Silicon photonics: accelerating growth in the race for high-speed optical interconnects
Boosting a 40%+ CAGR, the silicon photonics market is surging, with TFLN breakthroughs poised to further unlock its potential.
Silicon photonics continues to evolve rapidly, with its diverse applications signaling significant opportunities ahead. Over the next decade, key players are expected to emerge, driving industry consolidation, according to Yole Group’s analysts. However, the wide range of use cases will provide ample room for growth and innovation.
The silicon PIC (die) market is projected to exceed $863 million by 2029, reflecting a robust 45% CAGR over this 2023 – 2029 period.
"This growth will be driven mainly by high-data-rate pluggable modules for increased fiber-optic network capacity. Additionally, projections of rapidly growing training dataset sizes show that data will need to use light for scaling ML models, using optical I/O in ML servers," says Martin Vallo, Senior Technology & Market Analyst, Photonics at Yole Group.
Data centers are the primary application for silicon photonics, with new Chinese leaders emerging daily. Telecommunications is another key area that leverages silicon’s superior performance. Optical LiDAR systems also show promise but face cost and beam-scanning hurdles.
In healthcare, advanced photonic components could revolutionize diagnostics, treatment, and monitoring, though regulatory challenges must be addressed. Silicon photonics holds strong potential across these fields. Yole Group has released its annual report: Silicon Photonics 2024 – Focus on SOI, SiN, and LNOI platforms. This edition explores the photonics landscape, emphasizing materials for PICs, optical interconnects, and other applications. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of data center networks, with detailed market forecasts between 2023 and 2029 for datacom, telecom, and sensing applications. It also examines the supply chain and market shares of the datacom and telecom sectors.
A special focus on technologies and innovations addresses challenges in CMOS-foundry-compatible devices, circuits, integration, packaging, and more. Additionally, the report features a dedicated chapter on the Chinese photonics ecosystem.
Yole Group’s 2024 report highlights key technologies shaping the photonics landscape, including LNOI/TFLN (6) and InP (7) with an in-depth analysis of their market impact.
"For instance, the LNOI market is projected to reach nearly $1 billion by 2029, with an impressive 98% CAGR. TFLN and LNOI stand out for their low optical loss and high bandwidth. The InP PIC market is expected to grow at a 22% CAGR, while the SiN segment shows strong potential with a 43% CAGR during the same period," adds Eric Mounier, Chief Analyst, Photonics & Sensing at Yole Group.
