Key Takeaways
- Brad Booth, CEO of NLM Photonics, has a background in technology strategy from companies like Meta, Microsoft, Dell, and Intel.
- NLM Photonics aims to reduce power consumption in photonics by up to 50%, addressing the high power demands of AI data centers.
- NLM differentiates itself by being agnostic to photonics platforms and emphasizing high thermal stability for manufacturing.
Brad Booth, CEO of NLM Photonics, is a distinguished technology strategy and development leader, and influential in industry consortia and standardization. Prior to NLM, Booth served at Meta Platforms and Microsoft Azure, where he focused on developing next-generation optical connectivity solutions for Cloud and AI data centers. Previously, he worked at Dell, Intel, and Bell-Northern Research. Booth led the formation of the Ultra Ethernet Consortium, the Ethernet Technology Consortium, the Consortium for On-Board Optics, and the Ethernet Alliance. He is well-known in the networking industry and has received awards for his contributions to the industry and networking standards.
Tell us about your company?
NLM Photonics is working to change the trajectory of the photonics industry using groundbreaking hybrid organic electro-optic (OEO) materials. The photonics industry does not have an analogue to Moore’s Law in the electronics industry: For us, as bandwidth increases, so does power consumption. NLM focuses on shifting the power curve down by up to 50%.
What problems are you solving?
One of the most critical problems today is the power demand associated with AI data centers. Network power demands for AI data centers can be more than double that of traditional data centers. Photonics account for 70 percent of network power consumption; almost a third of an AI data center’s total power. NLM’s target is to cut photonics power consumption by up to 50 percent, which will have a significant impact on data center power efficiency.
What application areas are your strongest?
Energy efficient modulation. Power consumption and frequency of modulation are directly impacted by the losses inherent in the modulator. Use an inefficient or high-loss modulator, and you have to correct that by burning more power. NLM’s energy-efficient modulation has gained traction in the photonics industry for datacom, telecom, and quantum applications, plus in the mmWave industry.
What keeps your customers up at night?
Customers across this industry are concerned about how to stay competitive on bandwidth capabilities while fitting within their power limitations. Whether they’re considering pluggable optics, co-packaged optics, or optical I/O, the challenges are complex. OEO materials, like NLM’s Selerion-HTX, can provide a path to address those limitations by offering increased bandwidth for significantly less power than competing technologies.
What does the competitive landscape look like and how do you differentiate?
Many incumbent technologies in the photonics industry are now being challenged by both inorganic and organic technologies. What I like about NLM’s technology is that we’re agnostic to the photonics platform, and there’s no disruption to the wafer development. And more importantly, NLM’s technology is designed for high thermal stability to make it suitable for high-volume manufacturing.
What new features/technology are you working on?
NLM Photonics continues to develop new materials, processes, and devices to tune performance, improve modulation efficiency, and accelerate the manufacturing process. Our forthcoming additions to the Selerion family of OEO materials will further redefine the boundaries of photonics performance. We look forward to sharing more on those developments in the near future.
How do customers normally engage with your company?
NLM’s customers engage with us directly today. We foresee that model will continue as we work to develop an ecosystem. Over time, our goal is to have our technology be ubiquitous throughout the semiconductor industry, enabling those in the industry to easily access NLM’s technologies for their developments and devices. If you’re a fabricator interested in partnering with us, connect with me on LinkedIn; I’d love to talk with you about the future of photonics.
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