Optics Weekly · Week 39, 2026 · Sep 20–26
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Huawei Teams Up with Xi'an Institute of Optics, Meta Unveils Lightweight VR Glasses
This issue covers September 20 to September 26, 2026. Huawei signed a strategic partnership with the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Mechanics, making AI + optics a core focus, with the Ascend 960 supernode using NPO; Largan Precision bought land seven times in three months for a total of RMB 8 billion, betting on CPO fiber arrays. On the consumer side, Meta unveiled 100-gram VR glasses and updated its AI glasses features. LightCounting cautions that while NPO is hot, pluggables remain the sales mainstay. The Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics released a string of results in anti-reflection metasurfaces, few-cycle pulse compression and solid-state high-harmonic control.
Optics + AI Industry Moves
In this sectionHuawei partners with the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Mechanics on AI + optics; Largan Precision goes on a land-buying spree to bet on CPO fiber arrays; Sunny Optics discusses redefining the value of light through optics + AI; Xili Photonics closes a Pre-A round worth over RMB 100 million for thin-film lithium niobate.
OFweek Optics Network · NewsOptics industryOptics and AISep 21Huawei Teams Up with Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics on AI+Optics; Ascend 960 SuperPod Uses NPO
Huawei and the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, with AI+optics as a core focus. Huawei has pledged to prioritize computing resources and AI teams for the effort. Earlier, on September 17, Huawei unveiled the Ascend 960 superpod using near-package optics (NPO) at Huawei Connect 2026, employing 5,500 in-house Hi-ONE optical engines.
OFweek Optics Network · NewsOptics industryOptics and AISep 23Largan Buys Land Seven Times in Three Months for a Total of RMB 8 Billion, Betting on CPO Fiber Arrays
On September 17, Largan spent RMB 1.172 billion to acquire about 2,259 ping of land and 3,695 ping of buildings in Nantun, Taichung. It was the company's seventh real estate deal since late June, bringing the total to RMB 8.078 billion. Chairman Lin Enping confirmed in July that the company had won its first customer order for fiber arrays, with the land purchases paving the way for mass production in 2027.
OFweek Optics Network · NewsOptics industryOptics and AISep 23Interview with Sunny Optics' Xiong Guanhao: Reconstructing the Value of Light with 'Optics + AI'
Speaking at CIOE 2026, Xiong Guanhao, senior director of strategy and marketing at Sunny Optics, said AI is moving from the cloud into the physical world, and optics is shifting from an imaging tool to the gateway through which AI acquires information, understands the world and transmits data.
OFweek Optics Network · NewsOptics industryOptics and AISep 20Thin-Film Lithium Niobate Firm Xili Photonics Completes Pre-A Round Worth Over RMB 100 Million
Xili Photonics has completed a Pre-A funding round worth over RMB 100 million, led by Futeng Capital with participation from the Shanghai Future Industry Fund and others. The funds will go toward R&D of thin-film lithium niobate photonic chips and system-on-chip integration, product iteration and wafer production line construction.
NPO Hype vs. Reality
In this sectionMajor domestic optical module makers showcased NPO products en masse at CIOE, where NPO is seen as the preferred choice for hyperscalers; LightCounting, however, notes that retimed pluggable optical modules remain the market mainstay, while test and measurement is being repriced.
CIOE 2026 Observations: Why NPO Has Become the Optimal Choice for Cloud Giants
The 27th CIOE drew nearly 190,000 visits over three days, up 32% year on year. NPO (near-package optics) products from major domestic optical module makers made a collective appearance. NPO moves the optical engine from the switch front panel to near the ASIC package without soldering it to the switch chip, balancing power consumption and serviceability.
LightCounting: NPO Is Hot, but Pluggables Still Dominate the Market
LightCounting's latest quarterly report says NPOs dominated much of the discussion at the recent CIOE, much as the industry's enthusiasm for LPOs a few years ago. Yet sales of retimed pluggable optical modules continue to hit new highs, with Ethernet optical modules accounting for the bulk of overall sales.
CIOE's Hidden Star: Optical Interconnect Testing Gets Repriced
C114 notes that at CIOE 2026, optical module makers competed on 1.6T, 3.2T and 6.4T speeds, while test and measurement is another crowded track. Lianxun Instruments, which listed on the STAR Market this April, saw its shares peak at RMB 2,777.77 within three months of its debut, making it the most expensive stock on the A-share market. Its business covers test equipment for optical modules and CPO optical engines.
Photon Bridge CCO: Tackling the Mass-Production Bottleneck for External Light Sources in AI Optical Interconnect
C114 interviews Photon Bridge's chief commercial officer about the interconnect bandwidth pressure from expanding AI compute clusters, the role of integrated photonics in breaking through optical module power and density limits, the mass-production challenges of external light sources (ELS), and the Dutch integrated photonics ecosystem.
Meta Glasses and AR Optics
In this sectionMeta unveiled 100-gram VR glasses slated for a spring 2027 launch at $1,300, and brought the Muse agent and hearing enhancement to its AI glasses; the key words for AR optics at CIOE were mass production, thin and light, and color, with waveguide technology paths diverging.
AuganixOptics industryOptics and AISep 24Meta Unveils 100 g VR Glasses, Priced at $1,300 and Arriving Spring 2027
Meta has unveiled the 100 g Meta VR Glasses, powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon Reality Elite processor with a separate compute unit. They are slated for launch in spring 2027 at $1,300.
AuganixOptics and AISep 24Meta Connect 2026 AI glasses updates: Muse, hearing enhancement and Dolby Atmos recording
At Connect 2026, Meta announced updates to its AI glasses lineup, including bringing the personal AI agent Muse to the glasses, hearing enhancement software and Dolby Atmos audio recording.
OFweek Optics Network · NewsOptics industryOptics and AISep 24CIOE 2026 AR Optics Review: Mass Production, Slim Design and Color Emerge as Key Themes
At the 27th CIOE and SIVA 2026, the key themes for VR/AR optics centered on mass production, slim design and color displays for AR glasses. The article summarizes show trends, noting that 4-inch, 6-inch and other semiconductor wafers were everywhere, serving as a way to demonstrate mass-production capability.
OFweek Optics Network · NewsOptics industryOptics and AISep 23Optical Waveguide Technologies: Five Routes and Five Physical Logics
The article groups AR optical waveguides into three major categories and five technical routes: geometric, diffractive (including SRG, VHG and PVG) and metasurface. Each relies on different optical principles, performance limits and industrialization timelines, and the author argues that no single solution fits all.
High-Power Lasers and Meta-Optics
In this sectionThe Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics used nanoimprinting to fabricate large-area broadband anti-reflection metasurfaces, achieved high-power few-cycle pulse compression in a multi-pass cell, and for the first time achieved all-optical control of chirality and ellipticity in solid-state high harmonics.
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics · Research UpdatesFirst-partyOptics industrySep 24Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics Uses Nanoimprint Lithography to Fabricate Large-Area, Wide-Angle, Broadband Antireflective Metasurfaces
A team from the High-Power Laser Component Technology and Engineering Department at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics used nanoimprint lithography to fabricate large-area, double-sided fused-silica nanopillar metasurfaces, achieving broadband, wide-angle antireflection from the visible to the near-infrared, along with good high-temperature stability and laser damage tolerance.
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics · Research UpdatesFirst-partyOptics industrySep 22SIOM Achieves High-Power Few-Cycle Pulse Compression with Dispersion-Engineered Multi-Pass Cell
A team from the State Key Laboratory of Ultra-Intense Laser Science and Technology at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) has achieved few-cycle nonlinear pulse compression in a dispersion-engineered folded multi-pass cell, producing high-power few-cycle ultrafast laser pulses. The results were published in Optics Letters.
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics · Research UpdatesFirst-partyOptics industrySep 22SIOM Achieves Fully Optical Arbitrary Control of Chirality and Ellipticity in Solid-State High-Harmonic Generation
A team from the State Key Laboratory of Ultra-Intense Laser Science and Technology at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics (SIOM) has achieved, for the first time, fully optical arbitrary control of chirality and ellipticity in solid-state high-harmonic generation through dynamical symmetry engineering and quantum geometric phase manipulation.
Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics · Research UpdatesFirst-partyOptics industrySep 24Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics Achieves Deep-Subwavelength Long-Wave Infrared Absorption and Thermal Emission Control
A team at the Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics has proposed and demonstrated a lithography-free Cr/a-GST/Bi planar metal-insulator-metal absorber based on ultrahigh-refractive-index materials. With a total thickness of only 550 nm, it achieves high absorption and thermal emission control across the 8-14 μm long-wave infrared band.