Innolume Seminar at TU Dortmund University
On January 29, 2026, Innolume conducted a seminar for staff members and invited specialists at TU Dortmund University, one of our close cooperation partners.
Alexey Kovsh delivered a talk entitled "AI Boom and Quantum Dot Lasers." The seminar focused on the rapid development of artificial intelligence and the resulting increase in performance demands on photonic systems for optical interconnects and sensing applications. An intriguing part of the presentation addressed why the current AI boom is fundamentally different from the dot-com bubble of 2000.
The talk explained why quantum dot lasers have now reached technological maturity and how their key properties, such as efficient high-temperature operation, ease of integration with silicon photonics, low noise, narrow linewidth, and superior reliability, make them well suited to the requirements of modern optical networks in AI data centers.
The presentation also covered the history of Innolume GmbH, from its founding in Dortmund in 2003 as a spin-off from the laboratories of Prof. Zhores Alferov (Nobel Prize in Physics, 2000) at the Ioffe Institute and Prof. Dieter Bimberg (UNESCO Award, 2006) at TU Berlin, to its current position as a recognized player in the advanced high-tech landscape of North Rhine–Westphalia. The talk was followed by an active and engaging Q&A session.
After the seminar, a guided tour of the university laboratories took place, accompanied by fruitful discussions on extending and deepening areas of cooperation.
We would like to thank TU Dortmund University for the invitation, the seminar opportunity, and the chance to visit the laboratories and learn more about their research activities and achievements.
