Silicon Photonics: Big Investments, Small Business

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Oct 25, 2012, 02:07 ET

NEW YORK, Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:

Silicon Photonics: Big Investments, Small Business
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OPTICS, CMOS, MEMS, 3DICs : CONVERgINg INTO A NEW BREED OF PhOTONIC DEVICES

Silicon photonics has tremendous potential as a new technology, blending optical technology with low cost CMOS semiconductor
processing. Silicon photonics is a disruptive technology that enables a new breed of monolithic opto-electronic devices.
The goal is to deliver economic optical connectivity everywhere, from
network level to intra-system level, and eventually to chip-to-chip.
Today, except for the light source, all other optical functions
(modulators, detection, waveguides, intelligence …) can be embedded
wafer-level at the SOI substrate.
Silicon photonics addresses different kind of devices such as:

• Individual components & subcomponents: used as a single
function silicon photonics device, e.g. VOA, Mux/Demux,
active fi lters, optical switches or as optical engines combining
optics and electronics.
• Transceiver-type products: embedded optical modules,
transmitters/receivers, active optical cables.
• Future products: e.g. hybrid packaged devices and 3DICs /
Integrated opto-electronic chips.
Moreover, passive optical elements (such as array wave guides, optical
fi lters, couplers, splitters, polarizer arrays) can be created with silicon
photonics technologies and integrated with active elements.
In the report, we distinguish between Silicon photonics, CMOS photonics, hybrid silicon photonics, and III-V integrated photonics.
Silicon photonics has been restrained to R&D labs for a long time, but now the fi rst Silicon photonics products have shipped and an industrial infrastructure has been set up step-by-step.

DATA COMMUNICATION WILL DWARF ALL OThER SI APPLICATIONS

Although silicon photonics can address a wide range of applications, very few companies are actually shipping products.

The potential markets are:
• Telecom: Metro and long haul applications
• Datacom: Data centers and campus applications
• Consumer: Connect desktop PC devices and PCs with hDTVs
• hPC & Data Centers: Using AOCs or Embedded Modules
• Professional/Commercial Video: Digital signage, digital cinemas, video recording and studios
• Metrology and Sensors: Measurement of time, temperature, sound, frequency, stress, range using special silicon
photonics sensors
• Medical: DNA, glucose, molecular and cellular analysis, etc... using special silicon photonics sensors
• Military/Aerospace/Scientifi c: Scientifi c instruments at corporate and national labs; aircraft, space missile, radar, imaging, intelligence applications

Data communications is the big market and will dwarf all other silicon photonics applications. Indeed, major datacom protocols are all moving to high-speed signaling and passing 10gbps where reach and signal integrity issues are surfacing for both copper and optical technologies. There is a clear trend to surpass 25gb in datacom protocols and this is where Si photonics will make sense.

The need will be driven by:

• Need for low cost, high-speed interconnects supporting ever increasing data rates at and beyond 25gbps
• Need for reach distance / data rate not served by VCSELs

BIg ChALLENgES AhEAD

Silicon photonics still faces big industrial and technical challenges:
• Few products today
• Few companies have developed integrated product solutions
• high cost
• CAE/CAD programs are almost non-existent
• Technical mismatch
• Competition with VCSEL-based alternatives
• Need for high volumes

For several years now, the silicon photonics projects have been under the umbrella of large-scale R&D projects to set up roadmaps.
Today, MPW services foundries are opening and more industrial foundry activities are set up. generic technologies and generic production platforms are needed to achieve low cost/high volume. As the future lays in the separation of design and fabrication, this industry is looking for an electronics-like foundry model. The mapping of the players involved in silicon photonics already shows an important number of foundry services.Although the industry is trying to use as much as possible of the existing CMOS processes, 3D ICs technologies will contribute to the Si photonics, especially wafer bonding and 3D interconnects.Although the market will grow by a factor of 3 in 5 years, business could explode after 2020 as inter and intra-chip communications could make this market grow by a factor of 10!

KEY FEATURES OF ThE REPORT

This report gives an overview of the silicon photonics markets, technologies and players. We also include a fi nancial analysis that shows the latest VC funds.

The report includes:

• What is silicon photonics? What are the applications?
• What are the challenges are on the applications/technologies side?
• Silicon photonics forecast by applications 2010-2017
• Manufacturing challenges
• Roadmaps
• Profi les of players involved in silicon photonics

WhO ShOULD READ ThE REPORT

• Integrators
- Understand the potential of the silicon photonics
- Understand the technical challenges
• devices makers
- Identify and evaluate silicon photonics markets with market size & growth potential
- Analyze the threats and opportunities
- Monitor and benchmark competitor's advancements
- Evaluate you potential as a silicon photonics player
• financial & strategic investors
- Understand the main market dynamics and main technology trends
- get the list of the key players

COMPANY INDEX

Altera, Altis, AML, Apple, Aurrion, Avago, BAE Systems, Caliopia, CEA Leti, Chiral Photonics, Cisco, ColorChip, Cyoptics/InPlane, DAS Photonics, Effect Photonics, Enablence, ePIXfab, EuroPIC, EVgroup, Fraunhofer hhI, Freescale, ghent University, IhP, Microelectronics, Fujitsu, Genalyte, Helios, HP Labs, IBM, IME (A*STAR), IMEC, Infi nera, Intel, IPKISS, JePPIX, Kotura, Cisco/, LightWire, LioniX, Luxtera, MIT, Mitsubishi heavy Industries, Molex, NeoPhotonics, Northrop grumman, NTT, Nvidia, Oclaro, OneChip, Photonics, OPSIS SYSTEM, Oracle, PECST, Photline, Sandia, Skorpios Technologies, STM, Sun, SUSS MicroTec, TEEM Photonics, TI, TSMC, U2t photonics, UCSB, Stanford University, VLC Photonics, Xilinx, XIO Photonics

TABLE OF CONTENTS

ABoUT THe AUTHorS .....P2

TABLe of CoNTeNT .........P3

ComPANIeS LISTed IN THe rePorT .......P5

WHAT'S INSIde THe rePorT, WHAT'S NoT ........P6

eXeCUTIVe SUmmArY .....P7
o The (few) key facts to remember about silicon photonics ...P8
o Silicon photonics defi nition .......P11
o Silicon photonics market ..........P12
o Silicon photonics advantages ....P13
o Silicon photonics time- to- market ...........P14
o Infl ection points for silicon photonics .....P15
o Silicon photonics devices ..........P16
o Silicon photonics application revenues ...P17
o Silicon photonics dies market forecast ...P18
o Silicon photonics wafer forecast P19
o Why silicon photonics only in AOCs today ...........P20
o Technical challenges ....P21

INTrodUCTIoN P22
o Silicon photonics defi nition .........P23
o Focus on III- V integrated photonics ........P27
o Focus on silicon photonics .........P36

INdUSTrY drIVING forCeS ....P43
o Roadmaps .......P44
o Datacom protocols roadmap ......P50

APPLICATIoNS P56
o Applications summary .P57
o Telecom .........P66
o Datacom ........P71
o hPC & Data Centers ....P75
o Consumer ......P89
o Others (Military/Aerospace/Medical) ......P92

mArKeT foreCAST ......P97
o Silicon photonics TAM ..P98
o Optical components market forecast ......P99
o Silicon photonics applications revenues 2010- 2017 ........P102
o Silicon photonics 2012 revenues by application .P103
o Silicon photonics 2017 revenues by application .P104
o Active vs. passive silicon photonics revenues 2010- 2017 ..P105
o Silicon photonics products breakdown ..P108
o Silicon photonics dies market forecast .P111
o Silicon photonics wafer forecast ...........P112
o Estimated 2011 market share .P113

SILICoN PHoToNICS PLAYerS ...........P114
o Evolution of the business model ..........P115
o Silicon photonics foundries .....P118

fINANCIAL ANALYSIS P121
o Raised funds by company .......P123
o Relative investment effi ciency .P125

THe dIffereNT mANUfACTUrING APProACHeS .......P126
o Photonic in standard CMOS .....P127
o Laser sources vs. VCSELs .......P133
o The different approaches to Si photonics integration ......P135
o The different bonding technologies .......P142
o Design & packaging issues ......P149
o A new approach:2.5 and 3D ...P152

THe INTeGrATed PHoToNICS « BUILdING BLoCKS » .......P157
o Summary .P158
o Light sources ........P163
o Modulators ...........P168
o Detectors .P173
o Mux/Demux ..........P176
o Couplers... P178
o Passive devices .....P181
o Others .....P181
CoNCLUSIoNS ..........P183
ProfILeS ......P186
o Summary P187
o Aurrion ....P189
o CEA Leti ...P190
o Cisco (Lightwire) ...P191
o ColorChip .P192
o Cyoptics ...P193
o Enablence P194
o ePIXfab ....P195
o ePIXnet ...P196
o hP Labs ..P197
o IBM .........P198
o IMEC/ghent University .......P199
o Infi nera ....P200
o Intel Labs .P201
o Kotura .....P202
o Luxtera ....P203
o NeoPhotonics ........P204
o NTT .........P205
o OneChip Photonics .P206
o OpSIS ......P207
o Oracle/Sun ...........P208
o PECST .....P209
o STM .........P210
o UCSB .......P211
APPeNdIX ....P212
Yole Développement presentation .........P213