Silicon photonics is the study and application of photonic systems which use silicon as an optical medium. The silicon is usually patterned with sub-micrometre precision, into microphotonic components. This technology is getting popular a few years ago, however, based on research from LC (LightCounting), the market demanding for SiPh will increase in the next couple of years.
Silicon Photonics was mentioned as a great technology for optical transceivers, active optical cables, and electro-optic modules. This approach has been used 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.
