CORE Academy is pleased to share the announcement of the Fourth Asian VCSEL Day with the academic community on behalf of Professor Dieter Bimberg, a member of the Academy’s Academic Council and a Fellow of CORE Academy, who is serving as an international co-chair of the conference. The meeting will take place on October 11–13, 2026, at the Suzhou Campus of Nanjing University, China.
Following three editions held from 2023 to 2025, Asian VCSEL Day will bring together scientists, engineers, and industry representatives to discuss advances in vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs), their emerging applications, and the challenges ahead. The program will feature invited talks, scientific exchanges, and an accompanying optoelectronics exhibition, covering applications in communications, light detection and ranging (LiDAR), and biomedicine.
A distinctive feature of Asian VCSEL Day is its substantial participation from industry. Professor Bimberg noted that approximately half of this year’s participants are once again expected to come from companies, ranging from small enterprises to major Chinese technology firms such as Huawei. He contrasted this with the limited industry participation at a similar European meeting he established around twenty years ago, with which he is no longer involved in an organizing capacity. This strong industrial presence offers opportunities to connect scientific research with technological development and commercial applications.
Professor Bimberg also highlighted the meeting’s role as a forum for recruitment. Company representatives can speak directly with students approaching graduation and explore potential employment opportunities. Alongside its scientific program, the meeting therefore provides a setting in which young researchers can meet prospective employers and learn about careers in the photonics industry.
The organizers are marking 2026 as the fiftieth anniversary of the invention of the VCSEL, with its inventor, Professor Kenichi Iga of Japan’s Institute of Science Tokyo, expected to attend. Professor Bimberg also shared that a film is being prepared to tell the story of VCSEL technology’s development and success, while exploring its future challenges and applications in the age of artificial intelligence. The anniversary provides an occasion to reflect on the technology’s achievements and consider the opportunities that lie ahead.
The conference is hosted by Suzhou Everbright Photonics Co., Ltd., Nanjing University, and the Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Laser and Sensing Technology. Co-organizers are the Bimberg Chinese-German Center for Green Photonics at the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences; the Institute of Science Tokyo; and Light Publishing Group. The conference announcement also includes plans for a special issue of Light: Science & Applications devoted to VCSEL technology.
Announcement of Asian VCSEL Day 2026 in Suzhou at the closing session of Asian VCSEL Day 2025 in Changchun. Source: Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP), Chinese Academy of Sciences
Early-bird registration closes on September 30, 2026. The conference venue is the Nanjing University International Academic Exchange Center, No. 1520 Taihu Avenue, Suzhou New District. Members of the CORE Academy community and other interested researchers, students, and industry colleagues can find further information and registration details on the official conference website. For inquiries, please contact ting.li@everbrightphotonics.com.