If you think you’ve already heard too much about silicon photonics, you won’t like the next five years, according to LightCounting. The market research firm states in the May 2021 edition of its Integrated Optical Devices report that use of the photonic integration approach is about to take off.
LightCounting notes that there was more smoke than fire when it came to the first several years of silicon photonics adoption. In fact, it took the technology more than a decade to find use in a quarter of the optical transceivers, active optical cables, and electro-optic modules whose shipments LightCounting tracks. However, adoption of the approach picked up significantly and now, particularly with the advent of co-packaged optics (CPO) as a new application, silicon photonics should be the basis of more than half of integrated optical devices shipped in 2026. Overall, products based on silicon photonics should account for almost $30 billion in sales between 2021 and 2026, with CPO representing about $0.8 billion of that total, the market research firm estimates.
“New higher speed products, new suppliers and foundries, as well as optics co-packaged with switching ASICs - suggest that we are at the inflection point for SiP adoption,” concluded LightCounting in a press release that announced the report.
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Stephen Hardy | Editorial Director and Associate Publisher, Lightwave
Stephen Hardy is editorial director and associate publisher of Lightwave and Broadband Technology Report, part of the Lighting & Technology Group at Endeavor Business Media. Stephen is responsible for establishing and executing editorial strategy across the both brands’ websites, email newsletters, events, and other information products. He has covered the fiber-optics space for more than 20 years, and communications and technology for more than 35 years. During his tenure, Lightwave has received awards from Folio: and the American Society of Business Press Editors (ASBPE) for editorial excellence. Prior to joining Lightwave in 1997, Stephen worked for Telecommunications magazine and the Journal of Electronic Defense.
Stephen has moderated panels at numerous events, including the Optica Executive Forum, ECOC, and SCTE Cable-Tec Expo. He also is program director for the Lightwave Innovation Reviews and the Diamond Technology Reviews.
He has written numerous articles in all aspects of optical communications and fiber-optic networks, including fiber to the home (FTTH), PON, optical components, DWDM, fiber cables, packet optical transport, optical transceivers, lasers, fiber optic testing, and more.
You can connect with Stephen on LinkedIn as well as Twitter.