Abstract:
The Optical Fiber Communication Conference and Exhibition (OFC) was held in San Francisco, USA, on April 1, 2025. Doctoral student Liyi Han from the research group attended the conference and engaged in on-site academic exchanges.
From March 30 to April 3, 2025, Liyi Han traveled to San Francisco to participate in the 50th Optical Fiber Communication Conference (OFC), the most influential academic conference in the global optical communication field. The conference brought together leading experts and institutions from academia and industry to conduct in-depth discussions on the latest breakthroughs in optical communication technologies, cutting-edge research in integrated photonics, and industrial applications of optoelectronic devices.
Liyi Han was invited to deliver an oral presentation at the conference, sharing his previous research on frequency-modulated continuous-wave LiDAR. The paper was titled "Highly Linear and Stable III-V/Si₃N₄ FMCW Laser Equipped with a Customized Electro-Optic Phase-Locked Loop." During the presentation, he elaborated on the research background, technical approach, and results of the work, followed by a discussion session with attending experts. By participating in other researchers' on-site presentations, Liyi Han gained broad exposure to related work across different research topics, stimulating further reflection on potential interdisciplinary synergies with his own research direction.
Invited presentations from industry leaders such as Nokia Bell Labs, NTT Corporation of Japan, and TSMC elucidated the latest industrial breakthroughs and research objectives, offering diverse technical solutions addressing the current research focus on single-wavelength 400 Gbps transmission. The invited presentation by Professor Tobias J. Kippenberg from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) introduced his group's achievements in on-chip erbium-doped amplification, demonstrating the significance of this technical approach and providing considerable inspiration for Liyi Han's subsequent research. Multiple keynote presentations revealed the evolution of optoelectronic integration technologies from a systems perspective, where scholars proposed research pathways breaking traditional paradigms to address common challenges such as high-density integration, heterogeneous material compatibility, and intelligent optical network architectures.
The comprehensive industry chain landscape presented in the technical exhibition area significantly broadened perspectives on industrialization. The vertical integration capabilities demonstrated by leading companies—spanning core materials, photonic chips, and optical communication systems—highlighted the substantial potential of industry-academia-research collaborative innovation. Through exchanges with technical representatives from various manufacturers, Liyi Han systematically identified key nodes in the transition of integrated photonic technologies from laboratory to mass production, particularly emphasizing industry needs such as consistency control in wafer manufacturing processes and standardized packaging and testing protocols. These insights provided valuable anchor points for his fundamental research. Notably, the technical agility and deep focus on niche areas exhibited by startup companies suggest that academic research must also balance forward-looking exploration with practical application.
