The rapid development of AI, IoT, 5G and high-performance computing applications has led to exponential growth in data traffic within data centers. Nearly three-quarters of this data traffic remains within the confines of data centers. Traditional pluggable optics cannot keep up with this surge. This is where Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) technology comes into play.

CPO represents a disruptive approach to increasing bandwidth density and energy efficiency. It achieves this by significantly reducing electrical interconnect lengths through advanced packaging and simultaneously optimizing electronics and photonics. Particularly on the silicon platform, CPO holds promise for future data centers.

International companies such as Intel, Broadcom, and IBM have heavily invested in CPO technology. This interdisciplinary research field encompasses photonic devices, integrated circuit designs, packaging, modeling of photonic components, electronic-photonics co-simulation, applications, and standardization.

The challenges in CPO production are diverse. These include integrating electronics and photonics, developing reliable packaging technologies, and standardization efforts. Nevertheless, CPO offers tremendous potential for the future of data center connectivity.

ASMPT as a key equipment supplier for CPO applications offers the solutions for high volume manufacturing of Co-Packaged Optics devices.

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