Coherent Corp. opened its exhibition at SPIE Photonics West 2026 in San Francisco with demonstrations of more than a dozen new photonic solutions, spanning continuous-wave and ultrafast lasers, beam delivery systems, advanced materials and thermal management products. The company highlighted applications in AI datacenter acceleration, semiconductor and display capital equipment, life-sciences imaging, precision manufacturing and emerging quantum technologies. Live demos included a thermo-electric generator converting waste heat into power for datacenters, a 266 nm picosecond DUV laser setup for film cutting in display and semi-cap markets, and an integrated beam delivery system featuring a high-power CO₂ electro-optic modulator for PCB via drilling. Attendees also experienced the Waveshaper 1000A Sharp programmable optical filter delivering spectral resolution as narrow as 5 GHz (FWHM) and the FieldMax Touch meter offering 1 kHz pulse energy measurement accuracy in production environments.

At the conference, Coherent and quantum technology firm Quside unveiled a mass-manufacturable quantum entropy source based on 6″ VCSEL arrays. For the first time, runtime verification of quantum-grade randomness is achieved directly from a single VCSEL, generating high-quality entropy suitable for cryptographic key generation, secure communications and quantum-safe architectures. The demonstration featured production-ready modules capable of embedding verified randomness into mainstream processors and secure elements. Coherent’s vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser platform, already proven in datacenter and sensing applications, provides the scalability and cost structure needed for high-volume deployment. Quside’s quantum random number generator ASICs complement the solution, enabling locally‐verified entropy across data centers, critical-infrastructure and defense systems.

On January 19, Coherent introduced its new bondable diamond thermal spreaders engineered for direct die bonding in electronic and optoelectronic devices. By controlling surface roughness, flatness and coating chemistry, the diamond substrates bond to semiconductor materials—silicon, SiC, GaN, GaAs and InP—via fusion, hybrid or metallic bonding, reducing interface resistance by up to 99%. The solution supports die sizes up to 100 mm square and can integrate high-conductivity interlayers and metallization as required. Coherent’s vertically integrated diamond growth and finishing capability delivers high yield at production scale. Customers attending Photonics West learned how these spreaders, combined with Coherent’s ceramic and channel-integrated materials, can handle thermal loads exceeding 1 kW/cm² in next-generation power electronics and photonic modules.