Page 13 - Winter 2026

Another company that is actively involved in devices as ideal choices for main and auxiliary One company, NLM Photonics, is pioneering a potential cent of total power consumption.
powering the AI data centre is Power Integrations, power supplies, delivering the efficiency, reliability solution to address the problem. The principle involves
NLM’s technology provides a path for traditional
who are developing high-voltage GaN-based power and power density required in 800V DC data silicon-organic hybrid (SOH) technology, which blends
silicon photonics, and any photonics platform to
conversion solutions that are specifically engineered centres “. conventional silicon with organic electro-optic (OEO)
scale beyond its limitations while reducing power.
for AI and hyperscale data centres. These will enable materials so as to achieve greater data transmission
More bandwidth, less power.
800V DC power architectures and deliver high efficiency at lower power levels.
New Power Module enhances AI Data Centre
efficiency, high power density and long-term reliability. Testing performed by Keysight Technologies at
Power OEO materials offer advantages over traditional
our lab verified 224Gbps data transmission with
Power Integrations’ strategy is centred around wide- inorganic equivalents in terms of stronger electro-
Microchip Technology has launched the MCPF1525 exceptionally low voltage driver requirements on
bandgap gallium nitride (GaN) devices, integrated Power Module, a highly integrated device with a 16V optic responsiveness and the ability to operate with the 1.6T PIC. The best single channel has a world
power ICs, and system-level architectures designed considerably reduced drive voltages. They can also
Vin buck converter that can deliver 25A per module, record SOH modulation efficiency of 0.31V-mm,
for next-generation data centre power delivery. The stackable up to 200A. It enables higher power delivery be integrated into existing silicon manufacturing which is 10 to 15 times better than traditional silicon.
company has introduced 1250V and 1700V PowiGaN processes removing the need for new fabrication
for the same rack space and is combined with a
high-electron-mobility transistor (HEMT) switches programmable PMBus and I2C controls. It is designed infrastructure. Our patented Selerion family of materials is
designed for 800V DC power architectures as well as proven stable over 120 degrees Centigrade. Once
particularly to power the latest generation of PCIe In testing hybrid photonic integrated circuits, or
addressing the often overlooked auxiliary power rails switches and high-performance compute MPU PICs, were shown to demonstrate data transmission the material is thermoset during our poling and
required for control, monitoring and safety systems in crosslinking step, the electro-optic responsive
applications that are required for AI deployments. speeds of over 200G per channel with record
AI racks. chromophores are locked in place.
An innovative vertical construction maximises board modulation efficiencies and low voltage requirements,
Roland Saint-Pierre, Vice President of Product suggesting that such designs could scale to 400G Our next step is working toward manufacturability
space efficiency and offers up to 40 per cent board
Development for Power Integrations, is quoted as or even 800G per wavelength. With this backdrop at scale. We want to automate post-fab deposition,
area reduction compared to other solutions. The
follows: hybrid approaches are being viewed as potentially poling and encapsulation so OEO materials can be
compact power module measures approximately
the answer to the largest source of power draw in added to existing foundry processes seamlessly “.
“ With rising AI power demands, moving to an 6.8 x 7.65 x 3.82 millimetres, which makes it an optimal
800V DC input simplifies rack design, makes more solution for space-constrained AI servers. AI-focused facilities, namely the photonic interfaces Reference: Miles, S., ‘Breaking the Bottleneck: Powering AI Data
responsible for high-speed data movement between
efficient use of space and reduces copper usage. Centres with Next-gen Photonics’, Electronic Specifier, 17th. October
Other features include multiple diagnostic functions processors and memory.
With rising rack power demands, we see 1250V
reported over PMBus, including over-temperature,
and 1700V PowiGaN The fact that organics are added after standard silicon
over-current and over-voltage protection to minimise
undetected faults. There is also a customised processing means that hybrid designs can scale to
higher data rates without requiring major redesigns or
integrated inductor for low conducted and radiated
noise, which enhances signal integrity, data accuracy disruption to existing foundry infrastructure. Visit our
and reliability of high-speed computing, helping Organic materials have traditionally had a poor
to reduce repeated data transmissions that can reputation for stability, with a tendency to degrade website!
consume valuable system power and time. above 90 degrees Centigrade, but, building on
decades of research at Washington University, NLM
Rudy Jaramillo, Vice President of Microchip
managed to develop thermoset-polymers that
Technology’s Analogue Power and Interface Why not head down to our
“crosslink into a very dense lattice”. The age-old
Division, comments:
problem of thermal reliability therefore came to be website and read more news in
“ By leveraging Microchip’s addressed.
comprehensive solutions, including PCIe our blog section?
NLM is now working with third parties its materials’
Switchtec technology, FPGAs, MPUs and
stability, bandwidth and reliability, and plans to
Flashtec controllers, the MCPF 1525
migrate to Advance Micro Foundry’s more advanced Updated daily with hand-picked
power module can help customers
HP silicon photonics platform and investigate next- articles from around the web...
achieve the system efficiency,
generation materials that could yield even higher
reliability and scalability required for
stability. The expectation is that SOH photonics will
high-performance data centre and
ultimately change the way in which data moves inside
industrial computing applications “.
and between data centres.
Reference: Electronic Specifier, 6th. February
Brad Booth, CEO of NLM Photonics, explains the
development:
Powering AI Data Centres with
Next-gen Photonics “ AI workloads are moving so much data that
connectivity has become the bottleneck; whether
Traditional silicon photonics are
that be connectivity between the GPU and the
reaching their limits and can no
memory, or the GPU and the network.
longer efficiently solve the power
and connectivity challenges that The traditional photonic platforms are reaching
are confronting AI data centres. their limits, and we’re solving the problem with
Thermal instability, increasing power. The crux of the problem is that AI data
drive voltages and high fabrication centres cannot afford to burn that extra power.
costs are all limiting factors, and the
Data centres are struggling to add the compute
traditional approach of using more
they need within a power envelope that won’t
power to push more data is no longer
destabilise the grid. In AI-focused facilities, institutionofelectronics.ac.uk
viable.
networking hardware accounts for 20 to 40 per
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