Corning Incorporated has announced a collaboration with US Conec, becoming a licensee of PRIZM TMT optical ferrule technology. This technology allows for higher fibre counts within the spatial constraints typical of modern data centres.
The PRIZM TMT ferrule adds to Corning’s range of high-density optical connectivity solutions designed for advanced AI networks. The growth of AI infrastructure requires optical connectivity capable of supporting increasingly demanding environments.
As AI systems expand with new generations of AI chips and larger cluster sizes, there is a growing need to connect a large number of accelerators in the scale-out portions of the network. At the same time, traditional short-range copper links are being replaced with optical connections in scale-up portions, increasing the number of optical connections to thousands of fibres per server and switch rack.
This shift increases fibre density requirements within server racks, making connector density, performance, and installation efficiency more important. The PRIZM TMT ferrule aims to address these requirements using precision-aligned micro-lenses rather than direct fibre-to-fibre contact.
With expanded beam technology, the PRIZM TMT ferrule seeks to enable a more reliable and efficient installation process, reduces vulnerability to contamination, and lowers total cost of ownership, supporting the deployment of AI data centres in both scale-up and scale-out configurations.
