It is understood that nonlinear optical crystal is one of the important optoelectronic information functional materials, and an important material basis for optoelectronic technology, especially laser technology. Its development level is closely related to the development of laser technology.
Nonlinear optical crystal materials can be used for laser frequency conversion and wavelength expansion; Used to modulate the intensity and phase of laser; Holographic storage of laser signals and self pumped phase conjugation to eliminate wavefront domain change are realized.
Nonlinear optical crystals are indispensable key materials in high-tech and modern military technology. All developed countries give priority to their development and include them in their high-tech development plans as an important strategic measure, giving high attention and support.
With the development of laser technology from the 1960s to now, nonlinear optical crystals have also been greatly developed. From the initial quartz frequency doubling crystals, lithium niobate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, potassium deuterium phosphate, lithium iodate, potassium titanium oxyphosphate, barium metaborate, lithium triborate, potassium niobate, cesium lithium borate, potassium fluoborate beryllium, gallium silver sulfide, arsenic cadmium germanium, phosphorus germanium continue to emerge
Zinc and other nonlinear optical crystals are widely used in laser frequency doubling, sum frequency, difference frequency, optical parametric amplification, electro-optic modulation, electro-optic deflection, etc.
China has strong competitiveness in the global nonlinear optical crystal market, and is even in the leading position in some product fields. In lasers, nonlinear optical crystals are used together with laser crystals, whose function is mainly to convert the laser wavelength to meet the application requirements of different scenes, and their status is prominent.
Through continuous development, the competitive strength of China's nonlinear optical crystal industry has been continuously enhanced, and it is in the international leading position in some product fields, but there is still a gap between some product R&D and production technologies and those of American and Japanese enterprises.
From the perspective of the whole nonlinear optical crystal materials, devices and complete equipment, developed countries such as the United States and Japan are big industrial countries, and have a monopoly position in large-scale production of nonlinear optical crystals such as LiNbO3.
Small scale material varieties such as KTP, BBO, LBO, etc., mainly China, Lithuania, etc. occupy a dominant position. China has strong competitiveness in the global nonlinear optical crystal market, and is even in the leading position in some product fields.
Since the 1960s, China's R&D and innovation capacity of nonlinear optical crystals has been continuously enhanced, and many new types of nonlinear optical crystals have been independently developed and produced, such as BBO crystals and LBO crystals developed by Fujian Institute of Material Structure (Fujian Institute of Physical Structure) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which have basically achieved large-scale production.
At present, the nonlinear optical crystals produced in China are not only supplied to the domestic market, but also exported to overseas markets. At present, the domestic market scale is about 400 million US dollars, and the overall market still maintains a steady growth of 15-30% every year.
According to the Report on Deep Market Research and Investment Strategy Suggestions for the Nonlinear Optical Crystal Industry from 2022 to 2026 released by the New Horizon Industry Research Center, from the perspective of the global nonlinear optical crystal market, the United States and Japan are in the leading position in the field of large-scale mass production products such as lithium niobate, while China has obvious competitive advantages in the field of small-scale mass production products such as BBO and LBO.
With the rapid development of optical communication, industrial laser processing, instrumentation and other industries, the demand for high-performance nonlinear optical crystals continues to grow. The output value of China's nonlinear optical crystal industry continues to increase, reaching about 3.2 billion yuan by 2020.
Nonlinear optical elements have shown a trend of accelerated development in the three fields of modulation switch and telecommunication, information processing and entertainment. We expect that the overall market growth rate will remain around 15-30% in the future.
The main commercial nonlinear optical crystals are lithium niobate, potassium titanate phosphate, barium metaborate, lithium triborate, potassium dihydrogen phosphate, potassium deuterium phosphate, etc. Among them, LiNbO3 is the largest nonlinear optical crystal in the market, and optical communication and industrial laser are the most important application fields.
According to the 2021 China Laser Industry Development Report, the global laser sales in 2020 will be 16.01 billion US dollars. In structure, the proportion of material processing and lithography, communication and optical storage, scientific research and military, medical and beauty, instruments and sensors and entertainment, display and printing is 39.6%, 24.5%, 13.8%, 5.7%, 12.6% and 3.8% respectively.
The report shows that the total market size of global lasers in 2021 will be 18.5 billion US dollars, with a market growth rate of 15%. Among them, the market size of semiconductor lasers (as the core pump light source of other lasers such as solid state lasers and fiber lasers or as direct lasers) is expected to be 7.95 billion US dollars (43%), with a market growth rate of 18%.
China's laser industry has developed rapidly with obvious competitive advantages, and its share in the global laser market has also continued to increase. According to the data released by Laser Focus World, the size of China's laser market in 2020 will be US $10.91 billion, accounting for 66.12% of the global laser market.
In recent years, the scale of the global industrial laser market has fluctuated. According to the calculation of Laser Focus World, the scale of the global industrial laser market in 2020 will be about 5.157 billion US dollars, with a year-on-year growth of 2.4%.
In terms of structure, the largest market share is fiber lasers. From 2018 to 2020, the sales share of fiber lasers will exceed 50%, of which the global sales share of fiber lasers will be 52.7% in 2020; Solid state laser sales accounted for 16.7%; Gas laser sales accounted for 15.6%; Direct semiconductor/excimer laser sales accounted for 15.0%.
Source: OFweek
