Lumentum and Corning collaborated with Qualcomm to create a high-density optical die-to-die link meant for low-power chip communication in AI systems. The architecture targets roughly 10 Tb/s of bandwidth and utilizes a 1060 nm VCSEL platform combined with multimode fiber. A prototype version of the system currently reaches a shoreline bandwidth density of 1 Tb/s/mm.

The partners will demonstrate the technology at ECOC 2026 in Málaga to support co-packaged optics and near-packaged optics architectures. By moving optics closer to the chip, the system addresses bandwidth density limits inherent in copper at board-level scales. Qualcomm shares rose more than 8% following the announcement, with technical roadmaps pointing to 4 Tb/s/mm density through higher lane rates.