April 21, 2026 Silicon photonics didn’t become a manufacturing reality overnight, and few people have shaped that journey as directly as Dr. Yusheng Bian. Recently named an Optica Fellow for transformative contributions to silicon photonics, Bian has spent almost a decade at GF advancing the innovations that underpin scalable, high‑volume CMOS platforms. Following his recognition as an Optica Fellow at OFC, we sat down with Bian and asked him to reflect on the long arc from early research to real-world deployment and the momentum now carrying the technology forward.Q: What originally drew you into the field of silicon photonics, well before it became as visible as it is today? CMOS technology has been developed for decades, and it underpins much of modern computing with a tremendous impact on everyday life. What initially drew me to silicon photonics was realizing that the same silicon substrate used for electronics could also be used to guide light. This light isn’t visible to the human eye. It operates in wavelength ranges like the near‑infrared, but the idea that silicon could propagate light was deeply exciting. Even more compelling was the fact that the same platform could support both electronic and photonic signals. That meant you could integrate the two, enabling not only light propagation but also electrical control of light and conversion between optical and electrical signals. There’s a powerful connection there, rooted in the commonality of a single, well-established technology platform. Because silicon already has a mature ecosystem, this convergence creates confidence that the technology can scale. Fundamentally, photonics offers clear advantages over electrons for data movement, including lower loss, higher bandwidth and improved signal integrity. All of that made it feel like a direction that could deliver real value and meaningfully change how systems work. Early in my career, it wasn’t certain that silicon photonics would become a mass manufacturable or commercially viable solution. There was real uncertainty. But the potential of the technology, and the passion it inspired, kept me moving forward. Today, seeing this shift take shape and the technology adopted in real‑world applications has been incredibly rewarding. Q: What are some things that you’ve really been focusing on in the silicon photonics space? I think over the past few years, both GF as a team and I personally have made tremendous progress. We are now seeing AI data centers evolve to a point where traditional copper‑based electronic solutions can no longer keep pace with increasing data demands, especially for data transfer between chips and across data centers. Because of that, photonics is now widely recognized as an integral solution for next‑generation data transfer, replacing copper where electronic interconnects can no longer scale. It enables lower power consumption, longer transmission distances and significantly better signal integrity. This represents a real paradigm shift, from traditional copper wiring to optical fiber and now toward integrating optical functionality directly into silicon photonics, or photonic engines, that can be placed very close to electronic systems. Q: Was this explosion in demand for silicon photonics driven by AI something you anticipated? Even a decade ago when we launched our silicon photonics technology around 2016 to 2017, this was not obvious. That was when I joined GF as the first R&D engineer focused on silicon photonics. Back then, we knew silicon photonics was coming, but across the industry there was no clear consensus that it would definitively replace copper or traditional electronic solutions. Over the last few years, the AI boom, accelerating data center demand and strong ecosystem momentum have given us much greater confidence. Photonics is now clearly one of the essential solutions needed in data centers to address current bandwidth, power and signal integrity bottlenecks. I wouldn’t say this was a big surprise or completely unexpected, but we are seeing strong confidence and real momentum toward photonic solutions across the board. And this extends beyond data centers. We’re also seeing adoption in areas such as photonic computing, quantum computing, sensing and other emerging applications. I wouldn’t call photonics a ubiquitous solution yet, but it is becoming very widely adopted as a replacement—or complement—to state-of-the-art electronic technologies. Over the next decade, we expect to see major advancements and extensive deployment across these fields. Q: Silicon photonics today seems both established and still evolving. How do you see that balance? If you look at what is already in production today and widely adopted by major data center operators—companies like Google, NVIDIA and Meta—it’s mainly pluggable optical engines. These are optical modules shipped in very high volumes, generating billions of dollars in revenue globally, across the U.S., China and other major markets. That technology is already established and well adopted. Beyond pluggable optics, there are two additional paradigms emerging. The first is the transition from traditional pluggable optical engines to what we call co‑packaged optics. This is a more compact solution that brings the optical engine much closer to the computing unit, such as the switch ASIC. NVIDIA, for example, is actively driving innovation in this area. This is just the first step toward future data transfer architectures. Beyond that, photonics is also expected to play a critical role in quantum computing. GF has strong capabilities in 300mm CMOS integrated platforms that support multiple quantum applications. We partnered with PsiQuantum several years ago, with the goal of delivering industry‑leading quantum computing platforms that meet future requirements. Another important area is LiDAR. As we move toward autonomous vehicles, there is a push to replace traditional, bulky LiDAR systems—like the rotating units you see on vehicles today—with much smaller, chip‑scale photonic solutions. Silicon photonics has the potential to enable that transition. There is also significant opportunity in sensing applications, including biomedical sensing. These are all areas where we expect photonics, and silicon photonics in particular, to continue penetrating in the next decade. Q: What makes GF particularly well-positioned in silicon photonics? GlobalFoundries is well known as an advanced 300mm CMOS foundry. One of the key advantages of combining a CMOS foundry with silicon photonics is the ability to use the same semiconductor technology platform, the same silicon-on-insulator substrate, to guide and propagate light. That convergence is incredibly powerful. One of GF’s major strengths is its deep manufacturing expertise and well-developed ecosystem, spanning devices, physics, manufacturing and system‑level integration. This positions GF as a leading foundry capable of driving innovation in silicon photonics, not only at the research level, but also through technology development and into high‑volume production. This transition—from research to real-world, mass-produced applications—is something that’s difficult to achieve in academic labs or small research environments. At GF, we’re focused on high‑volume manufacturing to support practical, real‑world products. Beyond internal capabilities, GF also works closely with ecosystem partners—OSATs, suppliers, vendors and other collaborators—to continue pushing the boundaries of silicon photonics technology. Any recognition I receive should really be viewed not as a personal achievement, but as a reflection of the entire silicon photonics team and the broader ecosystem we work with. We’ve also strengthened our position through recent acquisitions, including AMF and Infinilink’s silicon photonics assets. AMF adds important geographic diversity, particularly in Asia, and gives us a greater manufacturing scale. As a result, GlobalFoundries is widely described by industry sources as the world’s largest pure‑play silicon photonics foundry by revenue. AMF also expands customer coverage across different application areas. For example, in datacom there are different optical bands—O‑band, C‑band—which you can think of simply as different “colors” of light. AMF enables us to serve customers and applications not fully covered by our existing U.S. fabs. Additionally, Infinilink’s technology strengthens our IP development capabilities, allowing us to offer not only PDKs but also silicon photonics IP servicing, providing customers with more complete, system level solutions. Q: What technical challenges still need to be solved for silicon photonics to move even faster? Silicon photonics is still evolving, especially when AI data centers continue to drive this huge demand, and there is continued need to drive higher bandwidths and lower power consumption. From a practical perspective, the photonics team is advancing data rates from 100 gigabits per second to 200 and now pushing toward 400‑per‑lane class. This represents a significant leap, enabling more data per channel at higher speeds and lower power. We believe we are at the forefront of this effort and will continue pushing the boundaries. Q: On a personal level, what keeps you excited about your work? I’m deeply grateful to be part of this multidisciplinary team. Every day, I work with talented colleagues from different backgrounds, gaining new perspectives and learning continuously. This is a novel technology, full of opportunity, and collaboration is essential to pushing it forward. Persistence has also been critical. Staying curious and remaining resilient in the face of setbacks makes all the difference. In fact, many of the challenges we encounter ultimately become catalysts for innovation. Don’t be afraid of mistakes because progress comes through collaboration across disciplines. Q: What does it mean to you to be named an Optica Fellow? I was both thrilled and humbled to receive this recognition because it was the first time at GF that we’ve had an optical fellow. Optica is the largest professional society in optics and photonics, not just silicon photonics, so I was very honored. But this honor is not just a personal achievement. It reflects the collective contributions, innovation and collaboration of the entire GF silicon photonics team over the past decade. So, I’m excited about this current moment and I and even more energized by what lies ahead—growing the team, expanding the ecosystem and delivering solutions our customers value as we keep pushing the technology forward. Q: Outside of work, what do you enjoy doing? I enjoy hiking and I also use AI for some creative work, like composing music and singing. Music is something I’ve been trying to pursue the past couple years because I think that exploration brings a new perspective and helps strike a good balance. Sometimes, through these activities, you can actually learn something new. Working in a field that is drastically different from your main area can help you connect the dots and bring new ideas back into your work. That kind of cross disciplinary thinking is sometimes where true innovation comes from.
