According to Fact.MR, a market research and competitive intelligence provider, the global photonic packaging market is estimated at US$ 452.3 billion in 2032 and is expected to expand at a healthy CAGR of 5.7% during the forecast years of 2022-2032. The market is poised to grow due to remarkable use case of photonics in several end-use digital applications.

With the rise of 2.5D and 3D package integration techniques and the emergence of the Internet of Everything, connectivity requirements are skyrocketing. The number of mobile devices, such as smartphones and tablets, is increasing quickly. Their data communication needs are increasing the required capacity of global communication networks. The transfer of data, logic, and applications to the cloud increases the need for latency reduction while allowing for increased network capacity by using photonics.

The broad range of methods and technical know-how required to create optical, mechanical, thermal, electrical, and occasionally chemical connections between a PIC and the outside world are together referred to as photonic packaging. The integration of electronic chips, microchips, laser chips, and microfluidics on PICs is among the most well-known applications of photonic packaging.

The other aspects of the field also include the impedance matching of transmission lines from external connectors to PICs’ microscopic photonic components and high-speed (25 Gbps) routing. Additionally, it is done due to the effective thermal stabilization and thermal cooling required to keep the PIC within its operational limit.

Owing to technological developments in the photonics market, demand for its sustainable and robust packaging is expected to witness significant growth over the coming years.

Key Takeaways from Market Study

• The global photonic packaging market is projected to grow 1.7X and reach US$ 452.3 billion by 2032.
• The market witnessed 4.1% CAGR between 2017 and 2021.
• Under packaging technology, optical photonic packaging dominates the market with US$ 110.9 billion valuation in 2022.
• APAC dominated the market with 68.2% market share in 2021.
• Together, the Americas and EMEA are likely to represent 32.2% market share in 2022.

Based on region, demand for photonic packaging is expected to increase at CAGRs of 5.1% and 6.6%, respectively, in APAC and the Americas.

“Advanced packaging technologies provide a route to improved scaling of photonics devices, especially for high-volume applications,” says a Fact.MR analyst.

Market Development

Technological advancements such as passive Fibre-to-PIC alignment, more accurate flip-chip vertical integration, improved thermal-stack design, and others have created a significant impact. Moreover, with ‘soft’ developments such as the adoption and publication of packaging standards and the consolidation and expansion of the component and material supply chain, there has been a dynamic shift in the overall photonic packaging landscape.

The need to create co-packaging solutions that integrate photonics with electronics, microfluidics, and MEMs will increase as photonics becomes more prevalent and finds more applications across vivid domains. The biggest prospects for this technology are in automotive, healthcare, and ICT end use. Thus, key companies are looking to diversify their offerings to gain an early mover advantage in this space.

Competitive Landscape

Prominent photonic packaging manufacturers are Aim Photonics, boschman, Fiberoptics Technology Inc, IBM, Inphotec, Juniper Networks, Keysight, MSRI Systems, PHIX, Technobis, Tyndall National Institute, and VLC Photonics.

The clear trend is for more compact photonic packaging designs with higher levels of integration (MEMs and electrical), effective and ideally passive thermal stabilization, and lower insertion loss. To solve this challenge, companies in photonic packaging are transforming towards developing scalable and standardized solutions from a legacy of individually customized prototypes. All in all, this will create higher relative profit margins in the optical packaging market.

• In Sept 2020, MRSI Systems, in its new offering, introduced ‘MRSI-S-HVM’. It has features such as wafer-level packaging, co-packing photonic and electronic chips, and a flexible 0.5 micrometer die bonder for silicon photonics.
• In January 2022, Phix, a photonics packaging business, and Nanoscribe announced a cooperation to offer the photonic packaging industry on-fiber printing services. Phix is using this new technological method to produce standard lensed fibre arrays using Nanoscribe’s nano-precision alignment capabilities with new high-performance 3D microlens printing technology (LFAs).