Lightwave OFC 2025 Outlook: Quantum will take center stage

Beijing time, February 19 (Shui Yi) As the world's largest, oldest and most influential international academic conference in the field of optical communications, OFC 2025 will be held from March 30 to April 3, 2025. It is worth mentioning that this year is also the 50th OFC conference.

In a forward-looking report, Lightwave, an optical network industry media, pointed out that quantum, as an emerging technology, will occupy a central position in this event.

It is understood that in June 2024, the United Nations declared 2025 as the "International Year of Quantum Science and Technology" to raise public awareness of the importance of quantum science and applications. OFC will hold a special seminar during the exhibition, focusing on a number of breakthroughs in quantum communications and photonics in the field of quantum computing.

“Quantum technology is one of the core highlights of this year’s OFC,” said Elaine Wong, Chair of OFC and Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Melbourne. “We have specially curated special symposiums that not only echo the theme of the International Quantum Year, but also highlight the development of OFC over the past half century.”

Quantum development is gaining momentum

Lightwave wrote that in recent years, there have been continuous technological breakthroughs in the quantum field, especially in quantum security. Quantum key distribution (QKD) has been put into practical use in many countries in Asia and Europe. This technology transmits keys through single-photon encryption, and based on the principles of quantum mechanics, ensures that any eavesdropping will change the state of photons, thereby providing absolutely secure communication protection.

In this process, traditional optical network equipment suppliers have stepped up their development in the quantum field. For example, Israeli company PacketLight, in collaboration with Toshiba, has successfully implemented QKD on dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) links, verifying the compatibility of quantum communications with traditional optical network infrastructure.

Through a series of detailed evaluations, the two companies successfully achieved the co-transmission of QKD and massive traditional DWDM data signals, and demonstrated quantum secure data transmission using QKD encryption. This achievement marks an important step towards the practical application of quantum communication.

Another phenomenon is the accelerated influx of capital. For example, Quantum Source, a quantum computing company headquartered in Israel, recently completed a US$50 million Series A financing round, with a total financing amount of over US$77 million.

Fotini Karinou, chief hardware architect for Microsoft Azure hardware systems and infrastructure optical networks, also said that service providers, university research institutions, and more start-ups are continuing to increase their investment in quantum technology. "The current focus is on how to manufacture systems and hardware to trial quantum channels in standard telecommunications channels, and telecommunications operators and system suppliers are actively making plans."

At the same time, with the continuous development of quantum technology, industry collaborative innovation is also accelerating. For example, British quantum computing company ORCA Computing, in collaboration with Toshiba Europe, Bay Photonics, Imperial College London, University College London and other institutions, is developing quantum multiplexing and switching technologies to build a commercially viable quantum data center network.

In addition, countries are accelerating the creation of quantum technology clusters. For example, as part of the "Tech Hubs" program, the United States is building quantum innovation centers in multiple states; in Europe, the Munich Quantum Valley (MQV) aims to develop and operate competitive quantum computers...

A 100 billion market is ready to take off

Although it is not a traditional quantum-themed exhibition, OFC is becoming an important connection point for the quantum ecosystem. According to the two conference chairmen, the number of participating quantum companies has continued to grow since the establishment of the Quantum Subcommittee in 2023. "Expanding the scope of OFC and building a bridge between classical optical communications and quantum can promote broader cooperation and mutual benefit."

It is understood that in 2025, OFC will set up a special exhibition area to showcase quantum devices and systems. At the same time, quantum experts will participate in special sessions, seminars and panel discussions on quantum topics throughout the conference to promote in-depth "dialogue" between optical communications and quantum technology.

It can be seen that the quantum industry is entering a period of explosive growth. Acumen Research report shows that from 2023 to 2032, the global quantum computing market size is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 36.4%, reaching US$42.1 billion in 2032.

By region, North America will maintain its lead with a market share of over 47% in 2022, but the Asia-Pacific region will grow at a CAGR of more than 37.8% from 2023 to 2032. From an application perspective, machine learning applications account for 38% of the market share, and the BFSI industry will become the main driving force with a CAGR of 37.2%.

Hyperion Research is also bullish on the quantum market, predicting it will reach more than $1.5 billion by 2026. At the Q2B Silicon Valley conference held at the end of 2023, the research company warned that "predicting too far ahead is dangerous" because there are too many unknown factors. However, the agency also pointed out that the continued investment by governments, businesses and academia confirms the strategic value of quantum technology.

It is foreseeable that with the holding of OFC 2025, the deep synergy between quantum technology and optical communications will open up a new industrial landscape. This technological event spanning half a century will become a key milestone in the quantum revolution.