Exploiting a centrally powered coherent microcomb for lightweight optical transmission

The exponential growth of data capacity in intelligent terminals drives higher data traffic toward network edges. Compact I/O systems are essential to support space-constrained infrastructures at the computing edges or modular data centers. However, scaling high-capacity transmission via increasing physical channels is constrained by limited source coherence and low carrier-to-noise ratios (OCNR), hindering lightweight, efficient applications like distributed edge computing. Here, we exploit an integrated self-injection-locked dark-pulse microcomb to achieve 1 Tbps/λ/core transmission and characterize the constraints among OCNR, linewidth, and transmission rate. Furthermore, a multi-dimensional transmission architecture for multi-nodes aggregation is explored, boosting the transmission rate to 200 Tbps with 16 comblines at 70 Gbaud. Combining with integrated waveshapers and semiconductor optical amplifiers, a chip-level parallel carrier generator is explored, reducing system size a hundredfold while delivering 5 Tbps. Our results highlight significant potential for compact and resource-conserving transmission systems in data centers and distributed high performance computing applications.