3D optoelectronics and co-packaged optics: when solving the wrong problems stalls deployment
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arXiv
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| Autori principali: | , |
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| Natura: | Preprint |
| Pubblicazione: |
2026
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| _version_ | 1866915881253076992 |
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| author | Yi, Yasha Wilkerson, Danny |
| author_facet | Yi, Yasha Wilkerson, Danny |
| contents | The rapid growth of AI and accelerator-driven workloads is forcing a fundamental rethinking of optical interconnect architectures in datacenters. Co-packaged optics and three-dimensional photonic integration have emerged as promising solutions to overcome the energy and bandwidth limitations of electrical I/O. Yet, as optics move closer to compute, packaging, thermal management, and system-level robustness increasingly dominate performance and scalability. Here, we argue that co-packaged optics should not be viewed as a component-level optimization, but as an architectural commitment that reshapes the boundaries between photonics, electronics, and system design. We examine how heterogeneous integration strategies, chiplet-based optics, and emerging packaging platforms redefine scaling laws for AI systems, often introducing trade-offs that are underappreciated in device-centric analyses. Looking forward, we discuss why standardization, serviceability, and thermal-aware co-design will be decisive in determining whether co-packaged optics can transition from early deployment to widespread adoption in AI-scale datacenters. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_21313 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | 3D optoelectronics and co-packaged optics: when solving the wrong problems stalls deployment Yi, Yasha Wilkerson, Danny Optics The rapid growth of AI and accelerator-driven workloads is forcing a fundamental rethinking of optical interconnect architectures in datacenters. Co-packaged optics and three-dimensional photonic integration have emerged as promising solutions to overcome the energy and bandwidth limitations of electrical I/O. Yet, as optics move closer to compute, packaging, thermal management, and system-level robustness increasingly dominate performance and scalability. Here, we argue that co-packaged optics should not be viewed as a component-level optimization, but as an architectural commitment that reshapes the boundaries between photonics, electronics, and system design. We examine how heterogeneous integration strategies, chiplet-based optics, and emerging packaging platforms redefine scaling laws for AI systems, often introducing trade-offs that are underappreciated in device-centric analyses. Looking forward, we discuss why standardization, serviceability, and thermal-aware co-design will be decisive in determining whether co-packaged optics can transition from early deployment to widespread adoption in AI-scale datacenters. |
| title | 3D optoelectronics and co-packaged optics: when solving the wrong problems stalls deployment |
| topic | Optics |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.21313 |