Adaptive Optics Market

The global adaptive optics market was valued at $494.5 million in 2021, and is projected to reach $4.9 billion by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 25.6% from 2022 to 2031.

Adaptive optics (AO) is a branch of optics and photonics integrated with optical systems for beam propagation, communications, and microscopy. The technology is used to enhance the performance of the visual ecosystem by minimizing the effect of incoming wavefront distortion by deforming a mirror so that it can compensate for the distortion. Moreover, adaptive optics helps in negating the inaccuracies experienced while measuring and imaging due to distortions seen in light waves, thereby enhancing the performance of the optical instruments. Also, it finds its applications in retinal imaging, laser communication, and biological research. The system contains three main components wavefront sensor, control system, and wavefront modulator.

The COVID-19 crisis is creating uncertainty in the market. Since the beginning of 2020, more and more countries have shut down their borders and limited transportation & travel to contain the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, thereby creating impediments to international trade and transportation. Governments of different regions have announced total lockdown and temporarily shutdown of industries, adversely affecting the overall production and sales. Also, the COVID-19 outbreak severely impacted the adaptive optics market on a global level. Additionally, the COVID-19 epidemic significantly adversely affected the worldwide adaptive optics industry due to limitations on all industrial operations and global commerce activity. Several businesses are active in designing and developing sophisticated optics systems for a variety of end-use industries, including those in the commercial, industrial, defense, medical, aviation, automotive, space, and other sectors. The medical (healthcare) sector saw a rise in demand for cutting-edge optical medical tools in 2020–2021 to give patients the finest treatments possible. However, because of the interruption in supply chain analyses, COVID-19 had a modest influence on the market. 75% of all OEMs are small and medium-sized businesses, according to the Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE) organization's report 2020. The temporary halt caused by the COVID-19 outbreak has significantly impacted the income production of these small businesses. Due to this aspect, there was little investment made in research and development efforts.

Researchers have found the applications of adaptive optics systems across industries, including manufacturing and spectroscopy. For instance, in 2019, U.S. National Eye Institute researchers used Vivo fluorescence ophthalmoscopy and adaptive optics (AO) to capture mosaic patterns created by humans' retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). In addition, the application of adaptive optics systems in military and defense industry applications such as satellite imaging, free-space optical communication, and laser weapon, among others, has gained significant traction, driving the market growth.

The factors such as adoption in the field of astronomy, growing prevalence of retinal degeneration diseases, and rise in demand for high-resolution microscopy in various biomedical research operations supplement the growth of the adaptive optics market. However, high initial cost of adaptive systems and complex design & optimization of space optical solutions are the factors expected to hamper the growth of the adaptive optics market. In addition, increasing demand for photonics enabled products to enhance system efficiency to aid growth and rising R&D investments in advanced optics technology creates market opportunities for the key players operating in the adaptive optics industry.

The adaptive optics market is segmented into component, industry vertical, application and region. By component, the market is divided into wavefront sensor, wavefront modulator, and control system. By industry vertical, it is fragmented into astronomy, biomedical, military & defense, industrial & manufacturing, and others (free-space optical communication, sensing, and others). By application, it is categorized into ophthalmology, microscopy, laser application, and others. By region, it is analyzed across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

The leading players operating in the adaptive optics market are Active Optical Systems LLC, Adaptica, Aka Optics SAS, ALPAO, Baker Adaptive Optics, Benchmark Electronics, Inc., Boston Micromachines Corporation, Edmund Optics Inc., Electro Optic Systems Pty Ltd., Flexible Optical B.V., Imagine Optic, Iris AO, Inc., Northrop Grumman Corporation, Phasics, Synopsys, Inc., Teledyne e2v, and Thorlabs, Inc.

Adoption in the field of astronomy

Over the last 20 years, several exoplanets have been found, and their study has become a high priority in the scientific field. Direct imaging of these exoplanets nearby and the surrounding in which they form and evolve is challenging due to the more minor angular separation relative to the central star and high contrast ratio. To tackle these challenges, ground-based telescopes must be equipped with adaptive optics systems to get high-contrast images. Adaptive optics is a powerful new technique to sharpen telescope images blurred by the Earth's atmosphere. For instance, in January 2020, National Science Foundation (NSF), the newest Inouye Solar 4-meter Telescope, produced the first image that uses adaptive optics to compensate for the blurring created by Earth’s atmosphere. Also, in February 2020, researchers from First Light Imaging, Aix Marseille University, and the University Grenoble Alpes began a SWIR camera for adaptive optics that has low noise for free-space optical communications that runs at 600 frames per second (fps) and has a standard size, weight, and power (SWaP) as well as low cost. With such more projects, the demand for adaptive optics in astronomy is expected to drive market growth.

Growing prevalence of retinal degeneration diseases

The human retina is a uniquely accessible tissue. It contains millions of light-sensitive cells (rods & cones) and other nerve cells that receive and organize visual information. Currently, treatment is available for some retinal diseases to stop or slow the disease and preserve, improve, or restore vision. Tools like scanning laser ophthalmoscopy and spectral domain optical coherence tomography provide clinicians with clear pictures of the living retina. Although the anterior optics of the eye permit such non-invasive visualization of the retina and associated pathology, the same optics induce significant aberrations that obviate cellular-resolution imaging in most cases. Adaptive optics (AO) imaging systems use active optical elements to compensate for abnormalities in the optical path between the object and the camera. When applied to the human eye, AO allows direct visualization of individual rod and cone photoreceptor cells, retinal pigment epithelium cells, and white blood cells. AO imaging has changed the vision of scientists and ophthalmologists to see the retina, helping to clarify our understanding of the retinal structure, function, and the etiology of various retinal pathologies. Thus, such development in medical applications is expected to fuel market growth.   

High initial cost of adaptive systems

Adaptive optics is a maturing science and has proven helpful in numerous laboratory and field demonstrations. Its leading application is imaging through the atmosphere for satellite monitoring and astronomy. However, the high cost of traditional wavefront-correction systems has limited this technology to well-funded research labs. These systems use expensive deformable mirrors with hundreds of piezo-actuated elements priced as high as $2000 per actuator. Thus, the high initial cost of adaptive systems hampers the market's growth during the forecast period.

Increasing demand for photonics enabled products to enhance system efficiency to aid growth

Fiber optic telephony, optical data storage, displays, and laser printing are the main applications of photonics technology. Devices with photonics capabilities are more energy-efficient, last longer, more accurate, and operate more quickly. Furthermore, additive manufacturing and LiDAR are emerging photonics technologies for high bandwidth, multi-channel wavelength compiled with optical communication. For instance, In August 2021, Bridger photonics and a southern California gas company signed a USD 12 million contract to survey gas leaks with its LiDAR technology. Applications for silicon-based photonics are the main factors driving the photonics market. Hybrid silicon lasers, which combine silicon and group III-V semiconductors, are used in telecommunications and data center applications because they use the light-emitting properties of both materials. In February 2021, iXblue photonics and photonics Bretagne signed an agreement on distributing micro-structured and multicore fiber worldwide. These new fibers are used for applications in industrial and medical lasers in the field of sensors (temperature, strain). Thus, enhancing photonics-enabled products to enhance system efficiency creates a lucrative opportunity for the adaptive optics market in the forecast period.

Key Benefits For Stakeholders

• This study presents analytical depiction of the global adaptive optics market analysis along with current trends and future estimations to depict imminent investment pockets.
• The overall adaptive optics market opportunity is determined by understanding profitable trends to gain a stronger foothold.
• The report presents information related to the key drivers, restraints, and opportunities of the global adaptive optics market with a detailed impact analysis.
• The current adaptive optics market is quantitatively analyzed from 2021 to 2031 to benchmark the financial competency.
• Porter’s five forces analysis illustrates the potency of the buyers and suppliers in the industry.

 Adaptive Optics Market Report Highlights