Semiconductor Laser Market Size

Semiconductor Laser Market Analysis

The Semiconductor Laser Market size is estimated at USD 8.02 billion in 2024, and is expected to reach USD 11.40 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 7.30% during the forecast period (2024-2029).

• Lasers are attaining significant traction in the semiconductor industry as they present flexible, developed machining to fulfill the stringent needs of the industry, delivering semiconductor manufacturers with an exact method of cutting complex shapes from different materials with high precision. A laser system custom-developed for semiconductor applications can cut a range of materials accurately and fast.
• The semiconductor market is witnessing several innovations owing to robust R&D activities. For instance, in November 2022, researchers from the LP3 Laboratory in France developed a direct laser writing technique to achieve local material processing within the 3D space of semiconductor chips. They claim that the dominating manufacturing technology, lithography, has significant limitations in thoroughly addressing the challenges posed by the semiconductor manufacturing sector. For this reason, fabricating structures under the wafer surfaces would be highly desirable to use the whole space inside the materials. In the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, the researchers demonstrated such capability via the newly designed direct laser writing technique, which facilitates fabricating implanted structures inside different semiconductor materials.
• Further, in June 2022, engineers at the University of California, Berkeley (Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS)) designed a new type of semiconductor laser that completes an elusive goal in the field of optics: the ability to sustain a single mode of emitted light while retaining the ability to scale up in size and power. It is a significant achievement as it means size does not have to come at the cost of coherence, allowing lasers to become more powerful and cover longer distances for many applications.
• The studied market is noticing an increase in demand due to numerous initiatives by governments of various nations. For instance, the United States government aims to become independent in the semiconductor supply chain ecosystem. To realize such goals, the United States government has started taking initiatives. Such as the US government recently introduced Investing in Domestic Semiconductor Manufacturing Act in the Senate. This proposed legislation would expand eligibility for CHIPS for America, a government subsidy program for the semiconductor industry, to fund financial assistance beyond entities involved in semiconductor fabrication, testing, assembly, or R&D to organizations involved with materials used to manufacture semiconductors and semiconductor manufacturing equipment. By incentivizing the companies that produce essential materials and equipment, this legislation can create more opportunities for manufacturers nationwide and strengthen the supply chain supporting domestic semiconductor manufacturing.
• Additionally, in September 2022, the Biden administration announced that it would invest USD 50 billion in building up the domestic semiconductor industry to counter dependency on China, as the US produces zero and consumes 25% of the world's leading-edge chips vital for its national security. President Joe Biden signed a USD 280 billion CHIPS bill in August 2022 to boost domestic high-tech manufacturing, part of his administration's push to increase US competitiveness over China. Such robust investments in the semiconductor sector in the region would create lucrative opportunities for the growth of the studied market.
• However, on the Flipside, the initial calibration of lasers is a very complex task and requires a high level of expertise to achieve the high-precision tuning needed for the application. Also, the vast number of parameters has to be considered while tuning the laser, and a small offset may lead to errors or be catastrophic in various applications. The manufacturing process of the lasers is very complex, due to which the manufacturing cost has also increased significantly. Another important aspect of the laser's performance when switching between wavelengths is the stability of the wavelength of the device. As the laser tunes into its desired wavelength, settling drift appears before the channel finally stabilizes. Such factors might hinder the growth of the studied market.
• Furthermore, semiconductor manufacturing is a costly and time-consuming process and requires cutthroat precision in all the equipment/processes involved. As a result, industry expansion is limited in economically less developed regions. Lasers, being one of the integral components of the semiconductor industry, also face similar challenges that slow down the studied market's growth.