Currently estimated at $856 million, the global market for nonlinear optical materials is expected to reach $1.66 billion by 2009, according to the report RGB-117N Non-linear Optical Materials Applications from Business Communications Co. Inc. of Norwalk, Conn. The total market is projected to grow at an annual average rate of 17.1 percent, largely due to the demand for LiNbO₃ and nonlinear crystals, which are used for telecommunications and for lasers and electro-optical applications, respectively.

Nonlinear optical materials are used as switches and modulators in the telecommunications industry and have an impact on broadband communications technologies, such as dense wavelength division multiplexing. The growth rate for multiplexing is accelerating because of the demand for broadband communications channels for Internet applications. The market for optical switching for multiplexing is estimated to reach $34.6 billion by 2009.

About a quarter of the market share of nonlinear materials in 2005 is expected to be LiNbO₃ for telecommunications, which is projected to account for nearly 30 percent of the total market in 2009. The compilation predicts that sales for other nonlinear materials, such as rotators, isolators and wave plates, will reach $933.2 million by 2009 at an annual growth rate of 15.8 percent. The market for KTP and its isomorphs, a material used only in lasers and electro-optical applications, is expected to grow at an annual rate of 17 percent.