Focusing on 50 Years of VCSEL Innovation and New AI Applications | The 4th Asian VCSEL Day Successfully Held in Suzhou

The Conference Venue

From October 11 to 13, the 4th Asian VCSEL Day (AVD 2026) was held at the Suzhou Campus of Nanjing University. Marking the 50th anniversary of the invention of the VCSEL, experts, scholars, and industry representatives from China, Germany, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and other countries and regions gathered in Suzhou. They engaged in in-depth exchanges on VCSEL technological development, cutting-edge innovations, and emerging applications in the AI era, jointly exploring the future direction of the industry.

The conference was hosted by Suzhou Everbright Photonics, Nanjing University, and the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Laser and Sensing Technology. It was co-organized by the Bimberg Chinese-German Center for Green Photonics, the Light Publishing Center, and the Institute of Science Tokyo (formerly Tokyo Institute of Technology). The inventor of the VCSEL, Prof. Kenichi Iga (who participated online), along with Prof. Dieter Bimberg, Prof. Fumio Koyama, Prof. Connie Chang-Hasnain, and other academic and industry experts from home and abroad attended the conference.

Opening Ceremony:
Reviewing Technological Development, Looking Forward to the Industry's Future

The opening ceremony was chaired by Dr. Jun Wang, Vice Chairman and Chief Technology Officer of Everbright Photonics, and Chairman of the Organizing Committee.

Opening Ceremony Chaired by Dr. Jun Wang

In his address, Prof. Dieter Bimberg, Conference Chair and Director of the Bimberg Chinese-German Center for Green Photonics, shared insights into the development trends and application prospects of VCSEL technology. He highlighted its potential in AI data center optical interconnects and LiDAR. He stated that continuously strengthening collaboration between academia and industry will help drive VCSEL technological innovation and industrialization.

Address by Prof. Dieter Bimberg

Shen Yan, Deputy Director of the Suzhou High-Tech Zone, introduced the development advantages of the photonics industry in the zone during his address. He stated that the zone will use this conference as an opportunity to further deepen international scientific and technological cooperation and industry-academia-research collaborative innovation, promoting the high-quality development of the VCSEL and photonics industries.

Address by Shen Yan, Deputy Director of the Suzhou High-Tech Zone

Joining online, Prof. Kenichi Iga, inventor of the VCSEL and Honorary Chair of the conference, reviewed the nearly 50-year development journey of the VCSEL, elaborated on its significant value in optical communication, optical sensing, and data center optoelectronic integration, and shared his outlook on the broad prospects for technological innovation and industrial applications.

Address by Prof. Kenichi Iga

27 Presentations: From Device Innovation to System Applications, Outlining a New Landscape for the AI Era

The conference featured a rich schedule of technical exchanges. Over 20 experts, scholars, and industry technical personnel in the VCSEL field delivered a total of 27 presentations. The content covered multiple levels, including devices, systems, and applications, reviewing the technological evolution of VCSELs and presenting innovative explorations for the AI era.

Prof. Kenichi Iga: Half a Century of VCSEL

——From Concept to Industry (Online)

Prof. Kenichi Iga, inventor of the VCSEL, Honorary Professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo, and the 18th President of the former Tokyo Institute of Technology, delivered a presentation titled "VCSEL: Its 50 Years of Footprints." He reviewed the journey of the VCSEL receiving the IEEE Milestone on October 28, 2025, and systematically recounted the technology's industrial landscape—from its conceptual birth in 1977 and the world's first current-injected lasing in 1979, to its widespread application today in data centers, 3D facial recognition, and automotive LiDAR.

Prof. Connie Chang-Hasnain: High-Speed Back-Emitting VCSELs Empowering AI Optical Interconnects

Prof. Connie Chang-Hasnain, Member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering and Chair Professor at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, shared a presentation titled "High-Speed Back Emitting VCSEL for AI Scale-up Optical Interconnects." She showcased the latest achievements in 940 nm and 1060 nm back-emitting VCSELs: the 940 nm device achieved 106 Gb/s PAM4 high-speed transmission with a junction temperature approximately 40 K lower than traditional devices, and a 16-channel transmitter with a total capacity of about 1.6 Tb/s; the 1060 nm device achieved a modulation bandwidth of 43.97 GHz, providing a highly energy-efficient and scalable solution for AI optical engines.

Prof. Fumio Koyama: 

VCSEL Innovation Driving AI Optical Interconnects

Prof. Fumio Koyama, Honorary Professor at the Institute of Science Tokyo, presented "VCSEL Innovation for AI Optical Interconnects." Focusing on the urgent demand for high-capacity, low-energy optical interconnects in AI data centers, he showcased the latest progress in achieving modulation bandwidths exceeding 60 GHz and 256 G PAM4 per lane using photon-photon resonance and coupled-cavity effects. He also highlighted 2D VCSEL arrays integrating dozens of emitters achieving an aggregate data rate approaching 10 Tb/s, offering high bandwidth density solutions for next-generation AI computing systems.

Multiple Chinese and international experts reviewed the development of VCSELs from the concept proposed in 1977 and the world's first current-injected lasing in 1979 to their current applications in data centers, 3D sensing, and automotive LiDAR. Focusing on the important direction of AI optical interconnects, the presentations highlighted the progress of high-speed VCSELs at 940 nm, 1060 nm, and other wavelengths in terms of bandwidth, energy efficiency, and transmission distance. They also introduced device architecture explorations such as multi-junction, multi-aperture, back-emitting, anti-reflective, dual carrier-photon resonance, and wafer bonding.

Furthermore, cutting-edge technologies such as silicon photonics, topological cavities, GaN-based ultraviolet to green lasers, and continuous bound states in the continuum vortex lasing were also discussed. The scope of the presentations further extended to application scenarios including VCSEL driver chips, single-mode fiber coupling, NPO/CPO system evolution, in-vehicle optical networks, laser optically pumped magnetometers, and laser noise testing. This demonstrated the diverse pathways of VCSEL and optoelectronic technologies from basic research and device innovation to system integration and industrial application.

Collaborating for Synergistic Innovation, Exploring the Next 50 Years of VCSELs Together

From reviewing five decades of technological accumulation to discussing the future direction of AI optical interconnects and diverse applications, the 4th Asian VCSEL Day provided an important platform for academic exchange and industrial collaboration in the global VCSEL field. Looking ahead to a new round of technological development and application demands, all parties are expected to continue deepening open cooperation, closely linking innovative achievements with industry needs, jointly exploring more possibilities for VCSEL technology, and injecting new momentum into the development of the optoelectronics industry.

In 2027, Asian VCSEL Day will set sail again, gathering with colleagues in the global VCSEL field in Hangzhou to continue exploring more possibilities for technological innovation and industrial applications.

Over the past fifty years, the VCSEL has grown from a conceptual sketch in 1977 into a core light source for fields such as data center optical interconnects, 3D facial recognition, and automotive LiDAR, becoming critical infrastructure supporting intelligent computing power and the intelligent transformation of society.

Looking forward to the next fifty years, as modules move toward higher integration with NPO/CPO and power consumption evolves toward sub-pJ/bit, VCSELs are expected to play an even more central role in AI data center optical interconnects. They will evolve toward higher power, broader spectra, and lower energy consumption, expanding into new scenarios such as LiDAR, in-vehicle optical networks, precision sensing, and even quantum technology...

—— From "lighting up a single device" to "illuminating an intelligent era," the next fifty years of VCSELs are highly anticipated!