Staff writer Rebecca Pool recently gave us a glimpse into the future of integrated photonics in an industry insight article (The Global Blueprint for Integrated Photonics) published in EETimes. This article focuses on the International Version of the Integrated Photonics Systems Roadmap (IPSR-I) jointly published by PhotonDelta and the Center for Microphotonics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). This roadmap is not only a guide to technology development, but also the crystallization of the wisdom of more than 400 industry players around the world, including heavyweights such as Airbus, Meta, NASA and others.
The article elaborates on the importance and impact of IPSR-I, from the technical challenges to the construction of global supply chains to the drive for photonic integrated circuit (PIC) mass manufacturing. Peter van Arkel, CTO of PhotonDelta, highlighted the challenge and value of reaching consensus. The article also mentions technical bottlenecks, heterogeneous integration issues, and the importance of wafer-level test and packaging technologies.
Author Rebecca sees IPSR-I as key to the industry's development, providing not only a roadmap for technology development, but also fostering collaboration on a global scale. The roadmap points out the bottlenecks in the development of the industry and highlights the need to address them. In addition, the authors emphasized the importance of the maturity of silicon photonic process design kits (PDKs) to accelerate the development of chips and packages.
Figure: International Roadmap for Integrated Photonics Systems (IPSR-I) jointly published by PhotonDelta and MIT
In the view of China Exportsemi net, the development of integrated photonics as an interdisciplinary technology not only depends on a single technological breakthrough, but also requires the collaborative progress of the entire industry ecosystem. The release of IPSR-I is the embodiment of this spirit of synergy, which provides a common goal and direction for the industry.
According to market research firm IDTechEx, the global silicon photonics and PIC market will more than double in the next decade to $22 billion. This forecast not only shows the broad prospects of the market, but also reflects the maturity of the technology and the expansion of application areas.
Technical bottlenecks are a common problem in the development of the industry. The heterogeneous integration problems mentioned in this article involve lasers, detectors, waveguides, and modulators, which are all key components in the development of integrated photonics. Solving these problems requires in-depth cooperation and continuous technological innovation in the industry.
As IDTechEx Technical Analyst James Falkiner points out, design, talent, and manufacturing companies around the globe need to work together to ensure that PDKs are a true match for the products manufactured and to reduce manufacturing turnaround times. This collaboration not only accelerates the development of technology, but also drives standardization and production at scale across the industry.
Datacom and AI data centers are the major drivers of the PIC market. As data volumes explode, so does the need for high-performance transceivers. In addition, the development of autonomous vehicles and LiDAR sensors has also brought new growth points to the PIC market.
The article also mentions that there are already foundries that have achieved full capacity production of photonic wafers, indicating the expansion of the industry scale and the increase in production. As the technology matures and the market expands, integrated photonics is expected to achieve billions of dollars in revenue in the coming years.
All in all, the release of IPSR-I is not only a comprehensive review of the integrated photonics industry, but also a clear guide for the future development direction. With the continuous advancement of technology and the continuous expansion of the market, integrated photonics will undoubtedly become a key force to promote global scientific and technological progress. As industry observers, we have reason to believe that through collaboration and innovation on a global scale, integrated photonics will open up new areas of technology and bring more possibilities to society.
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Earlier this year, PhotonDelta, the Netherlands-based Integrated Photonics Industry Center, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Microphotonics Center released their latest Integrated Photonics Systems Roadmap, the International Version (IPSR-I). The roadmap brings together input from more than 400 industry players, including Airbus, Meta, NASA, DuPont Electronics, General Motors, the European Space Agency, and VodafoneZiggo, to identify technical challenges and articulate how to build a global supply chain to drive volume manufacturing of photonic integrated circuits (PICs). As Peter van Arkel, CTO of PhotonDelta, puts it: "Reaching consensus is challenging...... [But] definitely worth it. “
The last version of IPSR-I was delivered in 2021. According to van Arkel, the new version follows the rapid development of PIC and provides insights into many industries, including aerospace, data communications, and the emerging agri-food and 3D sensing-LiDAR fields. Looking at the roadmap, van Arkel also said that technical bottlenecks are "ubiquitous" and heterogeneous integration remains a thorny and widespread problem.
"We're talking about lasers, detectors, waveguides and modulators, but also photonics and electronics; These need to be more closely tied together – and that touches all applications," he said. "This is one of the core messages of the roadmap. “
According to van Arkel, the roadmap also shows that solving wafer-level test and packaging challenges will help drive manufacturing scale growth, and that the maturity of silicon photonics process design kits (PDKs) is necessary to accelerate chip and packaging development.
PhotonDelta and MIT's Center for Microphotonics have developed a new integrated photonics roadmap that will drive PIC manufacturing forward.
Paint a picture of the future
The IPSR-I roadmap will be welcomed by many in the industry, with technical analysts expecting strong growth in silicon photonics and PIC. IDTechEx, for example, predicts that the global market will more than double to $22 billion over the next decade.
James Falkiner, technical analyst at IDTechEx, believes that such a roadmap provides key insights for any organization deciding whether to invest in the photonics industry. "It's also a good idea to try to bring everybody across the globe together [in the roadmap]," Falkiner said. "We have design companies in the U.S., talent in Europe, photonics manufacturing companies in Asia — like GlobalFoundries and Samsung. At the end of the day, the industry is global. “
In line with van Arkel's sentiments, and as outlined in the roadmap, Falkiner noted the need to ensure that the PDK is a true match for the manufactured product and address the relatively long manufacturing turnaround times in the photonics industry.
"If you can shorten the one-year cycle to three months — as in the electronics industry — then you can start improving chips much faster," he said. "We do need more collaboration between electronics manufacturing, foundries and photonics. The industry needs to work together to find solutions and develop a roadmap...... It's important here. “
So where are the big market drivers for PIC? Van Arkel noted that datacom and AI data centers are the main drivers, noting that "every telecom provider is currently developing integrated photonics for these applications". He also believes that the rise of autonomous vehicles and the consequent demand for LiDAR sensors could trigger significant growth in the PIC market in the coming years.
Falkiner also expects that the growing demand for LiDAR will drive PIC manufacturing, as will 5G telecommunications. However, he argues that the real market wins are focused on today's unprecedented demand for high-performance transceivers based on silicon photonics and PICs that can support the massive data rates required by AI accelerators and data centers. Major industry players such as Jabil-Intel, Coherent, and Infinera are using PICs in their transceivers, while China-based Innolight has reached a staggering 1.6 Tbps speed with its PIC-based transceivers.
"These transceivers can reach a maximum speed of 800G and will transmit data at 1.6 Tbps by early next year and 3.2 Tbps by 2026," Falkiner said. "They're facilitating efficient, high-bandwidth communication between the large AI accelerator racks powering ChatGPT [and] Microsoft Copilot—and they're getting billions of dollars in investment." “
Falkiner expects PIC technology to continue to be used in high-performance transceivers, and the demand for high-performance transceivers will continue into the future. As he pointed out, Nvidia's GPUs are in short supply, and each GPU requires about two 800G transceivers to transmit data.
He added, "We're looking at about 15,000 data centers around the world, each of which will use hundreds of thousands of accelerators, ultimately leading to a significant increase in transceiver demand. "
Given these industry developments, scaling up PIC production is certainly the future. As van Arkel puts it: "We already have foundries that are producing (photonic) wafers at full capacity; I think that's already quite a high yield. …… You can easily imagine that soon photonic chip manufacturing will bring in billions of dollars in revenue. "
Of course, the IPSR-I Global Roadmap can help move the industry in the right direction. "We know there's a lot of interest," says van Arkel. "It has sparked a lot of discussion about integrated photonics...... At the heart of the roadmap is a global approach for the photonics industry to come together to address core challenges. "
