Integrated photonics has become a multi-billion-dollar industry, but it is feeling the heat—literally.

An increasingly important component in data centers, photonic devices move and process data using light instead of electricity. The physical nature of light gives this approach several advantages, including higher bandwidth and lower latency.

One limitation on even wider adoption has been the hardware’s sensitivity to temperature. If photonic devices become a little too hot or a little too cold, their exquisitely tuned photonic properties can be disrupted.