Silicon Photonics - GIGALIGHT

10Mar, 2026

GIGALIGHT Launches ColorX 400G PSM DWDM4 O-BAND Silicon Photonics Module Supporting 30 km DWDM, Breaking Through the Coherent Barrier

March 10, 2026, Shenzhen, China. – GIGALIGHT, a company committed to differentiated technologies, has recently announced the launch of its latest 400G QSFP-DD PSM DWDM4 optical module based on the O-Band (original band). This new product further expands the company’s O-Band DWDM product portfolio and provides a cost-effective new solution for 400G DWDM links.

1. Introduction to the ColorX 400G QSFP-DD PSM DWDM4 O-Band Silicon Photonics Module

The product is based on 4×100G PAM4 silicon photonics modulation technology, covering 16 wavelengths with a 200 GHz channel spacing.

O-band (1310 nm window) DWDM technology, leveraging its natural zero-dispersion characteristics, redefines a cost-efficient DCI interconnection standard for 400GE.

Key Features:

DCM-Free Operation:
Operating in the zero-dispersion region of the O-band, eliminating the need for expensive and bulky dispersion compensation modules (DCM). This significantly simplifies line card design and reduces insertion loss.
Ultra-Low Power Consumption:
Utilizing advanced silicon photonics integration technology, the module achieves industry-leading power efficiency (power consumption < 11 W), making it ideal for high-density data center deployments.
Ultra-Low Latency:
By eliminating the DSP-based dispersion compensation used in coherent modules, the transmission latency of the optical module is significantly reduced.

2. Application Scenarios of the ColorX 400G QSFP-DD PSM DWDM4 O-BAND Silicon Photonics Module

Metro Access and Aggregation Networks: Provides a cost-effective solution for 5G fronthaul and enterprise private line services.
Data Center Interconnect (DCI): Supports short- to medium-reach transmission within 30 km, meeting the requirements of distributed computing infrastructure.
Open Optical Networks: Decouples from white-box equipment, improving network deployment flexibility.

15 km Data Center Interconnect (without SOA amplifier).

30 km Data Center Interconnect (with SOA amplifier)

30 km Data Center Interconnect (with SOA amplifier)

3. Industry Value of the ColorX O-BAND Optical Modules

According to the Product Director of Eoptolink:
“O-Band has unique advantages in metro network scenarios due to its dispersion characteristics. The newly launched 400G DWDM4 module addresses the urgent market demand for cost-effective DWDM solutions for short- and medium-reach transmission, and is particularly suitable for data center interconnect (DCI), telecom edge network upgrades, and various niche markets that require high cost-performance solutions.”

Product roadmap:

ColorX O-BAND 100G QSFP28 DWDM1 – a complementary and breakthrough solution to 100G coherent technology.
ColorX O-BAND 200G QSFP-DD PSM DWDM4 – a complementary and breakthrough solution to 200G coherent technology.
ColorX O-BAND 400G QSFP-DD PSM DWDM4 – a complementary and breakthrough solution to 400G coherent technology.
ColorX O-BAND 800G QSFP-DD PSM DWDM4 – a complementary and breakthrough solution to 800G coherent technology.
ColorX O-BAND 800G OSFP PSM DWDM4 – a complementary and breakthrough solution to 800G coherent technology.

We believe that Eoptolink’s O-BAND DWDM technology journey will bring new value and fresh possibilities to users and the entire industry.

About GIGALIGHT

As an open optical networking explorer, GIGALIGHT integrates the design, manufacturing, and sales of both active and passive optical devices and subsystems. The company’s product portfolio includes optical modules, silicon photonics modules, liquid-cooled modules, passive optical components, active optical cables, direct attach copper cables, coherent optical communication modules, and OPEN DCI BOX subsystems. GIGALIGHT focuses on serving applications such as data centers, 5G transport networks, metropolitan WDM transmission, ultra-HD broadcast and video, and more. It stands as an innovative designer of high-speed optical interconnect hardware solutions.

5Jul, 2024

Silicon photonics is the key to unlocking the full potential of AI

As artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) applications grow rapidly, we can foresee that industries and companies will use these systems and tools in their daily processes. As the complexity of these data-intensive applications continues to increase, the need for high-speed transmission and efficient communication between computing units becomes critical.

This demand has sparked interest in optical interconnects, especially for short-distance connections between XPUs (CPUs, GPUs, and memory). Silicon photonics is emerging as a promising technology that can improve performance, cost-effectiveness, and thermal management capabilities compared to traditional approaches, ultimately improving the functionality of AI/ML applications.

Advantages of Silicon Photonics in Artificial Intelligence

Silicon photonics interconnects play a critical and specialized role in managing the growing demand for AI/ML applications across industries. These components need to exchange data quickly and consume as little power as possible while maintaining high computing density. Silicon photonics enables good communication between computing units such as CPUs and GPUs, and memory units can also be improved to increase the computing power and efficiency of AI applications.

Silicon photonics example layout (Source: OpenLight)

Laser integration is essential for generating, modulating, and manipulating optical signals and introducing them into various systems. However, this has always been a major challenge in the field of silicon photonics.

On-chip optical interconnect technology

To meet market demands, companies have begun investing in on-chip optical interconnects to enable scalability from one laser to hundreds of lasers, surpassing the challenges posed by traditional electrical interconnects.

Short-reach optical interconnects using silicon photonics offer a solution that enables high-speed data transmission while reducing power consumption and increasing thermal efficiency (pJ/bit). This is important to reduce heat generation and keep systems running efficiently.

In addition, silicon photonic integration can create smaller and denser photonic integrated circuits (PiCs), facilitating high-density bandwidth connections that are critical to AI/ML workloads. Heterogeneous integration can more efficiently connect lasers and waveguides, resulting in better coupling and reduced power consumption. In addition, with the development of new lasers, thermal efficiency has been improved, and the number of channels and the number of potential wavelengths per channel have been expanded.

Overcoming the challenges of high-density bandwidth connections

In the case of back-end manufacturing, companies can save significant operating and capital expenditures without having to use lasers externally coupled to passive silicon photonic chips. By using more channels per square inch of silicon and combining different active components together, it is possible to use less power and significantly increase the total bandwidth of each PIC.

Gigalight Silicon Photonics 800G Optical Transceiver

Silicon photonics allows for efficient data transmission in AI/ML applications using short-reach optical interconnects. In the case of AI applications such as natural language processing, image recognition, and autonomous driving, large data sets are processed and analyzed in real time.

Fast and efficient data transmission is critical for real-time decision making and optimal system performance. Silicon photonics can provide high-speed data transmission and efficient communication between components, helping to improve the overall efficiency and performance of AI systems in these areas.

By leveraging silicon photonics technology, companies can optimize their AI/ML systems and unleash more powerful computing power for more accurate and responsive results.

The future of silicon photonics in artificial intelligence

The road ahead is full of hope. Silicon photonic technology has the potential to revolutionize artificial intelligence algorithms and further enhance the capabilities of artificial intelligence systems. The use of silicon photonic technology in artificial intelligence can develop smarter systems that handle complex tasks with higher performance and efficiency.

As architects further develop AI networks, silicon photonics and heterogeneous integration will transform the switching layer, replacing traditional packet switching, which will enable lower latency and lower power consumption at the required interconnect density.

It is believed that silicon photonics technology will become a disruptive technology for future AI/ML systems and has significant advantages over traditional electrical signal solutions. This, in turn, could push the boundaries of what is possible in the field of AI.

4Jun, 2024

GIGALIGHT Will Attend ICTCOMM VIETNAM 2024 With Five Major Product Lines

June 4, 2024. Shenzhen, China. – From June 6 to 8, ICTCOMM VIETNAM 2024 will be held at the Saigon Convention and Exhibition Center (SECC) in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. During the exhibition, GIGALIGHT will display five major product lines (DCI BOX equipment, non-coherent DWDM transmission equipment, Solutions for 5G Fronthaul and Silicon Photonics Solutions for 800G AI DCI, 100G Switches for Data Center) to ICTCOMM VIETNAM 2024 at Booth#G6.

ICTCOMM VIETNAM 2024 is jointly organized by the Ministry of Information and Communications, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Vietnam Post and Telecommunications Corporation VNPT (Vietnam’s largest telecommunications operator). Currently it is the most influential telecommunications exhibition in Vietnam. The products exhibited by GIGALIGHT this time are as follows:

Among them, GIGALIGHT will demonstrate a single-lambda 400G DWDM DCI BOX network system at the ICTCOMM. The system uses the latest 400G QSFP-DD ZR/ZR+ coherent optical modules and 400G CFP2 DCO coherent optical modules. A 1U single frame can support a maximum bandwidth capacity of 6.4T, and provides 1U and 2U frame options; 2U supports 2x 6.4T broadband capacity.

With GIGALIGHT 400G QSFP-DD DCO ZR+ coherent module, DWDM single-lambda 400G, Tx optical power supports 0~-6dbm adjustable, supports flexible grid and openZR+ protocol, adopts OFEC, has good interconnection operability, Rx OSNR meets 24db/0.1nm@400G 16QAM, meets 300km~400km business interconnection, and typical power consumption is less than 22W.

The newly launched GS-680 series 100GE data center switches achieve a switching capacity of up to 4Tbps and are high-performance switches that meet the needs of next-generation enterprise, data center, metropolitan area and HCI (hyper-converged infrastructure) networks.

Please visit GIGALIGHT booth G6 for more exhibits and on-site DEMO. We sincerely invite you to witness GIGALIGHT’s new technologies and products.

About GIGALIGHT

As an open optical networking explorer, Gigalight integrates the design, manufacturing, and sales of both active and passive optical devices and subsystems. The company’s product portfolio includes optical modules, silicon photonics modules, liquid-cooled modules, passive optical components, active optical cables, direct attach copper cables, coherent optical communication modules, and OPEN DCI BOX subsystems. Gigalight focuses on serving applications such as data centers, 5G transport networks, metropolitan WDM transmission, ultra-HD broadcast and video, and more. It stands as an innovative designer of high-speed optical interconnect hardware solutions.

30Dec, 2022

GIGALIGHT Mass-Produces 400G Silicon Photonics Transceivers to Ring of the 2023 New Year

Shenzhen, China, Dec 30, 2022 – Before the 2023 New Year’s bell rings, GIGALIGHT has announced the establishment of the mass production line of 400G silicon photonics transceivers and started the mass production journey. The current preset production capacity of the production line is an annual output of 150,000 high-speed silicon photonics transceivers, which can be expanded upwards to the production of key products such as 800G silicon photonics transceivers and CPO, and can provide OEM services for global customers.

Before the establishment of this production line, GIGALIGHT has completed the small batch shipment of silicon photonics transceivers of GEN1, and the GEN2 modules of the mass production line have the following characteristics:

Optimized APC (automatic power control) algorithm, the output power of the module at three temperatures is more than 0dBm
Accurate three-temperature silicon photonics bias control algorithm makes the module maintain excellent eye diagram and BER performance at three temperatures
A more accurate MZ modulator automatic locking algorithm ensures real-time and accurate locking under three-temperature conditions
High coupling efficiency and high reliability optical package
Low power consumption and low cost design

GIGALIGHT’s independent silicon photonics production line includes a light source design and packaging platform, a filpchip bond & wire bond packaging platform, a silicon photonics chip coupling glue process platform, and an automated debugging and testing system. These self-developed production and testing systems make the mass production of silicon photonics transceivers full of proprietary technologies, and a deep understanding of silicon photonics chips is also a special asset of GIGALIGHT.

GIGALIGHT’s silicon photonics industry started earlier, but the company experienced intermittent delays due to the impact of the US patent case. The GIGALIGHT R&D team finally completed the acceptance of the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Commission’s silicon photonics project in 2021. The mass production currently underway is the crystallization of this multi-year achievement.

The development of silicon photonics has twists and turns, and the industry generally believes that it is an industry technology trend. Starting from 400G optical modules, silicon photonics can already form a very good complementary relationship with EML platform products. Although there is currently no obvious cost advantage, the development concept and technical identity advocated by silicon photonics technology still inspire the enthusiasm of chip manufacturers and many customers in the industry. The development of GIGALIGHT’s silicon photonics module has many intersections with the industry’s silicon photonics industry chain. It is based on open communication that inspires the driving force to move forward.

“A long time ago, we chose the silicon photonics industry, and now we must continue to do it until the dawn shines!” said Mr. Li, chairman of GIGALIGHT.

About GIGALIGHT

As the open optical network device explorer, GIGALIGHT integrates the design, manufacture and sales of active & passive optical devices and subsystems. The main products are optical transceivers, silicon photonics transceivers, liquid cooling transceivers, optical passive components, AOC & DAC, coherent optical modules and open DCI BOX subsystems. GIGALIGHT is a hardware solution provider of innovatively designed high-speed optical interconnection that focuses on data center, 5G carrier network, metro WDM transmission, UHD broadcast video and other application fields.

8Jul, 2022

Envisioning a New Era of Data Centers – GIGALIGHT 400G Silicon Photonics Wins CFCF2022 Product Innovation Award

Shenzhen, China, Jul 7, 2022 – The award ceremony of China Fiber Connect Forum ended successfully in Nanjing Huashan Hotel. GIGALIGHT once again won the annual innovation product award with its 400G QSFP DD DR4 silicon photonics.

GIGALIGHT’s core technologies for 400G silicon optical modules include high coupling efficiency package design and MZI software locking algorithms. Meanwhile, GIGALIGHT has co-designed several silicon optical waveguide chips with partners. Currently, silicon based 100G QSFP28 DR1/FR1/LR1 and silicon based 400G QSFP DD DR4/DR4+ are already in mass production.

The product strategy of GIGALIGHT’s ultra-400G data center is mainly built on the silicon photonics technology platform. To this end, the company has made relevant trade-offs in R&D and operation. GIGALIGHT believes that the combination of silicon photonics technology and 100G PAM4 technology can obtain more stable performance and long-term scalability for data center networks. At the same time, as an innovative technology, the investment in silicon photonics technology and platforms must have a tortuous process, but the investment in silicon photonics could be a national plan globally.

GIGALIGHT has received strong support from the supply chain and other industry colleagues in the development of silicon photonics technology for several years. May we, in the spirit of altruism, abandon the profit-seeking tendencies, and push an important business to a world-leading level.

Great thanks to China Fiber Connect Forum for witnessing the torrent of silicon light development with GIGALIGHT!

About GIGALIGHT

8Apr, 2022

GIGALIGHT’s Silicon Photonics and Coherent Technologies Usher in New Breakthroughs

Shenzhen, China, April 12, 2022 – GIGALIGHT, the open optical network device explorer, announced today that it has made significant progress in the fields of datacom silicon photonics and coherent technologies, and its new generation of silicon photonics 400G QSFP-DD DR4 and 100G/200G CFP2-DCO will benefit data center and telecom customers worldwide.

The main progress of GIGALIGHT in the field of datacom silicon photonics technology is that they have realized the efficient coupling of silicon photonics through the silicon lens technology, so that the light coupling responsivity is as high as 0.8A/W under the condition of three temperatures, which can overcome the adverse effects to the link band caused by the multi-channel crosstalk. The commercial production of GIGALIGHT’s silicon photonics 400G QSFP-DD DR4 has been perfectly realized, and will be shipped in small batches in July this year. The following table shows the important test parameters of GIGALIGHT’s silicon photonics 400G QSFP-DD DR4.

【400G DR4 V0 Board】
Lane	Tx ER	Rx Sensitivity AOP(dBm)		Rx Sensitivity OMA(dBm)
Tx 4-lane off	Tx 4-lane on	Tx 4-lane off	Tx 4-lane on
CH1	4.7	-10.22	-8.36	-10.27	-8.41
CH2	4	-10	-8.4	-10.64	-9.04
CH3	4.2	-9.77	-8.07	-10.23	-8.5
CH4	4	-9.44	-6.41	-10.08	-7.05

In the field of coherent communication technology, GIGALIGHT’s R&D team has finally realized the transplantation of self-developed algorithms on the new 7nm DSP platform after a long period of research, reaching the theoretical boundary value. Based on the research and development results, the company will achieve mass production of 100G/200G CFP2 DCO by the end of 2022 and deliver them to customers in batches.

Mr. Li, the founder of GIGALIGHT, said: “At present, silicon photonics technology and coherent technology are the technical peaks of the optical communication industry. Based on limited resources, GIGALIGHT overcomes various difficulties and achieves relevant results. It is not easy. GIGALIGHT would like to thank our partners and suppliers for their strong support. Let’s move forward together, adhering to the lofty concept of open silicon photonics technology and open coherent optical communication!”