SENKO Advanced Components, Aerotech, and Santec announced a joint active-alignment architecture aimed at scaling co-packaged optics (CPO) manufacturing for AI-driven data centers. The collaboration introduces the PICAlign™ architecture, which targets one of the core bottlenecks in CPO production: aligning large numbers of optical fibers to photonic integrated circuits (PICs with nanometer precision across six degrees of freedom.
CPO adoption accelerates as hyperscalers push toward higher bandwidth density and lower power per bit, but manufacturing complexity remains a barrier. Each CPO module can require more than 100 active alignment steps, far exceeding the requirements of traditional pluggable optics. Expanded-beam optics ease linear tolerances but tighten angular constraints, driving the need for faster, more deterministic alignment systems that can operate at production scale.
The PICAlign™ architecture integrates high-speed motion control, synchronized optical measurement, and configurable alignment algorithms to support rapid multichannel alignment. The system debuts at Photonics West 2026 and targets high-volume assembly environments where throughput, repeatability, and reliability directly affect CPO economics.
• Deterministic 6-DOF positioning using Aerotech’s iXR3 motion controller
• Simultaneous multichannel optical power sampling with Santec’s OPM-200 power meter and SLS-200 stabilized light source
• Flexible alignment algorithms with custom objective functions and constrained optimization
• Detachable PIC coupler technology from SENKO to reduce repeated alignment steps during packaging
• Alignment within ~0.2 dB of global optimum in under one second
• Reliability exceeding 30,000 hours MTBF for continuous production
“We are excited to partner with SENKO and Santec to solve this critical challenge in CPO manufacturing,” said Brian O’Connor, vice president of growth and strategy at Aerotech. “Our motion control technology ensures nanometer precision and high throughput, enabling alignment routines that were previously impossible at production scale.”
🌐 Analysis
Active alignment remains a central cost and yield driver for co-packaged optics, particularly as systems move toward higher fiber counts and polarization-maintaining architectures. This collaboration reflects a broader industry push toward tightly integrated motion, measurement, and connector technologies as CPO transitions from lab-scale demonstrations to volume manufacturing alongside competing approaches from optical module and equipment suppliers.
