Sensing applications reshape the VCSEL industry
In 2004, VCSEL entered consumer electronics for the first time: Logitech MX1000 laser wireless mouse, which became the light source of laser navigation (positioning) sensors. In 2016, VCSEL entered Apple's iPhone 7 series mobile phones with the help of ToF proximity/range sensors to realize face proximity sensing, autofocus and other functions. At the same time, VCSEL also uses the proximity/range sensor to enter Apple's AirPods headset to realize the wearing monitoring function. So far, the application of many Apple products has promoted the scale of the VCSEL market to a new level.
In 2017, the VCSEL array entered Apple iPhone X for the first time and became the light source for 3D face recognition. This has also ignited the entire VCSEL industry, the market scale has expanded rapidly, and start-up companies have emerged one after another. From 2018 to 2019, the Android camp followed Apple and launched a number of mobile phones with integrated 3D sensing technology, but it did not make 3D face recognition a rigid demand. In 2020, it will be squeezed out of the market share by under-screen fingerprint recognition. In 2020, the addressable VCSEL array will enter Apple's new iPad Pro tablet and iPhone 12 Pro series smartphones for the first time, becoming the light source of consumer lidar. This also prompted the Android camp to deploy direct time-of-flight (dToF) technology and actively prepare for augmented reality (AR) applications.
Wide range of VCSEL sensing applications
Due to the development of various sensor applications, the global VCSEL market will reach 1.15 billion US dollars in 2020, which can be described as "sensing applications reshaping the VCSEL industry"-occupying the largest market share: 75 percent ; communication applications occupying the second largest market share: 24 percent . Other applications include industrial heat treatment in the manufacturing field, laser printing, and atomic clocks in the timekeeping field. VCSEL suppliers for sensing applications mainly include Lumentum, II-VI, ams Osram, Zonghui Xinguang, TRUMPF, and Hualijie.
VCSEL market share in various applications and major VCSEL suppliers
Looking forward to the future, under the intelligent demand of the two major terminal products of mobile phones and automobiles, the VCSEL market will continue to maintain a momentum of rapid growth. We expect that the 3D camera on the rear of the Android smartphone, as well as the Lidar outside the car and the monitoring of the people inside the car (such as the driver monitoring system) will accelerate the progress. According to forecasts by Memes Consulting, the global VCSEL market for sensing applications will grow from US862 million in 2020 to US1.728 billion in 2024, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19 percent during this period.
VCSEL market size for sensing applications
Multi-junction and addressable become the development direction of VCSEL
The new iPad Pro and iPhone 12 Pro series phones released by Apple in 2020 are equipped with lidar based on dToF technology. The integrated addressable VCSEL array is provided by Lumentum. The VCSEL array adopts a common cathode design and has four areas on the anode. , The driving signal can control one of the four areas of the anode to realize the divisional lighting. The addressable VCSEL array has the following advantages: (1) Effectively control the light-emitting area and increase the peak power; (2) Through a suitable system design, the system-level anti-interference ability can be achieved; (3) It has better luminous efficiency and can be Save system power consumption; (4) Better heat dissipation performance.
Lidar in Apple iPad Pro 2020 integrates Lumentum addressable VCSEL array
As the market demand for automotive lidar grows, multi-junction VCSEL arrays have become the key layout products of the world's leading manufacturers. Compared with single-junction VCSELs, multi-junction VCSELs can: (1) improve PCE (electro-optical conversion efficiency) and reduce power consumption; (2) provide higher power density, which is more friendly to the design of optical systems; (3) improve slope efficiency, It is more friendly to the laser driver; (4) Provides higher peak power and expands the range of ranging work; (5) Reduces the "Cost per Watt" of the laser. From 2020 to 2021, major global manufacturers have successively released double-junction and triple-junction VCSEL products, while the leader Lumentum will first release five-junction and six-junction VCSEL arrays in March 2021. The optical power of each emission hole exceeds 2W, which makes The peak power of a 1 square millimeter VCSEL array exceeds 800W. In summary, the multi-junction, addressable VCSEL array is the key underlying technology to achieve high-performance all-solid-state mid- and long-range lidar.
Development Trend of VCSEL for Sensing Applications
In addition to researching industry trends, Memes Consulting also searched and analyzed Chinese invention patents related to VCSEL and its array design and manufacturing, looked into the technological development trend of China's VCSEL field, and tapped superior companies, research institutions and technical experts in China's VCSEL field. This report provides an Excel patent database, which contains nearly 1,000 authorized invention patents and invention patent applications from more than 690 patent families involved in this research. This high-value patent database supports multi-field search, including patent title, abstract, applicant, publication number, application number, application date, inventor, IPC classification number, current legal status, and abstract drawings.
VCSEL China invention patent application trends
China's VCSEL industry is booming
As the main suppliers of Apple's VCSEL, Lumentum and II-VI occupy a major market share. However, in recent years, Chinese VCSEL suppliers have emerged one after another. Many overseas returnees from major international factories and local talents have jointly set off an entrepreneurial boom and created an independent and controllable "Chinese chip." This booming trend has attracted many capital parties to invest in all links of the VCSEL industry chain, involving chip design and manufacturing companies, epitaxial and wafer manufacturing foundries, equipment and material suppliers, and sensor module/system manufacturers.
VCSEL industry chain for sensing applications
In terms of VCSEL chips for sensing applications, Chinese manufacturers are mainly entrepreneurial, mainly in the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta. The Yangtze River Delta region includes Zonghui Xinguang, Ruixi Technology, Changguang Huaxin, Huaxin Semiconductor, Dugen Laser, and Eagle Semiconductor; the Pearl River Delta region includes Bosheng Optoelectronics, Lemon Photon, Ruishi Technology, and Xinliang Intelligent; in addition, there are QianMu Laser, headquartered in Wuhan, and Qianzhao Optoelectronics, a listed company headquartered in Xiamen. Among the above-mentioned manufacturers, Zonghui Xinguang VCSEL has the largest shipment volume. It has successfully entered Huawei's smartphones and has rapidly deployed a large number of patents in China. Therefore, it has won the favor of investors such as Huawei's Hubble Technology Investment and Xiaomi Yangtze River Fund.
Representative manufacturers of VCSEL chips for sensing applications
Due to the strong demand and vigorous development of the III-V compound semiconductor market represented by VCSELs and radio frequency devices, more and more GaAs epitaxy and wafer manufacturing plants in China have emerged, including pure epitaxy and wafer foundries (For example, Tangjing Quantum, Zhongkexindian, Sanan Integrated Circuit, Quanlei Optoelectronics, Hiway Huaxin), and IDM manufacturers with internal epitaxial and wafer manufacturing plants (such as Changguang Huaxin, Huaxin Semiconductor). We look forward to the maturity of China's VCSEL industry chain, laying a solid foundation for the broad sensor application market!
GMKJ Technology is deeply engaged in healthy and smart light sources, providing the market with a full range of UV UVA UVB UVC LED, infrared IR LED VCSEL products and program services. It has hundreds of high-quality partners in the domestic and foreign markets to jointly promote the use of light technology to create a healthy and smart life. .
