Terahertz Technologies Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Terahertz Technologies Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The Global Terahertz technologies market was valued at USD 345.2 million in 2020, and it is expected to reach USD 1155.4 million by 2026, registering a CAGR of 22.4%, during the forecasted period of 2021-2026. Terahertz technology is an emerging and growing field with potentials for developing applications varying from passenger scanning at an airport to large digital data transfers and has been reflecting significant advancements on the scientific front. Terahertz (THz) radiation exhibits three unique properties, which stimulate the development of the whole terahertz industry.

Key Highlights

• The increasing concerns regarding security systems across the various industry verticals have created a dire need for efficient solutions driving the studied market growth. The comparative niche market potential of the terahertz technology has been primarily implemented in applications like security imaging and non-destructive testing. The non-ionizing and non-invasive radiations of the terahertz waves have rendered them to be immensely useful in the healthcare industry.
• Terahertz (THz) frequency range (0.1 THz — 3 THz) is the last span within the whole electromagnetic wave spectrum, which has not been technologically and commercially developed. For this reason, in literature, the terahertz frequency range is often referred to as a terahertz gap. At the same time, it is well known that this frequency range has fascinating prospects for many applications.
• Terahertz spectroscopy has several applications, such as detecting defects in tablet coating, product inspection (industry), spectroscopy (chemistry, astronomy), material characterization (physics), weapons concealed under clothing (airports), and detection of cancer and caries. In the pharmaceutical industries, it enables non-destructive, internal, chemical analysis of tablets, capsules, and other dosage forms.
• Further, the terahertz imaging systems segment was one of the most significant segments in terms of innovations. For instance, in 2019, researchers at the University of Durham in the United Kingdom developed a new imaging system that uses a laser-excited, room-temperature atomic vapor to convert terahertz radiation to visible light. This may further expand the scope of practical technologies that use terahertz radiations.
• With the outbreak of the COVID-19, the terahertz technology market is expected to witness growth with its major application in healthcare, biomedical, and security application. With a limited supply of COVID-19 testing kits in countries such as India and other parts of the world, people with mild symptoms are less likely to be tested. In order to tackle this issue, in May 2020, a team of researchers from the Defence Research Development Organisation (DRDO) and North Eastern Hill University is working on developing artificial intelligence-based terahertz radiation (t-ray) scanning unit to address the limitation of the infrared thermal scanner in the accurate and early detection of coronavirus patients.

Key Market TrendsDefense and Security is Expected to be one of the Fastest Growing Industry

The increasing application of the terahertz technology in various security applications is expected to drive market growth in the forecast period. Security concerns have been a major issue across the world, and security checks and surveillance have been an area of concern in airports and other security-critical places.

• Terahertz technology for security and defense-related applications has recently experienced an increase in interest with an emphasis on the imaging of concealed explosives. The ability to detect and identify objects hidden behind barriers is one of THztechnology'ss core features. In today's security environments, the ability to identify threats like hidden weapons, body-worn explosives is a strong operational need.
• Further, in response to the urgent demand for efficient, safe, and speedy imaging in remote security screening applications, a new sub-terahertz security body scanner was developed by researchers in March 2020. This new 100-GHz security scanner presented the test results, which demonstrate that it can perform through-garment detection at standoff ranges of 3–6 m with a respective lateral resolution of 3–6 cm. The depth of the field of the system has been determined experimentally to be approximately 30 cm. Such initiative at remote places such as in the airport is highly recommended.
• THz imaging in concert with air surveillance radar systems is another technological pairing that is beginning to be explored. In recent years, The South China Morning Post released an article claimingChina'ss largest arms manufacturer, China North Industries Group Corporation, successfully tested THz instruments capable of detecting stealth aircraft. China's past pursuits of foreign and dual-use technologies suggest that the country will continue to grow its THz technology in competition with other international powers such as the US.
• Terahertz can also assist in personnel recovery (PR) missions for downed aircrew or groups of people in unfortunate situations that require any assistance or rescue. In a degraded visual environment such as dust storms in the Middle East, THz's operating frequencies and smaller wavelength sizes are making it an ideal choice for finding and tracking human-sized targets of interest for recovery. In addition, THz could help the rotary-wing aircrew perform field landings by detecting terrain and other obstacles and vertical development in obscurant weather that could pose safety hazards.
• Further, COVID-19 has revolutionized security practices and other parts of everyday life, as screening people via personal'‘patdown'’ is no longer safe. ESA-developed passive terahertz technology, which enables the detection of items hidden under clothing from a distance, is helping to fill the gap. The US Customs and Border Protection agency is among the latest of more than 200 users of technology, deploying it to secure its US border. The technology has been commercialized by UK company Thruvision, with customers including airports around the world and the LA Metro as well as the US Customs and Border Protection agency.

North America is Expected to have the Largest Market Share

The United States is one of the significant markets for terahertz technologies, primarily due to the rising homeland security issues, investments in defense, and increasing R&D. Also, the stringent government regulations regarding the safety and production of aerospace technologies in the United States, as well as the significantly growing automotive and aerospace industries, are driving the market for terahertz technologies in the region.

• According to the US Department of Commerce, the US aerospace industry contributed about USD 118.5 billion to the American economy in the form of export sales. It is expected that for the next 20 years, the number of large commercial planes may witness a growth rate of 3.5% per year, to reach a total of 34,000 units, which is valued at approx. USD 4.5 trillion. Such demand from the aircraft industry is a significant driver for the growth of the inspection systems based on the terahertz technology.
• US Air Force researchers are looking into technologies for future line-of-sight air-to-air communications and networking at frequencies higher than 100 GHz to help aircraft exchange mission-critical battle-management information. For the same, Air Force experts are expected to test Terahertz communication technologies through modeling and simulation.
• Like the United States, Canada is also expected to witness significant growth in demand for the THz technology due to an increase in the demand for security screening equipment across various public places. For instance, Canadian airlines screen passengers before they board flights bound for the country. Air Canada's union, which is the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), announced additional pre-flight screening by making flight attendants responsible for the screening. Furthermore, the union announced that airports or airlines should have, especially AG recently announced the expansion of its manufacturing facility in Canada. The company trained personnel assigned.
• A new Canadian Research Chair at the ETS is developing advanced modulation devices for Terahertz waves. The research is focused on developing methods and technologies that may eventually make it possible to encrypt data transmitted by future ultra-wideband (UWB) telecommunication networks.
• Also, the Government of Canada is taking steps to ensure further the safety, effectiveness, and quality of medical devices such as X-Ray detectors used by Canadians. Health Canada developed an Action Plan to significantly accelerate its efforts to strengthen Canada's medical devices' regulation and ensure optimal health outcomes for Canadians better. This is expected to further create significant growth opportunities in the future.

Competitive Landscape

The terahertz technology market is highly competitive and consists of several major players. In terms of market share, few of the major players currently dominate the market. These major players with prominent shares in the market are focusing on expanding their customer base across foreign countries. These companies are leveraging on strategic collaborative initiatives to increase their market shares and profitability. The companies operating in the market are also acquiring start-ups working on terahertz technologies to strengthen their product capabilities. Thus market concentration is medium.

• July 2020 - Advantest Corporation started to sell its new TS9001 TDR System that is based on the company's exclusive Terahertz technology to provide non-destructive, high-resolution circuit fault analysis in advanced semiconductor packages, like flip-chip BGAs, wafer-level packages, and 2.5D/3D ICs.
• January 2021 - TeraView secured development funding from the Sustainable Innovation Fund of approximately EUR 191 million with Innovate UK, a United Kingdom's innovation agency. This funding is specifically targeted at TeraView's cutting-edge technology for next-generation 6G network applications. TeraView will use its expertise and intellectual property to develop the building blocks of future 6G networks, which will use terahertz (THz) frequencies.
• March 2021 - Bakman Technologies launched a new controller based on the electronics from its PB7220 series of frequency-domain THz spectrometers. This controller was improved for use in avionics-ready, portable, spectroscopic THz sensors. While designed for this specific task, the controller can be used for any photo-mixing or optical heterodyne application between DC and 10 THz.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

IBM Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Internap Corporation
Packet Inc. (An Equinix Inc. Company)
Scaleway Inc.
Amazon Web Services Inc
Rackspace Inc.
CenturyLink, Inc.
LightEdge Solutions, Inc

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