Data Centres, Telecommunications Networks, AI Infrastructure: Photonics Offers Clear Advantages for Energy Efficiency

Photonics could drive the green digital transformation, says David de Felipe Mesquida from Fraunhofer HHI in his interview with RESET.

World Record Achieved in Transmission Capacity and Distance: With 19-core Optical Fiber with Standard Cladding Diameter 1,808 km Transmission of 1.02 Petabits per Second | 2025 | NICT - National Institute of Information and Communications Technology

An international research team led by the Photonic Network Laboratory at the National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT, President: TOKUDA Hideyuki Ph.D.), and including Sumitomo Electric Industries, Ltd. (Sumitomo Electric, President: INOUE Osamu) have set a new world record in optical fiber communications, achieving data transmission at 1.02 petabits per second over a distance of 1,808 kilometers (roughly equivalent to the distance from Sapporo to Fukuoka, from Missouri to Montana or from Berlin to Naples).

More efficient circuits for AI and quantum computers

Twisting light for memory: New chiral photonic device enables real-time control of light polarization and data storage

As fast as modern electronics have become, they could be much faster if their operations were based on light, rather than electricity. Fiber optic cables already transport information at the speed of light; to do computations on that information without translating it back to electric signals will require a host of new optical components.