The exponential growth of global data traffic and the energy demands of data centers have accelerated the need for high-density, low-loss optical interconnects. Recent advances in co-packaged optics have demonstrated vertical silicon-to-silicon nitride chip-to-chip evanescent couplers with sub-dB loss and passive alignment tolerances suitable for scalable assembly using standard CMOS-compatible processes. These developments address one of the key bottlenecks in photonic integration—reducing cost and complexity in packaging while enabling terabit-to-petabit per second bandwidth scaling.

This presentation will highlight recent results on waveguide-to-waveguide couplers, including broadband vertical coupling strategies, graded-index concepts for efficient fan-out, and the potential impact of such technologies on co-packaged optics and heterogeneous integration. Beyond research, this talk will also discuss workforce development and educational pathways in photonics. Bridgewater State University has established the first undergraduate program in Photonics and Optical Engineering in New England, designed to train the next generation of engineers in integrated photonics, optical communications, and packaging. Furthermore, the Laboratory for Education and Application Prototyping (LEAP) at BSU provides unique opportunities for undergraduate students and industry partners to prototype, and test photonic devices in collaboration with MIT and many other players in the region.

By bridging cutting-edge photonic packaging research with innovative education and accessible prototyping facilities, this work outlines both the technical advances and the ecosystem required to sustain U.S. leadership in integrated photonics and address the pressing challenges of data-driven innovation.

Samuel Serna is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and Photonics and Optical Engineering at Bridgewater State University in Massachusetts, USA. He earned his Ph.D. in 2016 from the University of Paris-Sud / Paris-Saclay, where he focused on the design and characterization of passive silicon photonic devices and developed techniques to probe their third-order nonlinear optical properties.

Following his doctoral work, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (C2N) and later a postdoctoral associate at MIT, where he continues to collaborate as a visiting scientist to develop hybrid photonic devices for telecommunications and mid-infrared applications.

Dr. Serna leads initiatives to expand access to integrated photonics education and sustainable microchip manufacturing. He is an OPTICA Ambassador (2019) and a Senior Member (2022) and has served on the SPIE Editorial Board. His research interests include integrated photonics, nonlinear optics, photonic packaging, and scalable photonic systems.

Register for this event.