Tower Semiconductor Ltd. (NASDAQ: TSEM) and Coherent Corp. (NYSE: COHR) demonstrated 400 gigabits per second per lane data transmission using a silicon modulator in a production-ready silicon photonics process.

The demonstration, presented at OFC, showed a clear open eye at 420 Gb/s PAM4 and utilized Coherent's InP CW high power laser. The silicon Mach-Zehnder modulator did not require exotic materials and targets next-generation 3.2T optical transceivers for datacenter connections.

The achievement extends silicon capabilities for pluggable transceivers and Co-Packaged Optics in datacenter applications. The performance was enabled through collaboration between Coherent's design expertise and Tower Semiconductor's silicon photonics platform.

"The result can extend the use of silicon for another generation of transceivers, re-utilizing the large multi-fab capacity investments we continue to make while we proceed with our work on more advanced material systems for next-generations," said Russell Ellwanger, CEO of Tower Semiconductor.

Jim Anderson, CEO of Coherent, stated the partnership advances high-performance optical interconnects for AI-driven data centers.

Tower Semiconductor operates facilities in Israel, the United States, and Japan, providing analog semiconductor foundry services. The company holds a 51% stake in TPSCo and shares a facility in Italy with STMicroelectronics.

Coherent, founded in 1971, operates in more than 20 countries and provides photonics technology for datacenter, communications, and industrial markets.