Silicon Photonics and Photonic Integrated Circuits 2024
According to MEMS Consulting, IDTechEx, a well-known British research company, comprehensively discussed the major players in the field, emerging materials (such as thin film lithium niobate and barium titanate) and new applications (such as artificial intelligence) in this newly released silicon photonics and integrated optical path (PIC) theme research report, providing a 10-year market forecast for the period of 2024~2034. The report also discusses emerging technologies such as programmable photonics, photonic quantum computers, and co-packaged optics.
Integrated optical path concept
What are the advantages and challenges of silicon photonics and integrated optical paths?
An integrated optical path, or photonic integrated loop, is a miniature optical system made of materials such as silicon dioxide (glass), silicon, or indium phosphide (InP). The integrated optical path enables a wide range of advanced systems, from "complex optical communication modules that transmit/receive billions of bits of information in a package the size of a candy" to "electronic noses that detect different compounds and molecules in the air" and "LiDAR (LiDAR) that detects the distance of obstacles".
By leveraging billions of dollars of existing investments in CMOS chips, the integrated optical path can unlock the potential for new processing scale-up beyond Moore's Law. However, the integrated optical path market still faces significant challenges such as material constraints, integration complexity, and cost management. Greater market demand is required to offset the initial cost of designing and manufacturing integrated optical paths, and production lead times can be months long. This new integrated optical path report takes an in-depth look at the market and identifies photonic transceivers for artificial intelligence (AI) as an emerging segment that is expected to soon become the largest source of demand for integrated optical paths.
Integrate optical path critical applications
The integrated optical path material of the future
There is a wide variety of materials for the integrated optical path of the future. At present, most integrated optical paths on the market use silicon and silicon-based integrated optical paths for optical transmission, but silicon, as an indirect semiconductor, is not an efficient light source or photoelectric detection material. For this reason, silicon is often combined with III-V materials for light emission (light sources) and light detection (detectors). Silicon's market dominance will continue, but thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) is emerging as a strong contender for applications requiring high-performance modulation, such as quantum systems and potential high-performance transceivers in the future, due to its modest Pockles effect and low material loss. Monocrystalline indium phosphide (InP) will continue to be the main application material due to its ability to detect and emit light. In addition, the potential of innovative materials such as barium titanate (BTO) and rare earth metals for quantum computing and other cutting-edge applications is being explored.
How AI will impact silicon photonics and integrated optical path market demand
The rise of AI has sparked an unprecedented demand for high-performance transceivers that can support AI accelerators and data centers. Silicon photonics and integrated optical paths are at the forefront of this revolution because they are capable of transmitting data at speeds of 1.6 Tbps or more. As demonstrated by Nvidia's latest Blackwell CPUs (which require about two 800G transceivers per GPU, according to IDTechEx research), the need for efficient, high-bandwidth communications is becoming increasingly important for AI, positioning silicon photonics and integrated optical paths as indispensable components in an "AI-driven future." Because higher-performance AI accelerators require higher-performance transceivers, AI will be the biggest driver for the development of integrated optical transceivers, with 3.2 Tbps transceivers expected to appear on the market by 2026.
What applications will be used in the future?
Silicon photonics and other applications for integrated optical paths are abundant, from high-bandwidth chips to chip interconnects to advanced packaging and co-packaged optics, which pave the way for the next generation of computing.
Key Players in the Integrated Optical Path Transceiver Market for Datacom Applications (Sample Fuzziness)
Photonic engines and accelerators: Using certain photonic components, such as Mach-Zehnder interferometers, to control these components through electro-optical interconnects, high-performance processors and programmable integrated optical path devices can be designed and fabricated to achieve higher performance than electron accelerators alone.
Sensors based on integrated optical paths: Some integrated optical path materials, such as silicon nitride, can be used in a variety of different sensors, from gas sensors and "electronic noses" to lidar, inertial sensors, and more. Frequency-modulated continuous-wave (FMCW) lidar based on integrated optical path can be applied to drones and autonomous vehicles, and is expected to transform automotive and agricultural applications. The healthcare sensor industry can also take advantage of the miniaturization of integrated optical path devices for point-of-care diagnostics or wearables, such as watches for blood glucose monitoring.
Quantum systems: Vendors investing in trap ion and photonic quantum computing are looking to leverage integrated optical paths to achieve more stable and scalable quantum systems. The challenge is to achieve the precise control of photons required for quantum computing.
The integrated optical path market is expected to grow 2.4x by 2034, mainly benefiting from the growing demand for transceivers in the AI and 5G markets.
The silicon photonics and integrated optical path market is experiencing strong demand growth, driven by surging demand for AI and datacom transceivers. Major players in the industry, such as Intel/Jabil, Coherent, and Infinera, are actively using integrated optical paths in their transceivers. Innolight, a China-based transceiver company, will begin shipping its latest transceiver with a transmission speed of 1.6 Tbps by the end of 2023 for data center applications in 2024. Coherent, which has its own InP fab, is also developing higher performance transceivers for applications above 1.6 Tbps. According to IDTechEx's analysis, Intel Silicon Photonics is likely to be acquired by Jabil, which sold about 1.7 million integrated optical paths in 2023 and continues to develop datacom and telecom transceivers. IDTechEx predicts that integrated optical path technology will continue to dominate the high-performance transceiver market, further cementing its position as a key component in the modern technology landscape.
Roadmap for transceivers based on integrated optical paths
This report details the latest innovations, key technology trends, value chain analysis, key vendor analysis, and segment market forecasts in the field of silicon photonics and integrated optical paths.
Key features covered in this report:
summary
- Introduction, key concepts and technical background of silicon photonics
- Integrated Optical Path (PIC) important concepts
Manufacturing and materials
- Discuss and compare key materials such as SOI, SiN, InP, TFLN, BTO, polymers and rare earth metals, key vendors and start-ups.
apply
- Integrated optical path for high-performance transceivers in data centers
- Integrated optical path for intra-device interconnect
- Advanced packaging and co-packaging optics
- Hybrid integration: Co-packaged optics
- Photonic engines and accelerators for AI and neuromorphic computing
- Integrated optical path for quantum computing
- Sensors based on integrated optical paths
Market
This report provides a segmented 10-year market forecast based on conversations with industry professionals, interviews and analysis of key vendors such as Nvidia, Coherent, Infinera, and others, as well as IDTechEx's expertise in data centers, 5G, autonomous vehicles, and lidar.
If you need to purchase the report "Silicon Photonics and Integrated Optical Path (PIC) Technology and Market - 2024 Edition", please contact Wang Yi of MEMS Consulting, email :wangyi#memsconsulting.com (#换成@)