The packaged silicon photonics transceiver market is expected to reach $6 billion by 2026, according to a new report from Yole Développement.

“Silicon photonics has reached the tipping point that precedes massive growth,” said Eric Mounier at Yole.

The field combines optics, CMOS technology and advanced packaging, benefiting from semiconductor wafer manufacturing scalability to reduce costs.

In 2020, the researchers expect silicon photonic chips to exceed copper cabling capabilities. Such solutions, it says, may be deployed in high-speed signal transmission systems and increasingly used in processing such as interconnecting multiple cores with processor chips. Yole estimates the 2025 chip market value to be $1.5 billion at chip level.