Tower Semiconductor and Scintil Photonics have announced availability of what it calls the world’s first heterogeneously integrated Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) laser sources for AI infrastructure, built with Scintil’s SHIP (Scintil Heterogeneous Integrated Photonics) technology on Tower’s high-volume silicon photonics platform. The companies position the devices as a key building block for Co-Packaged Optics (CPO) in next-generation AI data center scale-up networks, targeting higher bandwidth density, ultra-low tail latency, and lower energy per bit.
According to the announcement, SHIP combines Tower’s silicon photonics manufacturing platform with heterogeneous integration of monolithic laser sources to meet DWDM technical requirements for AI. Scintil says its SHIP technology has been validated on Tower’s silicon photonics platform, and that its LEAF Light product is “the industry’s first DWDM-optimized, intelligent integrated laser source” fabricated with SHIP.
The companies are targeting hyperscale deployments where manufacturing scale, capacity flexibility, and supply continuity are operational requirements. Tower says its multi-site silicon photonics manufacturing footprint provides “resilient capacity and supply continuity aligned with hyperscale deployment needs,” and the collaboration is supporting customer evaluations for DWDM CPO programs with a stated path from qualification to volume manufacturing.
“Next-generation AI infrastructure demands optical interconnects that deliver more bandwidth per fiber at lower power per bit,” said Matt Crowley, Chief Executive Officer of Scintil Photonics. “DWDM co-packaged optics meets that bar. LEAF Light brings the DWDM laser source technology; Tower’s SiPho platform brings the manufacturing scale. With SHIP now validated on Tower’s production lines, customers have a path from evaluation to millions of units per month.”
“Manufacturing and foundry to vendor alignment is the key to unlocking the CPO market to ensure the reliability and volumes that Hyperscalers need to hit their AI goals,” said Alan Weckel, Founder and Technology Analyst at 650 Group, LLC.
Both companies plan to share additional information at OFC 2026 in Los Angeles on March 17–19. Scintil notes it will be at booth 5537, and Tower notes it will be at booth 2221.
Source: Tower Semiconductor
