12 Sep 2019  |  Stephanie Baclet

China International Optoelectronics Expo 2019

This year I was lucky enough to present at the China International Optoelectronic Exposition (CIOE) which was showcasing a number of exciting applications, such as smart glasses for B2B or infrared detection systems. Many other optoelectronic technologies are being introduced or enhanced to meet the demand of 5G, IoT, smart cities, advanced manufacturing and industrial automation. This is driving a strong momentum within the industrial community.

Driven by the “Made in China 2025” initiative, which seeks to engineer a shift for China from being a low-end manufacturer to becoming a high-end producer of goods, existing and new players are continuously delivering technical breakthroughs.

CIOE 2019 was held at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center. As you entered the conference hall, a giant robot from the Desay booth was welcoming visitors and giving a great first impression for the show.

OPTOELECTRONICS

The supply chain of the optical communication industry, including optical fibre/cable, optical fibre sensor, chip and optical devices had a strong presence. In fact, optical communication was taking up the largest exhibition area. The exposition also had an area dedicated to international pavilions for diverse innovation and technology. The pavilions were divided by country including Japan, Germany and the USA, so every exhibitor from the same country would be gathered in the same area. The technologies displayed were ranging from laser, bonding to E beam exposure and nanoimprinting.  

3D SENSING & SMARTPHONES

3D sensing also had its share of attention with players from the whole 3D sensors modules industry were present at the show, from the illuminator to the optical path to the 3D system design. The smartphone 3D sensing market has entered a growth stage and the technology is used by smartphone manufacturers to create a differentiation in-camera performance and support augmented reality applications for ecommerce.

In parallel to the exhibition, Yole hosted a forum on 3D sensing along with other forums focussed on Si Photonics, LiDAR and Infrared Imaging. The 3D sensing forum gave many great insights on the roadmaps for key players like Sony and AMS. As the technology penetrates the smartphone market, we expect greater competition between Time of Flight (TOF) and Active StereoVision (ASV). Under the display, cameras could also be around the corner as a new value proposition for smartphone users. In addition to smartphones, indoor activities including gaming should benefit from enhanced gesture recognition performance.

VCSELs

VCSELs are a key component of the 3D sensing module where there are used as a flood illuminator. This technology also needs to mature to enable more reliable, cost-efficient 3D sensing. As part of the forum, I gave a review of how Oxford Instruments Plasma Technology’s enhanced fabrication solutions can support and enable superior performance and device reliability. You can read more about that here.

After this exciting show, we look forward to CIOE 2020. Next year, the show will be moving to a new location in Shenzhen. Established in 1999, CIOE already features over 3,200 optoelectronic brands in an area of 110,000 sqm. We cannot wait to see what CIOE 2020 will bring.