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PicoJool introduces 200G VCSELs for scale-up AI data centers
PicoJool Inc of Palo Alto, California is introducing 200G vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser (VCSEL) products with bandwidth exceeding 37GHz, targeting hyperscale AI data centers. The company develops optical chips and modules for high-bandwidth, low-cost connectivity. Sampling of chip-level products begins in third-quarter 2026, including quad 100G, quad 200G and 32x50G NRZ micro-VCSELs for slow and wide applications. PicoJool is already collaborating with system startups and hyperscalers to define next-generation pluggable, near-packaged optics (NPO) and co-packaged optics (CPO) solutions for AI data centers. VCSELs have been the backbone of data-center optical connectivity since 1996, valued for speed, reliability and cost efficiency. PicoJool claims its technology eliminates doubts about scaling to meet AI bandwidth demands. The 200G VCSEL products pave the way for optical links that are as inexpensive, compact and manufacturable as traditional copper connections, with a clear roadmap to 800G, 1.6T and 3.2T speeds. A manufacturing partnership with WIN Semiconductor, the world’s leading VCSEL producer for 3D sensing applications that has shipped over a billion chips in the past decade, underpins the effort. PicoJool’s 200G designs and process recipes have been transferred to WIN and other foundries specializing in gallium arsenide (GaAs). Because GaAs-based VCSELs are unconstrained in production capacity, the company avoids supply bottlenecks that limit competing laser technologies. Founder & CEO Al Yuen stated, “Our partnership with WIN Semiconductor has been very fruitful as we get ready to release a series of VCSEL products for high-volume manufacturing.” Pat Gelsinger, general partner at Playground Global, commented, “By building on a GaAs supply chain that has already shipped billions of chips, Picojool has solved both sides of the equation: record bandwidth and the production scale to deliver it. That combination turns a lab achievement into an industry shift, creating a viable path from copper to optical at AI scale.” PicoJool will begin sampling its 200G VCSEL products in third-quarter 2026, with a high-volume ramp expected in early 2027.