InPHRED Expands into Data Center Optical Interconnect Market with InP VCSEL and Micro-RC-LED Solutions

Company's nanoporous semiconductor platform now targets ultra-short-reach optical I/O and intra-data-center optical interconnects for next-generation AI infrastructure

BOSTON, April 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- InPHRED, a developer of next-generation photonics solutions for consumer sensing and digital health, today announced its formal expansion into the data center optical interconnect market, extending its nanoporous platform into high-speed connectivity solutions for next-generation AI infrastructure.

As demand for AI infrastructure surges and hyperscalers push for higher bandwidth density, lower power consumption, and more scalable architectures, optical I/O is increasingly defined by two key design questions: how close the optical engine is to the ASIC, and how far the optical link must carry data.

Across the industry, architectures such as mid-board optics (MBO), near-packaged optics (NPO), and co-packaged optics (CPO) are designed to reduce the electrical distance between ASICs and optical engines, improving signal integrity and lowering power consumption. Separately, optical links are commonly deployed across a range of reach classes, from copper and active electrical links at the shortest distances, to multimode fiber for short-reach links, to single-mode fiber for longer intra-data-center connections.

InPHRED's optical O/I roadmap

InPHRED's optical interconnect strategy is focused on two complementary "wide and slow" approaches spanning ultra-short-reach optical I/O and longer-reach intra-data-center links. The company's GaN micro-Resonant Cavity LED (μRC-LED) targets ultra-short-reach chip-to-chip and on-board optical I/O, where the priority is replacing legacy copper with dense, power-efficient optical engines positioned close to advanced compute packages. The company's 1310 nm InP VCSEL roadmap is aimed at single-mode optical engines that may be deployed in MBO or NPO architectures, while serving rack-scale and adjacent-rack links where high-temperature reliability, direct-drive operation, and lower system complexity become increasingly important.

"As AI systems scale, the challenge is not only how far data must travel optically, but also how far high-speed electrical signals must travel before they become light," said Professor Jung Han, Chief Scientist and co-founder of InPHRED. "We believe InPHRED is well positioned to address both problems: micro-RC-LEDs for ultra-short-reach optical I/O close to advanced compute packages, and InP VCSELs for efficient single-mode optical engines that can support longer intra-data-center connectivity."

The company is targeting initial demonstration milestones in Q1 of 2027 across both technology paths:

For μRC-LED optical I/O, InPHRED is targeting an initial demonstration of a 200-lane array architecture with 0.3 numerical aperture on sapphire. This milestone is intended to validate a path toward dense optical-I/O architectures in which very high channel counts may become practical with minimal or no per-channel microlens coupling complexity. The demonstration is expected to include initial proof metrics such as target coupling loss of below 3 dB and system energy efficiency of 4 pJ/bit.

For 1310 nm interconnects, InPHRED is targeting an initial demonstration of a 32-channel, 50 Gbps-per-lane 2D InP VCSEL optical engine. This milestone is intended to establish a foundational building block for future package-level optical solutions in which multiple engines could be tiled around the ASIC perimeter to minimize electrical reach. The demonstration is expected to include initial proof metrics such as target operating case temperature of 100 °C with a path toward 120–150 °C, and target fiber-coupling loss of below 2 dB per channel.

As electrical I/O loss, thermal load, and bandwidth density constraints intensify in AI infrastructure, InPHRED believes multiple optical approaches will coexist across different reaches and system architectures. By extending its nanoporous semiconductor platform into both InP VCSEL and micro-RC-LED optical interconnects, the company is pursuing a differentiated position across ultra-short-reach optical I/O and longer-reach intra-data-center connectivity.

About InPHRED

InPHRED commercializes next-generation semiconductor solutions based on Yale University technology. Its product portfolio includes SWIR VCSELs and Resonant Cavity Light-Emitting Diodes (RC-LEDs) built on a scalable nanoporous platform, enabling applications across sensing, digital health, and high-speed connectivity.

Representatives will be attending the CS International conference from April 20-22 in Brussels, Belgium. To schedule a meeting, or for all other business or product inquiries, please contact [email protected].

SOURCE INPHRED