Si Photonics Markets are Diversifying Outside Datacom [Pre-recorded]

In 2011, silicon photonics was still an emerging technology, with only two industrial players: Luxtera and Kotura. At the market level, it was obvious that datacom would be the primary market for silicon photonics, though the medical sector had already been identified as an interesting opportunity. But in 2021, the industrial and market landscape for silicon photonics looks far different. While datacom and then telecom have long been considered the most important silicon photonics markets, Rockley Photonics’ announcement of silicon photonics technology’s use for consumer applications has changed this vision. Dynamized by cloud applications for home office and personal use, video on demand, and 5G expansion, the primary silicon photonics application is still optical communication, with the technology integrated into 25% to 30% of optical transceivers. But besides that, some applications, such as immunoassays (Genalyte), will continue to grow, while fiber-optic gyroscopes (KVH), LiDAR, and photonic computing applications will still develop. Consumer health applications are gaining in importance with the release of smart watches that include an expanding complement of sensors. On the more distant horizon, the use of integrated photonics in computing could pave the way for the realization of an optical quantum computer. Silicon photonics’ integration advantage could also pave the way to Co-Packaged Optics.

Yole’s talk will review the current and future applications and markets for silicon photonics technologies.