Terahertz Market - Forecast(2024 - 2030)

Terahertz Market Overview

The Terahertz market size is forecast to reach $940Million by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 18% from 2024 to 2030. The Terahertz market is experiencing robust growth driven by its diverse applications across various industries. One prominent trend is the increasing utilization of terahertz submillimeter radiation in critical sectors such as medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry. Terahertz technology's ability to penetrate non-conductive materials like plastics and ceramics with high resolution makes it invaluable for medical imaging, pharmaceutical analysis, and dental diagnostics. Moreover, its non-invasive nature and low ionizing radiation levels make it particularly appealing for sensitive medical procedures, thus fueling its adoption in cancer treatment applications. Another notable trend is the rising prominence of terahertz spectroscopy in food inspection industries. With stringent regulations and consumer demands for food safety and quality, terahertz spectroscopy emerges as a powerful tool for non-destructive and rapid quality assessment of food products. Its ability to detect contaminants, measure moisture content, and assess structural integrity without altering the product's properties makes it indispensable for ensuring food safety and compliance with regulatory standards. Furthermore, the market is witnessing increased deployment of terahertz imaging systems in aerospace, defense, and homeland security sectors. Terahertz imaging offers unparalleled capabilities in detecting concealed objects, identifying materials, and performing security screenings with enhanced precision and efficiency. As governments and industries prioritize security measures, the demand for advanced terahertz imaging solutions continues to surge, driving the growth of the market.

Report Coverage

The report: “Terahertz market – Forecast (2024-2030)”, by IndustryARC covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Terahertz market.

By Source type: Natural, Artificial (Gyrotron, Backward wave oscillators (BWO), Far infrared laser (fir laser), Quantum cascade laser, Free electron laser (Fel), Synchrotron light sources, Photo-mixing sources, Others)

By Sensor Type: Schottky barrier diode, Golay cell, Microbolometer, Pyroelectric detector, Broadband antennas, High electron mobility transistor (HEMT), Superconductive hot-spot air-bridge bolometer

By System Type: Systems based on spectroscopy (Time domain spectroscopy, Frequency domain spectroscopy), Systems based on imaging (Imaging by canning, Incoherent imaging), Terahertz radar, Terahertz sensing, Emerging systems, Antennas

By Device Type: Portable terahertz imaging systems, Cameras, Terahertz detectors, Generators, Terahertz sources, Spectroscopes, Communication devices, Computing devices, other sensors

By Application Type: Industrial NDT, Defence and homeland security, Food and Beverages, Biomedical, Telecommunications, Banking and financial security, others

By Geography: North America (U.S, Canada, Mexico, Rest of Americas), Europe (France, U.K., Germany, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Rest of Europe), APAC (China, Japan, India, South Korea, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Rest of Asia-Pacific), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Rest of South America) and ROW (Middle East and Africa)

Key Takeaways

• Rising investments in the healthcare sector along with growing implementation of Terahertz for blood cell detection, cancer cell characterization, bacterial identification, biological tissue discrimination and others are anticipated to open up new opportunities for market growth.
• In the U.S, increased adoption of terahertz technology has changed the manufacturing scenario in the America region, thus propelling the market growth.
• Key companies such as RaySecur Inc. (U.S), Lumitron Technologies (U.S) and many others has developed a new advanced terahertz technology such as MailSecur, Micro-radar & algorithms for the security purpose that increases the demand for terahertz market.

Terahertz Market Segment Analysis -By System Type

System based on imaging held segment dominating the market share in 2023. This system includes imaging by Canning, incoherent imaging and others. Deployment of such systems in food& beverages, healthcare, biomedical and others uplifts the market growth. Terahertz radiation has characteristics that are similar to microwave and infrared radiation. The identification of moisture, foreign bodies, testing, and quality control in the food industry are some of the major uses of terahertz imaging by canning. It has been found to be a safe, fast, and non-destructive detection process in food products. In biomedical applications, terahertz incoherent imaging is commonly used. In January 2023, the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) suggested, THz pulse imaging (TPI) employs femtosecond pulsed lasers, offering detailed sample analysis with recorded intensity and phase information despite longer scanning times. The proposed approach tracks the strength responses of the echo signal in biomedical imaging applications using an incoherent detection array or a single incoherent detector.

Terahertz Market Segment Analysis -By Application Type

The industrial NDT segment held the highest market share in 2023. Terahertz-based non-destructive quality inspection is becoming increasingly common, especially in the automotive and aviation industries. Terahertz waves is used for non-destructive testing to examine multi-layered systems and can help detect anomalies such as foreign material inclusions, heat injury, mechanical impact damage, and water or hydraulic fluid ingress. Increased use of terahertz technology in these sectors has propelled the market growth. Also growing funding activities for terahertz systems in NDT application is set to boost the growth of the market. Moreover, the Telecommunication segment is anticipated to witness significant market growth with a CAGR of 33.1% during the forecast period 2024-2030. Terahertz is a complementary wireless technology for communication networks, which allows high-speed wireless extension of the optical fibers for beyond 5G networks. Terahertz technology provides demand for wireless communication in remote areas such as mountains, islands, and others. Increasing adoption of wireless networks owing to its ease of use and low cost has been pushing the market growth. With the growing implementation of IOT and increasing investments in wireless networks, 5G, and beyond networks, there is huge opportunities for terahertz technology in the telecommunication sector which is poised to push the market during the forecast period.

Terahertz Market Segment Analysis - Geography

The region of Americas held the highest market share in 2023 with market share of around 42%. Market growth is attributed to significant R&D investments in this region within the sectors including military and defense, automotive and others. Rising investments in the military have created demand for sophisticated surveillance applications, including terahertz sensors, alarms, explosives detection imaging devices, bombs, biochemicals, and others. Consequently, increased deployment of terahertz technology in these sectors is set to enhance the growth of the market. According to the Stockholm international research peace research institute (SIPRI), In 2022, the United States maintained its position as the largest global military spender, allocating $877 billion, comprising 39% of the world's total expenditure. This marked a 0.7% real-terms rise from the previous year, overshadowing China's spending by threefold. Moreover, the APAC region is anticipated to witness significant market growth with a CAGR 30.9% during the forecast period 2024-2030. The market growth is attributable to factors including rapid industrialization, the large presence of manufacturing companies, advances in the portable electronics industry, expanded Internet of Things (IoT) awareness, and others. Additionally, increasing investment in research and development within telecommunication tends to foster market growth. In November 2020, China launched the world's first 6G experiment satellite. This marks China’s breakthrough in exploring terahertz communication technology in aerospace. In September 2023, Chinese researchers unveiled groundbreaking terahertz technology for underwater detection, with applications on drones. Such developments positively impact the market growth during the forecast period.

Terahertz Market Drivers
Rising demand from the semiconductor industry

The key factor driving the market's growth is technical innovation in the emerging semiconductor industry. Semiconductors are the brains of contemporary electronics, allowing cutting-edge innovations in fields such as healthcare, networking, computing, and transportation, among many others. For instance, EOTPR, or electro-optical terahertz pulse reflectometry, is an ultra-fast laser source-driven electro-optical device that has successfully applied terahertz to microelectronics in fault isolation and defect detection. The Semiconductor Industry Association reported that global semiconductor sales reached $526.8 billion in 2023, indicating robust growth. Thus, the growth in the market of Semiconductor tends to drive the market of Terahertz owing to its applications.

Increasing Demand for Terahertz Technology in Medical Sector

High demand in research laboratories and process control monitoring processes, as well as growing application of high-end terahertz instruments in biology and medical science, are some of the factors driving market development. Terahertz has a lot of upside in biomedical research owing to its special features like non-invasive and label-free living cell recognition and medical imaging. Terahertz technology is widely used for blood cell detection, cancer cell characterization, bacterial identification, and biological tissue discrimination that are increasing the growth of terahertz market.

Terahertz Market Challenges
Increasing deployment of alternative technologies

Alternative technologies such as new-infrared (NIR) imaging have been developed for surveillance and defense applications. This alternative technique uses simple, low-cost electronics and is more compact and user-friendly than terahertz technology, which is restricting the terahertz market's expansion. Alternative terahertz technology requires transfer of terahertz images to higher frequency near IR light, which aims to minimize signal detection loss. As a result, the demand for alternative technologies is increasing, restricting the growth of the terahertz market.

Terahertz Market Landscape

Partnerships and acquisitions along with product launches are the key strategies adopted by the players in the Terahertz market. As of 2024, the market for Terahertz market is consolidated with the top players including Advanced Photonix, Inc, Menlo Systems GmbH, Toptica Photonics AG, Advantest Corporation, Acal PLC, TeraSense Inc, Luna Innovations, TeraView Limited, BATOP GmbH, Microtech Instrument Inc.. and among others.

Acquisitions/Technology Launches/Partnerships

Ø  In June 2022, Advantest Corporation has finalized the acquisition of CREA - CollaudiElettroniciAutomatizzatiS.r.l., an Italy-based company renowned for its power semiconductor test equipment. This strategic move enhances Advantest's position as a leading provider of semiconductor testing solutions, catering to global semiconductor firms.

Ø  In February 2023, ACE Solution introduced the TZ6000, a non-destructive wafer quality measurement tool for the compound semiconductor industry. Powered by TeraView’sTeraPulse Lx technologies, it accurately measures thickness, refractive index, resistivity, and dielectric constant, and detects surface/subsurface defects, offering precise whole wafer scanning maps.

Ø  In January 2023, Menlo Systems introduces the YLMO Mid-IR, a compact, powerful, and tunable mid-IR fiber laser delivering femtosecond pulses in the 3 – 5 µm range. With automated wavelength tuning and over 100 mW average power, it meets diverse mid-IR application needs with pulse durations down to 140 fs.