SWIR technologies penetrate the consumer market
Widely used in optical telecommunication, Short-Wave Infra-Red light (SWIR) sources are key to the development of the imaging market.
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Players like Sony and STMicroelectronics have recently brought new technologies into the SWIR imaging market. These technologies should enable the Industrial market to continue growing and provide new possibilities to the emerging automotive & mobility and mobile & consumer markets.
Other companies developing sensors and cameras include NIT[2], Trieye Ltd, Emberion, Princeton Infrared Technologies, and Sensors Unlimited, contributing to the SWIR imaging market growth.
Without suitable sources, there is no imaging market. The SWIR source market, therefore, benefits from SWIR imaging market growth.
The SWIR source market is currently dominated by telecom & infrastructure applications, which accounted for 99% of SWIR source unit volumes in 2021. It should grow from 182 Munits in 2021 to 394 Munits in 2026 at a 17% CAGR2021-2026[3]. The Telecom & Infrastructure market will continue to grow but will only be 74% of unit volume in 2026, as, by then, the emerging Mobile & Consumer market will represent 25% of the SWIR source unit volume.
In this context, Yole Group’s partner, PISÉO, investigates disruptive imaging technologies and evaluates the latest innovations.
Today, PISÉO’s imaging team released the report SWIR Light Sources – Product Offer, Technology and Market Structure Analyses. To improve SWIR source manufacturers’ and integrators’ knowledge and speed up their decision-making, this first report on SWIR sources aims to:
Matthieu Verstraete, Innovation Leader and Electronics & Software Architect at PISÉO, asserts: “The SWIR imaging market is growing, with most applications needing light sources. As such, players need a better understanding of SWIR application requirements and SWIR light source technologies and products available on the market, specifically LEDs[4], EELs[5]and VCSELs[6]”.
There are hundreds of standard SWIR LED reference products from manufacturers like Ushio, Marktech Optoelectronics, Epigap, and Hamamatsu. This market, mainly led by the demand for industrial applications such as material sorting, is currently looking to reduce costs and increase optical power and wall-plug efficiency.
The offering for SWIR EELs also involves hundreds of standard reference products, with manufacturers like LD-PD Inc., OSI Laser Diode Inc., and Coherent (Formerly II-VI). Most of the demand originates from the well-established Telecom & Infrastructure market.
Demand and offerings for SWIR VCSELs are currently limited. They should take off with the entrance of SWIR technology into the Automotive & Mobility and Mobile & Consumer markets. Vertilas is a leader in SWIR VCSEL manufacturing, mainly addressing gas sensing applications. ams Osram is preparing to enter the market, illustrating the growing interest. Bandwidth10 and LD-PD Inc. are other SWIR VCSEL manufacturers.
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Depending on the specific application, there is substantial diversity in requirements in parameters such as wavelength, for example. Therefore, besides their standard portfolio, most SWIR source manufacturers offer services for custom products.
PISÉO, specialized in the design and industrialization of system integrating photonic technologies can support SWIR system manufacturers in the development of their products.
PISÉO is also able to characterize light sources and imagers in its laboratory.
Yole Intelligence and PISÉO’s imaging teams invite you to follow the imaging industry and the evolution of the technology on www.yolegroup.com.
In this regard, check the replay of the appeal of SWIR imaging technologies for mass markets – webcast here.
Stay tuned!
[1] SWIR: Short-Wave Infra-Red
[2] NIT: New Imaging Technologies
[3] CAGR: Compound Annual Growth Rate
[4] LED: Light Emitting Diodes
[5] EEL: Edge Emitting Lasers
[6] VCSEL: Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Lasers
Source: www.yolegroup.com