Breakthrough heralds a new era of programmable photonics for AI data centers, communications, and next-generation sensing
This leapfrog advance in semiconductor-based photonics enables electronic control of light across two dimensions within a single chip — a capability long pursued in optical science and widely considered essential for scalable programmable optical systems.
“This is a defining moment for programmable photonics,” said Dr. Sam Heidari, CEO of Lumotive. “For decades, optical systems relied on static components or mechanical motion to control light. Demonstrating two-dimensional beamforming in a semiconductor platform brings the flexibility of software to photonics and unlocks entirely new system architectures.”
By bringing software-defined control to light, Lumotive’s innovation opens new possibilities for optical circuit switching in AI data centers, photonic communications, optical computing and advanced 3D sensing used in applications such as autonomous and humanoid robotics.
“As AI infrastructure continues to scale, the networking architectures that support these systems will need to evolve as well,” said Jim Anderson, CEO of Coherent. “Optical circuit switching is increasingly being explored as a way to enable more scalable and energy-efficient connectivity.”
Data center networks are facing increasingly greater challenges in managing bandwidth and power consumption in network clusters, especially among hyperscalers. These constraints have renewed industry focus on optical circuit switching, which enables direct optical connections between endpoints and significantly improves network efficiency. Lumotive’s programmable photonic technology provides a scalable path toward the high-port-count switching architectures required for next-generation AI infrastructure.
“Two-dimensional beamforming has been one of the most challenging problems in photonics for decades,” said Dr. Gleb Akselrod, Founder and CTO of Lumotive. “What we’ve demonstrated is a new paradigm where the behavior of light can be programmed directly at the semiconductor level.”
The novel chip dynamically and precisely forms and steers beams of light across two axes with no moving parts. Using nanoscale optical elements integrated into a semiconductor platform, Lumotive’s LCM technology enables real-time beamforming with the reliability and scalability expected from modern semiconductor manufacturing.
The capability represents a fundamental shift in how optical devices can be built. Because the metasurface can control the phase of light across its surface in two dimensions, the same chip can perform functions traditionally requiring multiple optical components — including mirrors, lenses, beam splitters, or combinations of these elements. This creates the potential for general-purpose flat optics, where a single semiconductor device can dynamically reconfigure how light is manipulated within a system.
“Active metasurfaces have been an area of intense research for many years,” said Dr. David R. Smith, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor at Duke University and a pioneer in metamaterials research. “Demonstrating two-dimensional beamforming in a semiconductor metasurface platform is an important milestone for the field. The use of CMOS-compatible materials and fabrication approaches is particularly exciting because it creates a credible path toward scalable and manufacturable optical systems.”
The breakthrough establishes a technological foundation for a new class of programmable photonic semiconductors designed to power future optical communications and high-port-count optical circuit switching systems for AI-scale infrastructure.
About Lumotive
Lumotive is pioneering the era of programmable optics, where for the first time, light is controlled as intelligently and flexibly as software.
Our patented Light Control Metasurface (LCM™) transforms photonics into a digital platform, unlocking breakthroughs in sensing, optical switching, and communication. With more than 160 patents and growing commercial traction, Lumotive is delivering the world’s first digital platform for light — and redefining what’s possible in the optical age.
For more information, please visit www.lumotive.com.
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