[News] Fudan University Spin-Off Nexilumen Advances Micro LED Optical Interconnect, Achieving 37 Gbps Bandwidth

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Nexilumen, a spin-off from Fudan University, has made new progress in Micro LED optical interconnects, increasing aggregate bandwidth through space-division multiplexing (SDM) and wavelength-division multiplexing (WDM). Its 16-channel Micro LED array achieved a data rate of 37 Gbps; in the SDM approach, a 4 × 4 green Micro LED array integrating 16 independently driven pixels delivers an average data rate of approximately 2.3 Gbps per pixel, with all 16 channels operating simultaneously to reach the 37 Gbps aggregate rate. For WDM, Nexilumen integrated violet, blue, and green InGaN Micro LEDs alongside yellow and red hybrid Micro LED/quantum-dot pixels on a single silicon substrate; the 320 × 290μm area accommodates five independently driven wavelength channels, achieving 18.66 Gbps across the five channels, corresponding to a data-rate density of approximately 201 Gbps/mm² based on the total emitter-chip area. In separate research previously published in Nature Communications, the company demonstrated a transmitter energy efficiency of 0.056 pJ/bit at a communication rate of 1.5 Gbps through communication-link and algorithm optimization. At CIOE 2026, Nexilumen showcased long-wavelength InGaN Micro LEDs, 405 nm high-speed light sources, and multichannel parallel optical links: its long-wavelength devices achieved an electro-optical modulation bandwidth of 2.85 GHz at a current density of 6.25 A/cm², while its 405 nm light source maintained a modulation bandwidth above 3 GHz across the full operating current range. The company plans to develop and validate a prototype optical interconnect system targeting 1.6 Tbps and is focusing on Micro LED light sources, drivers, and system solutions for short-reach interconnects, including co-packaged optics (CPO) and chip-to-chip optical I/O. In July 2026, Nexilumen announced the completion of a seed funding round worth tens of millions of yuan, jointly backed by Fudan Innovation and Furuong Investment.

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Source: TrendForce · 10/20/2026 · View original source