Silicon

Silicon (Si) — 10-Year Trends

As of 2026-09-11 · the last 10 years

Silicon’s research intensity currently sits at about 47% of its all-time peak, a level reached after a steady decline from 75% of that peak in 2016, with the historical high occurring in 1999, well before this window.

Research intensity ran from about 75% of the element's own all-time peak in 2016 to about 47% in 2026 — a steady decline, and the all-time peak (1999) lies before this window. Over the same span its share of research attention across all elements fell. Among the 118 elements, silicon has one of the largest research literatures of any element.

The number of papers involving the element rose from about 110,481 in 2016 to about 193,759 in 2025 (1.75x). That is slower than the literature as a whole grew over the same years, so the element lost ground in the wider body of research even as its own count rose.

The most prominent research community is Silicon Phased Arrays and Microring Resonators, which focuses on silicon-specific implementations of optical phased arrays and microring resonators, distinct from the broader community's focus on lithium niobate and thin-film materials. Silicon is one strand of a broader community, with about 21% of its papers involving silicon. This community accounts for about 15.7% of silicon's recent research, a share that has declined from 21.0% in the previous period. A key anchor is "Roadmapping the next generation of silicon photonics" (2024), cited over 800 times, which outlines the path forward for integrated silicon photonics platforms.

Silicon Wafer Processing and Contact Passivation represents another major area, centered on monocrystalline wafer fabrication, black silicon texturing, and passivating contacts to boost cell efficiency. Here, silicon is also one strand of a broader community, with about 22% of its papers involving silicon. This community holds about 12.3% of silicon's recent research, a steady share compared to 16.2% previously. The field is anchored by "Silicon heterojunction solar cells with up to 26.81% efficiency achieved by electrically optimized nanocrystalline-silicon hole contact layers" (2023), cited over 690 times, which demonstrates significant efficiency gains through optimized contact layers.

Silicon Anode Architectures for Lithium-Ion Batteries comprises the third material community, developing porous, nanowire, and composite silicon structures to stabilize anodes against volume expansion in lithium-ion cells. Silicon is one strand of this broader community, with about 22% of its papers involving silicon. It accounts for about 9.3% of silicon's recent research, a steady share relative to 8.0% in the earlier period. A foundational paper, "The success story of graphite as a lithium-ion anode material – fundamentals, remaining challenges, and recent developments including silicon (oxide) composites" (2020), has been cited over 1,200 times, highlighting the ongoing effort to integrate silicon into high-performance anodes.

Overall, the composition of silicon research has shifted, with the remainder of research communities—those too small to name individually—gaining share, rising from 54.9% to 62.6% of the element's recent research. This suggests a broadening of silicon's application landscape beyond the three largest named communities.

For a deeper dive into silicon's current standing and recent developments, consult the Last 12 Months and Executive Brief reports.