This document discusses, among other things, systems and methods to transmit laser energy to a first hollow-core transmission medium of a board, and to detect laser energy from a second hollow-core transmission medium of the board using a photodiode of the communication interface. A system can include a communication interface configured to be coupled to a chip carrier, the communication interface including a laser emitter configured to transmit laser energy to a first hollow-core transmission medium of a board, and a photodiode configured to detect laser energy communicated from a second hollow-core transmission. The system can further include the chip carrier and the board, as well as one or more alignment features to position the laser emitter and the photodiode over inputs of the first and second hollow-core transmission mediums, and an optically clear resin optionally between the communication interface and the board.