Dr. Julie Sheridan Eng, Chief Technology Officer at Coherent, delivered an in-depth technical presentation on the company’s growing data center and communications business during its Analyst and Investor Day. With 22 years at the company and deep roots in optical innovation from her time at Bell Labs, Eng laid out how Coherent is uniquely positioned to lead across pluggable optics, co-packaged optics (CPO), and optical switching. She underscored that modern photonics is no longer just a conduit—it’s now foundational to how hyperscalers architect AI-centric data centers.
Eng detailed a $44 billion total addressable market by 2030, with $32 billion in the data center and $12 billion in broader communications. Within data centers, pluggable transceivers continue to dominate the scale-out network due to their flexibility and modularity. Coherent expects this segment alone to reach $25 billion by decade’s end. Meanwhile, the scale-up portion is poised for transition to CPO to address the demands of density, power, and cost—an area where Coherent’s vertically integrated portfolio offers a competitive edge. The company’s technology leadership is reinforced by its first-to-market demonstrations of 200G VCSELs, 400G EMLs, and 1.6T and 3.2T transceiver roadmaps.
A major highlight was Coherent’s optical circuit switch platform, now generating revenue after a successful debut at OFC 2024. Unlike traditional MEMS-based switches, Coherent’s digital liquid crystal approach eliminates moving parts, offering higher reliability and lower power consumption—attributes valued by customers managing large-scale AI workloads. The company’s roadmap includes 64×64 switches in production this year and future scaling to even higher radix and modular designs, with applicability extending to DCI and scale-up domains.
Eng closed by discussing Coherent’s expanding presence in DCI and long-haul transport. She highlighted the company’s early lead in 100G ZR and 800G ZR with in-house indium phosphide-based photonic integrated circuits (PICs), and a strong roadmap to 1.6T and 3.2T. In optical transport, Coherent remains the only company offering all core components—from pump lasers to optical amplifiers and WSS—enabling industry-first demonstrations like multi-rail amplification for higher data throughput without increased power or space. The message was clear: Coherent has the broadest and deepest optical technology stack in the industry, fully aligned with the acceleration of AI, cloud, and edge communications.
$44B SAM in data center and communications by 2030; $32B in data center, $12B in communications
Pluggable transceivers projected to reach $25B; Coherent supports 800G in production, 1.6T this year
First to demonstrate: 200G VCSEL, 400G differential EML, 200G SiPh, and full 1.6T transceivers
1 billion VCSELs and 250M indium phosphide lasers shipped for datacom
Optical circuit switch revenue underway; 64×64 product ships in 2024, future scaling to higher radix
Digital liquid crystal switching offers improved reliability over MEMS; no moving parts, low voltage
Coherent named NVIDIA ecosystem partner for co-packaged optics at GTC 2024
Indium phosphide PICs used in 800G ZR; first to demo and ship L-band ZR products
Transport portfolio includes erbium-doped fiber amplifiers, WSS, ROADM, pump lasers
Multirail transport tech enables 4x data throughput in constrained power/hut footprints
Deep software capabilities accelerate productization across optical platforms
Coherent supplies all core elements: lasers, detectors, passive optics, packaging, and test
Vertically integrated model accelerates time to market and provides supply chain control
Strong customer engagement across hyperscalers, cloud, and telecom operators
