The demands reshaping digital infrastructure are pushing optical communications into a new era of innovation. AI infrastructure is forcing engineers to rethink how data moves within and between data centers. Fiber sensing is enabling more exciting applications across various disciplines of Engineering and Technology. Network operators continue pushing fiber deeper into access networks. Satellite communications and data centers in space are emerging hot topics with limitless potentials Coherent technology keeps moving into new applications and form factors, while photonic integration changes what engineers can accomplish at the component and system level.
At the same time, researchers continue advancing fiber technology, optical switching, integrated photonics, transmission systems, network architectures, quantum communications and free-space optical systems.
The industry needs those ideas. With its annual call for papers, OFC 2027 gives researchers an opportunity to bring them directly into the technical conversation shaping the future of optical communications. The abstract and summary submission deadline is October 20, 2026, at 12:00 EDT, with the OFC technical conference scheduled for March 7–11, 2027, in Los Angeles.
Optical research has rarely carried more weight
Lightwave readers see the industry's changing requirements every day. AI clusters require enormous bandwidth while placing intense pressure on power consumption, density and latency. Those challenges have accelerated work across high-speed pluggable optics, linear-drive architectures, co-packaged optics, optical I/O, photonic integrated circuits and optical switching.
The changes reach far beyond the data center. Network operators need more capacity from installed fiber while expanding fiber deeper into access networks. Coherent transmission continues to advance. Automation and control have become more important as optical networks grow increasingly dynamic. New fiber, component and amplification technologies continue pushing transmission performance.
These developments increasingly intersect. Component innovation influences system design. New interconnect architectures change network requirements. Advances in photonics influence computing architectures. Network operators, hyperscalers, equipment vendors and researchers now solve many of the same infrastructure problems from different points in the technology stack.
Research meets deployment
OFC occupies a distinctive position because its audience spans both research and commercial deployment. Scientists and academic researchers attend alongside component developers, systems engineers, equipment manufacturers, network architects, hyperscalers and service providers.
A promising device architecture can influence future optical modules. A new transmission technique can point toward another generation of network capacity. Optical interconnect research can help address bandwidth and power constraints inside AI clusters. Advances in automation, sensing or quantum communications can open entirely new applications.
Presenting research at OFC puts new ideas in front of people capable of examining them from multiple perspectives. The Technical Program Committee conducts blinded peer review of submitted papers, while OFC publishes accepted and presented papers through IEEE Xplore and the Optica Publishing Group platform. Major indexing services, including Ei Compendex, Scopus and Google Scholar, also index the work.
Is your work a fit?
OFC's technical program reflects the growing breadth of optical communications. The program spans devices, components and fibers; subsystems and systems; and networks and services. Topics include photonic integrated circuits, optoelectronic components, fiber connectivity and characterization, amplifiers, datacom systems, transmission and access technologies, fiber sensing, free-space and satellite communications, network architectures, the disaggregation of IP/optical transport using vendor-independent optical interfaces, and AI-driven autonomous network orchestration and operation.
Beyond optics and photonics for data center and computing applications, OFC also includes a dedicated quantum subcommittee focused on devices, systems and networking. The range mirrors the industry itself as boundaries between optics, computing and networking evaporate.
The next major advance could come from a laser, modulator or amplifier. It could emerge from packaging or a new fiber design. It could involve transmission, switching or network control. It might connect several disciplines in ways few people considered possible a few years ago. OFC gives those ideas a technical forum.
Don't wait for perfection
Researchers always have another experiment to run, another measurement to take or another result to refine. Research rarely feels finished, but progress deserves discussion.
For students and early-career researchers, OFC offers access to an international community of experienced scientists, engineers and industry leaders. For established researchers and engineering teams, OFC provides an opportunity to put new work in front of people helping define future optical systems and networks.
The industry is making consequential decisions now about optical interconnects, photonic integration, fiber systems, network architectures and next-generation communications infrastructure. Your research could influence those decisions.
If your team is working on technology capable of moving optical communications forward, put your work into the conversation. The OFC 2027 abstract and summary submission deadline is October 20, 2026, at 12:00 EDT.
Review the OFC 2027 call for papers and submit your research
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