More than 40 applications have integrated infrared solid state light sources. Some of these applications are expected to drive the IR LED and LD markets to thrive in the next five years!

Optical communication is one of the oldest applications of infrared light sources. Now, due to the explosive growth of Internet data and the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT), cloud services and autonomous vehicles, the infrared light source market will continue to be driven.

The industrial application of infrared light sources is also expected to generate high returns in the next few years, driven by additive applications. Traditional infrared sources, such as IR LEDs, are beginning to be replaced by VCSELs, which reduces power consumption.

3D sensing is becoming the "killer" application for infrared light sources. VCSEL's 3D face recognition application in Apple iPhone X has aroused everyone's interest. Many Android (Android) mobile phone manufacturers have also followed Apple's new smart phone products with integrated VCSEL. However, 3D sensing technology can be used not only for face recognition of mobile phones, but also for automotive laser radar, which is a necessary technology for automatic driving! Therefore, the 3D sensing field has attracted many start-ups to enter and set off a wave of 3D visual revolution!

In summary, the infrared light source market is expected to reach $1.8 billion in 2018, and will reach $6.5 billion in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 29%.

Infrared LEDs and Laser Diodes: Technology, Applications and Industry Trends

Infrared light source market forecast

Infrared light source industry structure and maturity

Driven by visible light lighting applications, today's LED industry is quite mature. Almost all vendors use a vertically integrated model: from extension to packaging. In this industry, we have studied more than 40 IR LED suppliers, most of which are from Asia. In addition to high-power and long-wave/multi-wavelength IR LED products, the manufacturing process is well controlled and the remaining technical challenges are less.

The case of EEL and VCSEL is completely different from IR LEDs, most of which are from the US and Europe. Manufacturing processes are also much more complex, and research and engineering are still needed to improve equipment performance and productivity. Therefore, there are various types of participants in the industry chain: epi-houses, foundries, integrated component manufacturers (IDMs), fabless companies, and so on.

Infrared LEDs and Laser Diodes: Technology, Applications and Industry Trends

Infrared light source (LED, VCSEL, EEL) industrial ecosystem (main manufacturers)

In this context, as EEL and VCSEL will become the main driving force for the future infrared lighting market, professional manufacturers (mainly epitaxial plants, foundries and fabless companies) still have great business opportunities. This is mainly related to "the manufacturing process still needs to be optimized" and also related to "the challenge of integrating the infrared source into the module or system". In fact, EELs and VCSELs can be combined with complex optics such as dot matrix projectors for 3D face recognition.