS measured hard X-ray pulses with photon energies of about 9 keV and durations of 100 to 400 attoseconds, with results published in Nature Photonics. The team focused part of the beam to a 150 nm wide spot on a copper foil to generate amplified spontaneous emission, then combined the energy and spectral shape of the other part of the beam to calculate the pulse duration. Such pulses can be used to probe rapid processes in dense plasmas and to help make measurements before X-rays cause electronic-state damage.
Optics & Photonics NewsOptics industryOct 22European XFEL Attosecond Hard X-Ray Peak Intensity Reaches About 10^20 W/cm²
The research team focused European XFEL attosecond hard X-ray pulses to a 180 × 330 nm spot, achieving a peak intensity of about 10^20 W/cm². The team combined a self-chirped operating mode with an advanced iridium-coated Kirkpatrick-Baez mirror system and verified the peak intensity using amplified spontaneous emission from a 20 μm thick copper foil. The research was published in Optica and provides conditions for exploring highly nonlinear interactions between X-rays and matter.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 23Technion Team Precisely Controls Ultrafast Electron Flow in Scanning Tunneling Microscopes with Two-Color Laser
A team led by Technion used two-color infrared laser pulses to control the direction of electron flow between a scanning tunneling microscope tip and a sample, with results published in Nature Photonics. By adjusting the relative timing of the two beams, the study distinguished ultrafast current from laser-heating noise and, combined with a theoretical model, reconstructed a current pulse lasting 860 attoseconds. The microscope maintained a lateral resolution of about 2 nm in room-temperature air and could detect surface height changes smaller than 1 Å. The paper DOI is 10.1038/s41566-026-02021-y.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 23Politecnico di Milano Team Tracks Molecular Motion with About 3 fs Resolution
A team led by Politecnico di Milano has developed a new setup that tracks the coupled motion of electrons and atomic nuclei after a molecule absorbs light, with a time resolution of about 3 fs. The setup combines synchronized UV pump pulses with attosecond extreme-ultraviolet probe pulses, resolving two successive passages through a conical intersection in experiments on acetylacetone.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 21University of Tokyo Tailors Frame Intervals to Capture Ultrafast Processes Across Five Orders of Magnitude
A University of Tokyo team developed a logarithmic ultrafast photography method that uses 11 frames in a single shot to capture dynamics spanning roughly 100 femtoseconds to 10 nanoseconds, across five orders of magnitude. The method introduces band-resolved independent delay generation (BRIDGE) into STAMP, independently adjusting the timing of each band and arranging frames densely at early times and sparsely at later times. The study, published in Optica, shows early changes, subsequent shock waves and material ejection in glass and hydroxyapatite after irradiation by ultrashort laser pulses.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 21International Team Achieves Quantum Coherent Control of Helium Electrons with Extreme Ultraviolet Light
An international research team used extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses to control the interference of two stimulated Raman pathways by adjusting the optical field phase, altering the excitation yield of the helium He(2s) bound state. The experiment was carried out at the FERMI free-electron laser facility in Italy, and the results were published in Nature Photonics. The team believes the concept could eventually be used in element-specific imaging and spectroscopy tools to track electron motion and chemical transformations.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 30EPFL Demonstrates Underwater Communications and Smoke Detection with Chip-Scale Blue Laser
An EPFL team developed a chip-scale blue laser at about 461 nm that combines low-noise emission with fast electronic frequency tuning, and demonstrated underwater communications and smoke detection. One configuration achieves a linewidth below 30 kilohertz, while another offers a tuning range exceeding 900 megahertz and up to 1 million repeatable adjustments per second.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 2EPFL develops photonic integrated laser that stays locked without active control
Researchers at EPFL have developed a photonic integrated, infinite self-injection-locked laser that remains locked without active control and has been packaged in a fiber-coupled standard butterfly package.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 23Fraunhofer IAF Diamond Laser System Achieves 100% Optical Contrast for Magnetic-Field Readout
Researchers at Fraunhofer IAF have demonstrated a diamond NV-center laser-threshold magnetometer achieving 100% optical contrast and coherent laser readout of up to 50 mW. Under photon-shot-noise-limited conditions, the sensitivity of each of the three components of the magnetic-field vector can be below 400 fT/√Hz. Compared with conventional NV fluorescence sensors and vapor-cell magnetometers, the system improves the ratio of the sensitivity limit to dynamic range by up to 590 times while retaining vector measurement capability.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 30Quantum skyrmion topology persists after entanglement vanishes, offering clues for more robust quantum networks
A University of Pennsylvania team transferred single-photon skyrmion topology on a chip to a shared two-photon quantum state, and found that the topological properties persisted after entanglement vanished. The team gradually introduced interference, including background light, and found that the topology was disrupted only under stronger interference. Quantum correlations measured by quantum discord remained after entanglement vanished. The findings, published in Nature Physics, offer clues for exploring how robust topological patterns could protect quantum information.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 21Oxford University Uses Atomic Memory to Keep Distant Ions Entangled for About 10 Seconds
Researchers at the University of Oxford have kept remote memory qubits entangled for about 10 seconds in a two-node ion quantum network connected by optical fiber. Each node contains one strontium ion and one calcium ion. Photons emitted by the strontium ions establish remote entanglement through Bell-state measurement, and local operations then extend the entanglement to the calcium ions, creating three- or four-ion entangled states across the nodes.
Phys.org Optics & PhotonicsOptics industryOct 8Levitated glass nanosphere entangled with light at room temperature
A paper in Science reports that researchers entangled a levitated glass nanosphere with an optical field in an optical trap, achieving the effect at room temperature and providing a new platform for macroscopic quantum mechanics research.
How imec and KU Leuven Use Integrated Wavefront Shaping to Explore Deep Tissue Imaging
imec and KU Leuven are using optical phased arrays on photonic chips for wavefront shaping, exploring scattering compensation to support deeper tissue imaging. In experiments, focusing contrast reached about 90% of the theoretical maximum, with a wavefront correction update rate of about 5,000 times per second. The team continues to advance speed, scalability, robustness and on-chip functional integration, and is exploring applications such as multimode fiber imaging probes.
Chip-Scale Optical Ring Laser Gyroscope Measures Slow Rotations of 37 Degrees per Hour
A team from UC Santa Barbara and Caltech published in Optics Letters a chip-scale optical ring laser gyroscope capable of measuring rotations as slow as 37 degrees per hour, approaching Earth's rotation rate of 15 degrees per hour. The device is based on a low-noise Brillouin laser in a silicon nitride waveguide photonic integrated circuit, can be fabricated with standard CMOS processes, requires only milliwatt-level optical power, and offers nearly 2,000-fold higher sensitivity than the team's earlier device.