Photonics, which directly connects optical and electrical components, could replace some copper wiring to reduce power usage, heat generation and the energy needed to cool data centre systems.
A 100MW facility uses approximately 400 tonnes of copper. Most is used for power and cooling infrastructure, with roughly 70 tonnes used in servers and 20 tonnes in network wiring. Researchers say that increasing the use of fibre optic cables inside data centres could not only reduce environmental impact but also improve computing performance.
Photons vs electrons
Today, data travels through data centres as electrons (electricity) moving along metal pathways such as copper. Because electrons have mass and charge, they naturally create resistance, friction and heat. As a result, operators consume significant amounts of energy cooling systems and maintaining performance.
Electron-based bandwidth is also limited by the speed of electrical pulses and the number of physical wires that can be deployed.
Photonics uses photons (light) to move data instead. In fibre optic systems, information is encoded into light waves that travel through microscopic channels.
This enables data to travel at the speed of light, while generating very little heat during transmission. Because photons have no mass or charge, less energy is required for cooling. Fibre optics also support multiplexing, allowing multiple wavelengths of light to travel through a single cable and significantly increasing bandwidth.
Challenges of using photonics in data centres
Directly connecting optical and electrical components requires complex engineering.
While optical systems generate little heat, they are highly sensitive to temperature changes and must operate alongside heat-producing electrical components. This remains one of the key challenges affecting deployment costs.
Another hurdle is skills development, as engineers require specialist training to install and maintain photonic infrastructure.
Researchers argue that many of the technology's manufacturing challenges have now been addressed and that photonics may be approaching wider commercial adoption. Progress has been supported in part by chipmaker Nvidia, which continues to invest in the development of photonic technologies.
Although costs remain relatively high, proponents believe broader adoption could help data centres improve energy efficiency, reduce environmental impact and support growing computing demands.
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