A.   Developer News

·   Agilent is reportedly considering building a high-brightness LED manufacturing center in Kwangju, southern Korea, according to the Korea Times. The company recently announced plans to establish a research and development center for wireless applications in Korea.  [ News item in the Korea Times ]

·   Alfalight says it has set a record for power conversion efficiency (PCE) with a 50 W, 976 nm diode laser bar with 71% PCE at 25°C and 73% efficiency at 10°C.  The laser was developed with support from the DARPA Super High Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDS) program and was demonstrated at the LEOS 2004 annual meeting.  The high efficiency was achieved by careful bandgap engineering to increase the efficiency of carrier injection into the quantum well; altering the confinement structure to decrease the laser’s operating voltage; and adjusting the waveguide to reduce losses from scattering and absorption of lasing photons.  The achievement puts Alfalight ahead of schedule in the Phase I SHEDS challenge to deliver 65% PCE diode laser bars by March 2005, and on track for the 80% PCE targeted for September 2006.  [ Press release ]

·   Arima Optoelectronics is cooperating with a Japanese LCD-module maker on the development of high-power LEDs for use in 30-inch LCD TVs, according to an article in DigiTimes.  Arima's monthly capacity for transparent-conductive-oxide (TCO) LEDs and laser diodes is also increasing, from 7-8 million to 10 million units for TCO LEDs and from 4-4.5 million to 6-6.3 million units for laser diodes.  [ News item in DigiTimes (subscription required) ]

·   Arima Optoelectronics has developed blue HB-LEDs, according to reports in DigiTimes and the Chinese-language Commercial Times.  The new devices, developed at Arima's lab in Bath, UK, are based on a SiC substrate and thus do not infringe on Nichia's patents for sapphire-based blue LEDs, according to reports.  [ News item in DigiTimes (subscription required), News item in LIGHTimes ]

·   AXT shareholders filed suit against the company in October, saying AXT made materially false and misleading statements and allowed an artificially inflated share price to go unchecked.  The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court by several U.S. law firms, alleges that AXT violated securities laws and inflicted damages on investors between Feb. 6, 2001, and April 27, 2004.  Morris Young, its CEO and Chairman during that period, is also charged with exploiting an artificially inflated share price by cashing in $5 million worth of personally held AXT shares.  [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]

·   AXT reached a tentative $1.4 million settlement of its litigation with Sumitomo Electric Industries in October, including a global intellectual property cross-licensing agreement, and reached final settlement in early December.  AXT said in October that it expected to see a decrease in gross margin for Q3, due to both the cost of the settlement and an approximately $2.1 million inventory charge due to excess inventory and obsolescence.  [ Press release 1, Press release 2 ] 

·   Carmanah announced that it has entered into a marketing alliance with Landscape Forms (Kalamazoo, Mich.), a manufacturer of commercial outdoor furniture and accessories.  Under the agreement, Carmanah will provide the technology to integrate solar-powered, LED lighting into the design of selected Landscape Forms' products.  The companies plan a series of security-related products scheduled for market introduction in early 2005.  [ Press release ] 

·   Color Kinetics entered into agreements with five more OEM and licensing business partners, bringing the company's total number of partners to 31.  The newly signed OEM and Licensing partners are CityLight, a Turkish architectural lighting firm; City Theatrical, Inc., a lighting accessories manufacturer; Next Generation Lighting, LLC, a new developer of custom solid-state lighting solutions; Orange22, a furniture manufacturer; and, as previously announced, Spectrum Manufacturing, a manufacturer of entertainment and event lighting products.  [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics has been awarded U.S. patent 6,801,003  relating to the synchronization of intelligent solid-state lighting systems and effects.  The patent covers certain systems and methods for synchronizing lighting effects between various LED-based lighting systems without the use of a network; for example, by monitoring fluctuations in delivered power.  The patent covers methods that are now applied in pool and spa lighting systems, and has potential for use in other fields such as specifier-grade architectural lighting, retail and display lighting, and consumer products that require the intelligence for synchronized lighting effects without the network infrastructure.   [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics has been awarded US patent 6,806,659, extending the coverage of its Chromacore® technology, which allows for adding intelligence, such as a microprocessor, network address or user interface, to solid-state illumination devices.  [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics was included in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50, which recognizes the fastest growing technology companies in New England.  It is Color Kinetics' second consecutive appearance on the list, which is based on percentage of revenue growth over five years (1999-2003).  Color Kinetics was ranked 32nd among the Technology Fast 50 with 471% revenue growth over five years.  [ Press release ]

·   Cree was featured in an article in Forbes, which reported that Wells Fargo Securities had raised the company’s price target and 2005 earnings estimate “based on the ‘continuing strength’ in the company's handset market as well as further growth in the light-emitting diode (LED) market.” Cree was also featured in articles at the Motley Fool and Reuters.com.  In addition, a brief article appearing at Red Nova briefly described Cree's use of SiC in LEDs, its financial position, and the market for LEDs.  A financial analyst said that Cree "could be the next Intel," according to the article.  [ Article in Forbes; Article at Motley Fool; Article at Reuters.com, Article at RedNova.com ]

·   Cree's five-year plan is featured in an article in Compound Semiconductor, which includes an interview with John Palmour, Cree's executive vice-president and director of advanced devices, on the company's manufacturing strategy.  Palmour discusses Cree's upcoming expansion, Asian competitors, the LED manufacturing "bubble" and IP arguments.  [ Feature article in Compound Semiconductor ] 

·   Cree has filed a lawsuit against North Carolina State University (NCSU) for breach of an option agreement and a licensing agreement involving GaN-related technologies licensed by NCSU to Nitronex, according to a report in CompoundSemi News.  The complaint, filed in Superior Court of Wake County, NC, asserts that NCSU failed to give Cree first right of refusal before issuing licenses to Nitronex.  The co-founders of both Cree and Nitronex attended NCSU.  [ News item at CompoundSemi News and commentary in LIGHTimes ]

·   Cree has granted Crystal IS a patent license agreement in regard to crystalline AlN manufacturing technology. LIGHTimes reported that the most relevant U.S. patents the agreement covers include 6,296,956, bulk single crystals of aluminum nitride; 6,086,672, growth of bulk single crystals of aluminum nitride: silicon carbide alloys; 6,066,205, growth of bulk single crystals of aluminum nitride from a melt; and 6,045,612, growth of bulk single crystals of aluminum nitride.  The license to Crystal IS is "non-exclusive with most favored status."  [ News item in LIGHTimes ]

·   Cyberlux announced that it had ended negotiations to acquire TrueToForm Limited, Inc., a privately-held lighting manufacturer with operations in Boston, MA and Los Angeles, CA.  Cyberlux officials said the company will continue to focus on the long-term emergency interim lighting business segment, the execution of go-to-market plans and further intellectual property development surrounding their core business.  [ Press release at Yahoo! Finance ]

·   Formosa Epitaxy opened a second plant in the Lungtan Industrial Park, Taoyuan, Taiwan, and plans to install 45 MOCVD machines there, according to a DigiTimes report.  The plant will produce more than 200 million LED chips per month, mainly high-power white LEDs for mid-to-large LCD panel backlighting and in-car lighting.  Formosa Epitaxy began shipping small volumes of LED chips used in smaller than 10-inch LCD backlighting to customers in South Korea this year.  News item at DigiTimes (subscription required), see also item at LIGHTimes ]

·   Harvatek has licensed patents for white-LED chips from Osram, according to a DigiTimes report.  The agreement allows Harvatek to add to its product lineup two kinds of white-LED chips, which company officials say they expect to become a major sales driving force for Harvatek over the next two years.  Shipment of the new products was expected to begin in December.  More than 30% of Harvatek's total LED capacity is expected to be white-LED chips next year, with monthly output of 100-150 million chips.  Harvatek is the third Taiwan-based LED chipmaker, after Everlight Electronics and Lite-On Technology, to license white-LED chip patents from Osram.  [ News item at DigiTimes (subscription required), News item at LIGHTimes ]

·   Nick Holonyak, University of Illinois, was awarded the 2004 Von Hippel Award, the Materials Research Society’s highest honor, for “his many contributions to research and development in the field of semiconductors, not least for the first development of semiconducting lasers in the useful visible portion of the optical spectrum.”  One of Holonyak’s early major developments was the demonstration of closed-tube vapor transport of GaAsP alloys in 1960, yielding in 1962 the first practical visible LED, the red GaAs1-xPx LED.  This marks the beginning of the use of III–V alloys in semiconductor devices, including in heterojunctions and quantum-well heterostructures.  He and his students are the source of the term “quantum-well laser.” More recently, Holonyak, along with other collaborators, demonstrated tunneling-coupled quantum-well-assisted quantum-dot lasers.  [ Article in MRS Bulletin ]

·   Intrinsic Semiconductor has acquired Swedish SiC MESFET developer Advanced Micro Device Solutions, which will now be known as Intrinsic Semiconductor AB.  The acquisition gives the company access to internal SiC substrates and epitaxy services, gives it an “organic presence” in Europe, and marks its entry in the SiC device market.  (Intrinsic also purchased Bandgap Technologies in August.)  [ News item in Compound Semiconductor.net ]

·   The Lighting Research Center, in collaboration with GE’s GELcore, is evaluating LED technology for use in commercial display freezers.  The study, funded by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), will evaluate performance, energy savings, shopper preferences, and product sales for this technology compared with the fluorescent lighting currently found in supermarket freezers.  The project team recently installed a four-door freezer with a prototype LED lighting system in the frozen-food aisle at an Albany, N.Y.-area Price Chopper supermarket.  LRC researchers plan to survey shoppers about the attractiveness and clarity of the merchandise in the LED freezer and in a similar fluorescent-lighted freezer to determine shoppers’ lighting preferences.  The LRC also will analyze sales data to determine whether the freezer lighting has any influence on consumers’ buying habits.  Results are expected to be presented in spring 2005.  [ Press release ]

·   Nichia reached an out-of-court settlement with an unnamed German company, which agreed to stop marketing products that included white LEDs Nichia said were covered by Nichia's patented technology and trademarks.  The German company agreed to use white LEDs made by Nichia, instead of the infringing white LEDs, which were apparently made in Taiwan.  [ Press release ] 

·   Nichia prevailed in its request that Osaka Customs block the import of a white LED, which Nichia believes infringes on its patents, into Japan.  The device, 99-215UW C/TR8, is used as a LCD backlight and is allegedly imported from Taiwan by E&E Japan.  [ Press release, News item at Optics.org ]

·   Nichia and Professor Nobuo Nishida of Tokushima University have developed a LED-based 3-D display with an 18,000-pixel screen resolution.  Rather than using special glasses to allow an individual to see the 3-D image, the new LED-based display device separates images for the right and left eyes by combining LEDs with a plate called a parallax barrier.  The demonstrated device measures 145 x 77cm, but a similar display with a 7- to 8-meter screen could be viewed by about 50 people, according to the developers, who believe that it can be commercialized for signboards.  [ News item at NE Asia Online ]

·   OptoLum was awarded a second U.S. patent, 6,815,724, extending its core patent for thermal management of LEDs to include intelligent control and monitoring technology using heat sinks in both active and passive systems.  OptoLum also has five U.S. patent applications, all relating to thermal management, pending.  [ Press release, News item in LIGHTimes, News item at Optics.org ]

·   Oriol's intellectual property (IP) is up for auction, including LED-related IP in the areas of vertical chip structure methods created after removal of sapphire substrate, and a wafer-scale white chip.  One granted patent, U.S. patent 6,744,196, and others that have been "allowed" or are pending will be auctioned.  [ Article in CompoundSemi News; auction site ]

·   Osram was profiled in an article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, "Light diodes as small as a grain of sand bankroll Osram."  [ Article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ]

·   Osram has reorganized and changed the name of its Photo-Optic Division to Display/Optic Division.  The division will now be organized by areas of application rather than technologies, with four Global Business Units for Display Systems, Entertainment, Cinema and Semiconductor & Medical applications.  The move is intended to allow the company to "react more quickly to customer needs," said division head Siegmar Proebstl.  All four Global Business Unit managers previously held management positions in the division: Dr. Bernd Straehler, Display Systems; Georg Lechermann, Entertainment; Dr. Carsten Setzer, Semiconductors & Medical; Paul Caramagna, Cinema and joint management of the division in North America.  [ Press release ]

·   American Microsemiconductor has declared that it will not import or market any LEDs that infringe Osram’s patent rights, in particular, products supplied by Dominant Semiconductors, against whom Osram has filed a lawsuit regarding patent rights for both conversion technology and special designs for electrical connections.  American Microsemiconductor is the second distributor, after American Opto Plus, to make such a declaration.  Osram officials noted that although a patent exchange agreement exists between Osram and Nichia, companies that have received a license from Nichia are not automatically entitled to use Osram patents.  [ Osram Press release ] 

·   QD Visions quantum dot LED-based technology for flat panel displays won first prize in the Nanotechnology Business Idea Competition, held at Case Western Reserve University.  Seth Coe-Sullivan, interim chief executive officer and chief technology officer of QD Vision and a graduate research assistant at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said the company will use the $50,000 prize money to finish purchasing the intellectual property rights from MIT.  [ Press release ]

·   Royal Philips Electronics (Netherlands) and Lumileds have partnered to develop and market modular LED lighting solutions for the automotive industry, extending an existing relationship between the two companies.  The modular lighting solutions will incorporate Lumileds' Luxeon technology, with Philips' Automotive Lighting group supplying design, development, and integration.  [ News item at EETimes ]

·   Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) has filed a lawsuit against Taiwan-based LED packaging companies, but two firms said they had not received notice of any suit, according to DigiTimes.  SSC claims that its patented white-LED packaging process, mixing phosphor and transparent resin materials before applying them to LED chips, has been copied, according to the article.  [ Article at CompoundSemi News]

·   STG Beikirch’s Luxeon Solution Centre in Germany has won a project from Honeywell Airport Systems to manufacture the light source for Honeywell’s next-generation obstruction lights.  Using Lumileds’ Luxeon LEDs, the lights will be fitted to the top of windpower turbines in Europe.  Each 30-W obstruction light incorporates 28 Luxeon LEDs with wide-angle optics to achieve a minimum of 170 candela light intensity at a 360° angle, ensuring that the new German regulations for night marking of wind turbines are met.  [ Lumileds Press release ]

·   Super Vision International signed licensing agreements for its variable color lighting system patent, U.S. patent 4,962,687, with Spectrum Manufacturing, Inc. and Advanced Lighting Systems, Inc.  Spectrum is engaged in the production of color changing LED lighting systems primarily for the theater, entertainment and lighting rental industries and will apply the licensed patent to the production sale and development efforts of its current Color Block system.  Advanced Lighting specializes in the manufacture of fiber optic and LED lighting products for the architectural and entertainment industry.  The 1990 patent was developed in 1988 by Richard Belliveau of High End Systems, from which Super Vision purchased the patent.  [ Press release 1 at Orlando Business Journal,  Press release 2 ]

·   Super Vision International acquired the LED technology prior art portfolio of inventor Jerry Laidman of Henderson, Nev.  The portfolio includes pioneering design and production processes relating to the Saturn I - IV LED lighting systems, capable of generating multiple variable colored lighting effects using pulse width modulation to control intensity.  They were the first systems incorporating multiple LEDs to generate color changing light in lighting fixtures known to be designed, manufactured and sold commercially.  Laidman was founder and president of The Sound Chamber, one of the premier nightclub and discotech lighting designers and manufacturers in the 1970s and '80s.  [ Press release at EE Design ]

·   Technologies and Devices International (TDI), in collaboration with Rubicon, has made 6-inch diameter GaN-on-sapphire epitaxial wafers, the industry's first GaN epitaxial materials of that size.  The wafers were fabricated using TDI's patented hydride vapor phase epitaxial process and equipment.  [ Press release ]

·   TIR Systems raised $10 million through a public offering of its common shares.  The funds will be used for R&D and general corporate purposes.  [ Press release, News item in LIGHTimes ]

·   TIR Systems and the Canlyte division of The Genlyte Group have signed an agreement to jointly develop solid-state lighting products that take advantage of TIR’s enabling technologies and GG’s extensive design, manufacturing and distribution capability.  The agreement gives Canlyte access to TIR’s solid-state lighting technology, while allowing TIR to retain all of its intellectual property rights.  The products developed as a result will have TIR-branded LED components and will be marketed in North America under the Lightolier brand name and other Canlyte/Genlyte brands, in markets where they will not compete with TIR’s existing solid-state lighting product portfolio.  [ Press release ]

·   Toyoda Gosei is reported to be talking to Taiwan LED manufacturers about potential partnership opportunities.  [ News item at CompoundSemi News ]

B.   New Products

·   Agilent announced new extra-bright InGaN LEDs for the outdoor electronic sign and signals market with 4 mm (T-1) and 5 mm (T-1 3/4) domed through-hole packages with oval radiation patterns.  The company's brightest InGaN LEDs, with luminous intensities of 400 to 7200 mcd, the devices are suitable for full-color outdoor video displays, stadium scoreboards and other variable message signs.  They are available in blue (470 nm) and green (521 nm).  [ Press release ] 

·   Agilent introduced 3.3 V, 15 MBd, multi-channel and bi-directional digital optocouplers.  The integration of two, three and four optocouplers is achieved through stacking LED die and an insulating layer on a silicon substrate.  [ Press release ] 

·   AgiLight introduced a thin LED SMT micro-package for applications such as LCD, indicator, and keypad backlighting.  The micro-packages are mounted on a flex substrate and are available as modules, array and linear “wire” form.  AgiLight is also developing a series of flexible ultra-thin alphanumeric displays to be released early next year targeting the Smart Card and membrane switch industry.  The NanoFlex series LEDs are available in a variety of colors and footprints; the AGI-NW1030 SMT series are 1.0mm (L) x 3.0mm (W) x 0.20mm (H), less than half the thickness of currently available SMT packages.  [ Press release ] 

·   Allegro MicroSystems has developed a high-frequency boost converter with constant current output, suitable for driving up to 5 white LEDs.  The A8430 is a non-inverting boost DC-DC converter, providing a programmable constant current output at up to 36 V for driving white LEDs in series, thus ensuring uniform brightness.  The A8430 comes in a 0.75 mm high, 3x3 mm, 5-lead QFN package, and utilizes an industry-standard pinout and equivalent SOT-23-5 footprint.  [ Press release ]

·   American Bright Optoelectronics introduced LED Light Strips with 32 surface-mount LEDs on a 0.4-inch by 17.5-inch strip, suitable for a variety of decorative lighting applications.  The new high brightness strips (up to 12,800 mcd) are available in colors from 470 nm to 625 nm at 30 mA (blue, green and white) and 50 mA (red, yellow) with an input voltage of 10 VDC and a 120-degree viewing angle.  [ Press release at Thomasnet.com ]

·   AnalogicTech introduced five new tri-mode, high-efficiency charge pumps for white LED backlight and color LED applications for handsets.  The AAT3151/2/3/6 devices can drive four or six individual LEDs with a maximum current of 30 mA per channel.  The AAT3129 is targeted at RGB LED applications and operates across a 2.7V to 5.5V input voltage range.  [ Press release ]

·   Arima Optoelectronics will launch antistatic-blue LED chips for use in backlight modules and antistatic-blue LEDs for automotive applications in the first half of 2005, according to Digitimes.  The chips reportedly can resist 2,000 V, compared to 700 V for similar chips, and can be used for in-car applications, display backlighting, outdoor applications and mobile phones.  [ News item at DigiTimes (subscription required) ] 

·   COTCO launched a 1-W LED that uses an exposed pad design for improved thermal performance and heat dissipation.  The Dorado comes in five colors: red, 8 lm/W; amber, 10 lm/W; blue, 9 lm/W; green, 33 lm/W; and white, 20 lm/W.  The Dorado also features a small footprint and is suitable for applications such as interior and exterior architectural lighting, entertainment, large signage, decorative lighting and landscape lighting.  [ Press release, Article at LIGHTimes ]

·   Cree has released two new high-brightness XThin products designed for large-format LCD backlighting.  The XT-24 (24 mW) and XT-27 (27 mW) emit blue light at 460 nm, which is converted to white light using a phosphor.  The devices feature a low-profile design and are suitable for backlighting LCD screens in mobile appliances, as well as large-area LCDs.  The product launch is apparently Cree's response to Sony's August release of LCD televisions featuring rival Lumileds' white LED backlighting.  [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] 

·   Cree launched its 4550 series XLamp™, designed to operate at 0.5 W with a 125 mA typical operating current, in a surface mount package with a 4.5 mm x 5.0 mm footprint.  The 4550 series is available in blue and green versions based on Cree’s XB500™ chips, as well as a red version.  [ Press release ]

·   Cree says its XLamp™ 7090 white LED product has achieved the highest commercially available brightness in the industry, offering 40-60 lumens at 350mA, and 37.8 lm/W as calculated by LIGHTimes.  With a typical brightness of 45 lumens, the XLamp 7090 white LED is designed for architectural lighting, backlighting and other applications and is now available in sample quantities, with production volumes slated for December 2004.  [ Press release, News item in LIGHTimes ]

·   Fox Group has launched commercial production of blue LEDs made via hydride vapor phase epitaxy at its Montreal facility.  The LEDs are reportedly more consistent and repeatable than similar products, with a color-spread of +/- 1 nm and a voltage range of +/- 0.1 V.  The company claims that although blue LEDs have been about 10 times as expensive as red and green indicator LEDs, its new hydride vapor phase epitaxy process allows Fox to “offer blue LED indicator lamps at commodity pricing comparable to red and green.”  [ Press release ] 

·   Hi-Light Electronic Co. (Taiwan) has introduced in the Japanese market a new LED lamp that the company claims is more than 30% brighter than traditional LED lamps, according to DigiTimes.  The new device is designed for backlighting flat-panel displays, mobile phones and automotive lights.  Hi-Light, headquartered in Taipei, has a factory in China and another factory under construction, which is expected to begin operation in the second quarter of 2005.  [ News item in DigiTimes, (subscription required) ]

·   Lamina Ceramics has developed an ultra-high lumen RGB LED array that it says is about 10 times brighter than other products.  The array includes heat-reduction technology that allows it to be as bright as a theatrical light “without risking an electronic meltdown.”  The device features a proprietary multi-layer ceramic-on-metal packaging, called low temperature co-fired ceramic-on-metal (LTCC-M), which provides improved thermal management and interconnectivity between individual LEDs.  LTCC-M enables Lamina to densely cluster multiple LEDs in a high-output (13,300 lm, 860 W), small footprint (5-inch diameter) device.  LTCC-M technology was developed over 12 years at the Sarnoff laboratories and Lamina is its exclusive licensee.  The company expects to deliver the device, which has applications in building illumination and other architectural uses, during the second quarter of 2005.  [ Press release, Article in The New York Times ]

·   Lighting Science introduced a high-performance, low-cost LED floodlight that retails for $33.  According to CEO Fred Maxik, the company's Optimized Digital Lighting™ LED R-30 light bulbs use 5.6 W of electricity and can replace 65-watt incandescent bulbs or 15-watt fluorescent bulbs used as floodlights.  The lights cost up to 80% less than comparable LED light bulbs on the market and use the same light fixtures as incandescent and compact fluorescent bulbs.  [ Press release ]

·   Maxim Integrated Products introduced two 36V step-up dc-dc converters that power up to eight LEDs in series at 25 mA.  The new MAX8596 automatically adjusts its output current based on the ambient temperature, so that it delivers the maximum recommended LED current (based on the derating curves of popular white LEDs) at all temperatures.  The input voltage range is 2.6V to 5.5V, with the efficiency at 86 percent.  [ News item at EE Times Asia ]

·   Maxim Integrated Products introduced two high-efficiency 1x/2x charge pumps, which can drive white LEDs with regulated current up to 1.2 A, for use in camera phone flashes.  The MAX1577Z/MAX1577Y charge pumps provide high efficiency (up to 92%) in movie mode or backlighting.  The very-low, open-loop output resistance allows the highest WLED flash brightness, even from a low-battery input voltage.  The devices eliminate the need for a step-up DC/DC converter and low-profile inductor, which ensures that the parts meet the height constraints in clamshell cell phones.  [ Press release ]

·   Mule Lighting introduced LED-Flex™, a line of LED-based lighting intended to replace neon lights.  With the same appearance as neon lighting, LED-Flex products reduce operating costs by up to 90% and are flexible enough to bend up to 180°, according to the company.  The lights are available in red, green, blue and yellow base colors and in 30-foot (24 V) and 150-foot (120 V) lengths.  [ News item at ThomasNet ]

·   National Semiconductor Corporation announced a new family of LED integrated circuit drivers for portable handheld devices such as cell phones, smart phones, global positioning systems and personal digital assistants.  The company says LP3950 is the first chip on the market to offer an audio synchronization feature, allowing color LEDs on a phone or MP3 player to blink and change color in time with music or ring tones.  LP3942 is a color LED driver with a charge pump and an SPI interface, and LP3931 is a color LED driver with magnetic boost converter and SPI interface.  This chip enables OEM customers to create systems that can control the color, keypad and camera flash with a single chip, while using the existing standard white LED drive for backlighting.  [ Press release ] 

·   OptiLED introduced its High Intensity Vorticular Enclosure (HIVE) modular LED system to the Asia-Pacific market, claiming that the technology delivers three times as much light as a typical high power LED systems, providing designers with increased flexibility and color changing capabilities.  Using a hexagonal design, each HIVE module interconnects and passes power and data to other units in an optical array.  Each HIVE module uses three RGB high-powered LEDs and is capable of producing 16.7 million colors under DMX512 control.  With a simple slot-in design between modules, an array can be built to any size or shape.  [ Item at EE Times Asia ] 

·   OptiLED introduced its Designer Dimmable LED lamp, featuring lighting intensity and distribution control in a familiar form factor, with outer dimensions identical to an ordinary halogen MR16.  The device operates at 12 V DC or AC and dims from 10 V down to 3 V.  At full power, the unit requires less than 2 W.  The lamp is available in red, green, blue, amber and white and is suitable for most indoor and weather-protected outdoor fixtures and applications, including theatres and cinemas, amusement parks, architectural features, and more.  [ Press release at TMC.net ]

·   Opto Diode introduced a 99-die LED array product line, said to feature excellent thermal conductivity and a 110-degree beam angle.  Six new devices are available in wavelengths of 405, 470, 525, 610, 830 and 870 nm, suitable for exterior aircraft lighting, illuminating automotive license plates, photo dynamic therapy and fluorescence applications.  [ News item in Laser Focus World ]

·   Osram introduced a new Ostar high-power LED for the projection and lighting markets.  The Ostar produces more than 120 lm and measures 3 x 1 cm, making it suitable for use in mini projectors.  Its RGB light source consists of one red, one blue and two green thin-film chips, a ceramic carrier for interconnection and thermal management and supporting passive electronics to provide reliable protection against "over voltage" and over heating.  Nearly all of the generated light comes through the top of the chip.  [ Press release ] 

·   Osram Opto Semiconductors introduced warm white Golden Dragon LEDs that use a red converter phosphor.  The devices have a color temperature of 3200 K; color rendering index (CRI) of 80; and luminous flux of 23 lm.  It is suitable for applications such as reading lights, mood lighting, display cabinets, and car interiors.  The 1- to 2-W Golden Dragon line offers an optical efficiency of 20 lm/W in a compact package (1.8 mm high and typically fitting inside an enclosure measuring 6 x 7 mm).  [ Press release; News item at the Auto Channel ]

·   Permlight launched a new, low-cost LED luminaire designed to replace existing junction-box-mounted incandescent lighting systems commonly found in theaters and auditoriums, landscape applications, and step lighting systems.  The ENBR Series Enbryten Retrofit system is designed for low voltage (12-24V input) or line voltage (90-240VAC input) installations.  The products come in white (5600K), warm white (2600K), red, blue, green or amber.  The ENBR series consumes up to 5 W, replaces systems that are from 7 to 25 W, and is designed to work with existing cover plates.  [ Press release ] 

·   PolyBrite International's Westinghouse LED Lighting Systems introduced an ornamental light bulb, the Marquee 60, which provides the equivalent of 12 to 15 W of incandescent light and is available in all LED colors, including white and clear.  [ Press release ] 

·   Showa Denko (Japan) has developed a 12 mW blue GaN flip-chip LED.  The device, suitable for mobile phones, outdoor displays, illumination, and automotive applications, will be available next year.  The flip chip structure provides better heat dissipation and higher reliability, according to the company.  Showa Denko is now building a plant in Chiba and plans to produce 30 million units per month by year-end.  [ Press release from Azom.com ] 

·   STMicroelectronics introduced a white LED driver for color LCD backlighting or portable devices.  The STLD20D is an inductive boost converter designed to drive up to four white LEDs in series from a 2.8 V DC battery voltage and offering dynamic supply voltage rejection to prevent backlight flickering.  Conversion efficiency is more than 80%.  [ Press release ] 

·   Super Vision International introduced its new color changing LED lighting system, SaVi ™.  The SaVi line of intelligent LED lighting products includes architectural lighting fixtures designed for commercial interior and exterior applications as well as nightscape and underwater lighting applications: SaVi Accent, a linear lighting system for coves, accent and backlighting; SaVi Flood for larger scale wall washing and color floodlighting; SaVi Spot for accent lighting of smaller illumination areas, nightscapes and underwater use; and the SaVi Tube, a special effects linear lighting system.  [ Press release at Planet Analog ]

·   Texas Instruments announced synchronous boost converters that can power up to five series white LEDs.  The 1.5 mm x 1.5 mm integrated circuits power and control white LED backlights in smart phones, PDAs, digital still cameras and other handheld electronics.  The new TPS6106x family of specialized DC/DC converters support input voltages from 2.7-V to 6-V, and can power up to three-, four- and five-series LEDs.  [ Press release ]

·   Toyoda Gosei introduced a white LED that it says is twice as bright as existing devices for backlighting of cell phone handset screens.  The device, which uses a blue LED and a yellow phosphor, produces a brightness of 1300 mcd with a 20 mA drive current and is expected to be available in March 2005.  [ News item at Compound Semiconductor.net ]

·   Vishay Electronics launched six SMD GaN and AlInGaP LED products, said to have the smallest form factor on the market (1.6 X 0.8 X 0.6 mm).  Available in red, orange, yellow, two greens, and blue, the LEDs provide up to 80 mcd of luminous intensity.  Their half-intensity angle is 80°, providing a 160° viewing angle; luminous intensity ratio is1.6 or less per packing unit; and operating temperature range is -40 to +100°C.  [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]

·   Ya Hsin Industrial (Taiwan) plans to introduce 80-inch LED TVs before year-end.  The company has also developed a new, foldable-design LED TV, enabled by the use of PCBs, which is targeted at the outdoor billboard market.  [ News item at EMS Now ] 

C.   Novel or Interesting LED Applications/Uses

·   Barco completed installation of a 20 by 30 foot LED display for Clear Channel Spectacolor in Manhattan's Times Square the day Hurricane Jeanne hit the city.  The new display, constructed of 90 SLite 10-millimeter tiles, was unaffected by the weather.  The SLite tiles are each equipped with 3,200 coordinated clusters of lighted pixels and combine to form an image size of 600 x 800 pixels.  The display has an IP65 water- and dust-proof rating, making it nearly impermeable to the elements.  [ Press release at Yahoo! Finance ]

·   Boston Ballet will feature LED lighting in its holiday production of "The Nutcracker." The ballet created the new lighting scheme to allow more flexibility on the stage at the Colonial Theatre, a smaller set than at its traditional home at the Wang Theatre.  The LED lighting gives a chance to "paint the set,'' artistic director Mikko Nissinen said.  [ Article in Boston Herald ]

·   Fraen Corporation (Italy) has applied for a patent ( WO 2004/088387 ) for a compact LED-based light source for fluorescence microscopes.  The LED assembly is designed to overcome problems with typical lamp or laser light sources, which are expensive, bulky and energy intensive.  The applicants propose mounting an LED behind a collimator made of a transparent plastic such as polycarbonate or PMMA, and plugging the entire housing into the microscope.  [ News item at Optics.org ]

·   GELcore's TR3 LED Signal Modules are being used by Amtrak in the northeast corridor.  Amtrak's C&S Repair Shop has been retrofitting incandescent wayside signals, highway railroad crossings and control panel lighting throughout the system, in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware and Maryland, with LED-based devices.  GELcore offers sealed, all-weather LED modules to retrofit green, yellow, red and lunar white signals for commuter rail, rapid transit and freight railroad applications.  The company's railway products include 5-inch (127 mm) and 5.5-inch (140 mm) TR3 wayside signals; 8-inch (210 mm) RM4 wayside signals; plus 8-inch (210 mm) RG4 and 12-inch (300 mm) RG6 grade crossing flashers and are designed to provide uncomplicated signal-housing retrofits.  [ Press release ] 

·   Infineon Technologies AG (Munich) and carpet manufacturer Vorwerk Teppichwerke presented a prototype of a “Thinking Carpet” at the international Orgatec trade fair in Cologne, Germany.  The carpet, which includes “intelligent” functions such as alarms, climate control, regulatory or guidance systems technology, features shatterproof LED modules that serve as a controllable guidance system, marking the shortest route to an emergency exit, for example.  The prototype is a result of two years of research but market maturity is still two years away, company officials said.  [ Press release ]

·   Permlight has developed a product for Philips Lighting to be used in the holiday snowflake display for Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City.  Permlight provided application, design and fabrication services to produce almost 5 miles of LED lighting used in the display.  Fifty custom-designed steel snowflakes and 72,000 LEDs are illuminating the store’s facade.  Permlight was also featured in an article at LIGHTimes, "Progress at Permlight." [ Press release, Philips Press release, Article at LIGHTimes ] 

·   PolyBrite International announced that its Stole Charging Valve (SCV) Light Collar, a LED lighting device, has passed all testing required by the U.S. Navy and is ready to be produced and deployed throughout the Navy's submarine fleet as one component of their emergency escape equipment.  The SCV Light Collar illuminates the area where sailors plug in their hoses to allow the inflation of their escape suits while providing breathable air to the sailor.  The lights will also be used to illuminate escape hatches.  PolyBrite, the inventor and manufacturer of LED-based products to be sold under a licensing agreement with Westinghouse Lighting Corp., was also featured in a Chicago Tribune article," Light bulbs that bounce."  [ Press release, feature article in the Chicago Tribune (registration required) ]

D.   Market Information

·   EE Times Asia reports on LED lighting and manufacturing developments in China in “LED lights gain ground over traditional lights.” According to the article, China's LED business is "gathering steam," with consumer demand increasing rapidly, large foreign companies setting up plants, and the government planning new industrial bases.  [ Article in EE Times Asia ]

·   South Korea is ramping up HB-LED production, apparently to become competitive with Taiwan, according to Taiwan's Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA) as reported by DigiTimes and LIGHTimes.  South Korea's monthly capacity reached 300 million units per month in the first half of 2004, more than double its previous capability, according to the PIDA report.  [ News item in LIGHTimes, News item in DigiTimes ( subscription required) ]

·   Market researcher Bob Steele, director of optoelectronics at Strategies Unlimited, gives a retrospective look at a decade's worth of development of solid-state lighting in a feature article, “Solid-State Lighting: What a Difference a Decade Makes,” at LIGHTimes.  Steele discusses market growth and technical progress of HB-LEDs for niche lighting applications and general illumination.  [ Feature at LIGHTimes ]

·   Strategies Unlimited released a new report, “Nanophotonics: Assessment of Technologies and Market Opportunities.”  The report reviews nanophotonics applications, markets and technologies, presents forecasts, and profiles key companies and institutions working in this area.  One finding from the report is that “nanotechnology may improve the efficiency of high brightness LEDs in multiple ways to accelerate this $4 billion, high-growth market, and help move LEDs into the realm of general illumination.”  [ Item at III-Vs Review ]

·   Shipments of white-light LEDs from Taiwan's LED suppliers are expected to increase sharply next year, according to an article in Taiwan Economic News.  Demand for backlights from the island's handset suppliers is expected to increase, and industry watchers predict that more Taiwanese-made white LEDs will be used by these handset suppliers, despite litigation from Nichia, which owns the patent for the most popular white-light technology, because “none of these charges has stood.”  According to the article, Taiwan-made white LEDs are more competitively priced than Nichia's, and Taiwanese diode suppliers have “grown mature in production of white-light diodes.”  [ News item in Taiwan Economic News ] 

E.   Overview Articles

·   Highlights of the 5th European Conference on Silicon Carbide and Related Materials (ECSCRM 2004), including discussion of growth of GaN-on-silicon LEDs, are featured in an article, “Substrates and epitaxial growth dominate ECSCRM discussions,” in Compound Semiconductor Magazine.  The conference's featured speaker, Daisuke Nakamura of the Toyota Central R&D labs in Japan, discussed the possibility of large-diameter, dislocation-free SiC substrates in the near future.  Other topics, such as reducing defects with lateral epitaxy overgrown (LEO) and GaN-on-silicon epitaxy, are covered in this extensive article by Richard Stevenson.  [ Feature article in Compound Semiconductor Magazine ]

·   The Asahi Shimbum featured the article “White LEDs Forecast to Shine,” covering recent developments by Nichia, Toyoda Gosei, and Sony.  [ Article at the Asahi Shimbum ]

·   Catalyst Semiconductor's Fabien Franc and Anthony Russell published an overview of charge pumps for LEDs, “Charge Pumps in Battery Powered Devices,” in ECN Magazine.  The authors conclude that regulated charge pumps are desirable for driving LEDs and are easy to implement on a PCB.  They suggest that customers consider output current capability, input voltage range, power-up sequence, operating frequency and low noise operation.  [ Feature in ECN Magazine ]

·   White LEDs were featured in an article in Design News, which mentioned activities at Lumileds, Cree, Universal Display and DOE.  The article is titled, “White LEDs Shine Brighter:  Increasing output makes LEDs more attractive in portables, home lighting.”  [ Article in Design News ]

·   Highlights of the Fourth International Conference on Solid-State Lighting, including updates on government-sponsored programs in Japan and the U.S., are featured in an extensive article by Tim Whitaker in Compound Semiconductor – “Japan sets white LED targets as technology improves.”  The conference, held in conjunction with SPIE's 49th Annual Meeting in August 2004 in Denver, opened with an update from DOE's Jim Brodrick on the solid-state lighting program.  Other subjects covered in this article are efforts to improve phosphors for improved color rendering, use of LEDs in displays and aviation lighting, thermal management issues, and white OLEDs.  [ Feature article in Compound Semiconductor ]

·   The Harvard Business Review published an overview of the solid-state lighting market, “The Light Fantastic,” focusing on benefits such as energy efficiency and reduced maintenance requirements, as well as environmental and industrial implications.  [ Article in the Harvard Business Review (available for purchase) ] 

·   Highlights of the Intertech LED conference held in San Diego were featured in articles in LIGHTimes (“High Power LEDs Highlight USA LED Meet: Alan Thompson Reports”) and LEDs Magazine (“LED manufacturers reveal performance records, new high-power products“)  Alan Thompson of LIGHTimes discusses the rapid increase in the number of companies offering high power LEDs and predictions for the HB-LED market.  LEDs Magazine describes the continued improvement in LED performance discussed by manufacturers at the conference, including efficacy (lm/W) of Cree, Nichia and Osram's white LEDs in the lab or on the market.  The article also covers thin film developments at Osram and high-power LED developments at Lamina Ceramics, Cotco and Rohm.  [ Feature at LIGHTimes, feature at LEDs Magazine ]

·   IOP Publishing and Cabot Media launched a new web portal and online publication, LEDs Magazine, covering the applications of high-brightness LEDs and the technology of building LED-based systems.  October features, for example, cover such topics as emerging markets for LED signage; LED battens for concert stage backgrounds; patent lawsuits between Color Kinetics and Super Vision; standardization of LED measurements, and more.  The site also features a free regular e-mail update service.  [ LEDs Magazine website ]

·   Lighting Dimensions Magazine featured LED products in a buyer's guide in its Nov. 1 issue.  Products from Lumileds, Color Kinetics, Super Vision, GELCore, Opto Technology, and more are described.  [ Article in Lighting Dimensions Magazine ]

·   The Lighting Research Center's National Lighting Product Information Program (NLPIP) has released a new publication on color and its measurement and quantification.  " Lighting Answers: Light sources and color" examines methods to approximate color perceptions in people, including measurements to describe such factors as the color appearance of light sources and objects, the ability of a light source to render colors accurately, and the stability of color properties over a lamp’s lifetime.  Part I focuses on the metrics used to describe the appearance of light emitted from a light source and describes the human color vision system.  Part II focuses on the color appearance of objects when illuminated by a light source.  It proposes a “triangulation” method for describing color rendering to help lighting specifiers to select light sources based on their ability to show object colors.  This section also discusses the relationship between color rendering and luminous efficacy.  [ Press release ] 

·   The New York Times featured LED-based, pocket-size projectors in an article in its technology section, quoting experts from MIT, Lumileds, Mitsubishi and Light Blue Optics on their visions of the future of handheld projector applications.  The article is titled “WHAT'S NEXT: For Your Viewing Pleasure, a Projector in Your Pocket.” [ Article at the New York Times ]

·   The New York Times published a feature article on the use of LEDs in interior design, titled "Light That Swings Quick as a Mood." LEDs have become "the Paris Hilton of lighting, popping up everywhere," according to the article.  [ Article in the New York Times (available for purchase) ]

·   The Motor Vehicle Lighting Council (MVLC) launched its redesigned website to better inform the motoring public about the benefits and proper use of advanced automotive lighting technologies, including LED-based lighting.  The website provides an overview of various automotive lighting systems and includes answers to commonly asked questions, a glossary of lighting terms and links to industry resources.  In addition, video simulations offer side-by-side driver viewpoints comparing the visibility benefits provided by vehicles equipped with advanced lighting technologies to vehicles with standard halogen lights.  The Motor Vehicle Lighting Council (MVLC) is a coalition of the leading global automotive lighting and component manufacturers and related education and research institutions committed to bringing new lighting advancements to market in order to increase vehicle performance and vehicle and pedestrian safety.  [ Press release at the AIADA website, Motor Vehicle Lighting Council website ]

·   The LED-lighted, 10-story façade of the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas was the topic of an article at Salon.com, "Bright lights, big savings." Electricity for the new lighting system will cost about one-eighth that for the previous system and save the resort $41,000 per year in operational costs, according to the article.  [ Article at Salon.com (requires viewing an ad for access to article) ]

·   Technology for reducing black area and increasing the fill factor of LED displays is discussed in a LEDs Magazine feature article by Dr. Bishou Chen and Steven C. Lo of Sansi Technology.  Improvements in these areas can enhance color-blending quality, reduce the effect of glare, and thereby substantially improve LED imaging quality, the authors say.  [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ] 

F.   Research Results

·   Researchers at Fujikura and the National Institute of Materials Science (Japan) have created a warm-white LED by combining a blue LED chip with a highly efficient, yellowish-orange CaEuSiAlON ceramic phosphor, as reported in the September issue of Optics Letters, "Warm-white light-emitting diode with yellowish orange SiAlON ceramic phosphor," by Ken Sakuma, Koji Omichi, Naoki Kimura, Masakazu Ohashi, Daiichiro Tanaka, Naoto Hirosaki, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Rong-Jun Xie, and Takayuki Suehiro.  The LED has a color temperature of 2750 K and a luminous efficacy of 25.9 lm/W at room temperature with a forward-bias current of 20 mA.  The chromaticity of the assembled LED is more thermally stable than that of a LED with a conventional oxide phosphor (YAG:Ce), because of the better thermal stability of the oxynitride phosphor, according to the research team.  [ News item at Optics.org; Optics Letters article abstract ]

·   Researchers at National Cheng Kung University in Tainan, Taiwan, have investigated fabrication of InGaN/GaN multiple quantum-well green LEDs by metallorganic chemical vapor deposition, addressing the problems of lattice mismatch and low miscibility between GaN and InN compounds.  [ Abstract from article in Photonics Spectra at Photonics.com ]

·   Researchers at the University of South Carolina have made AlGaN deep-UV LEDs with a peak power of 0.57 mW at 1000 mA (255 nm) and 0.16 mW at 300 mA (250 nm).  The team, led by Asif Khan, developed high quality AlGaN cladding layers with an aluminum content up to 72%, grown over AlGaN/AlN superlattice buffer layers on sapphire substrates.  Their research was reported as "250 nm AlGaN light-emitting diodes" in the Sept. 20 issue of Applied Physics Letters, pp. 2175-2177.  The team expects the LEDs' power levels to increase by a factor of three to five with flip-chip bonding.  [ News item at Optics.org; abstract ]

·   Researchers with Japan's Visible Light Communications Consortium demonstrated LED-based data transmission at CEATEC Japan 2004 in Tokyo.  Professors Masao Nakagawa and Shinichiro Haruyama, both of Keio University, gave a keynote speech on the concept.  [ Press release; News item at EETimes ]

·   Wright State University researcher David Look presented findings on the use of zinc oxide as a light source at the Third International Workshop on ZnO and Related Materials in Japan.  Look explained, “Zinc oxide applications are a hot topic right now in the scientific community because it is at the cutting edge.  Zinc oxide crystals can take electrical power or battery power and convert this to light.  It is exciting research.”  Look and colleagues at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are exploring ways to develop positive current transmission in crystalline zinc oxide.  [ Press release ]

G.   Selected Events of Interest

Upcoming:

·   The Lighting Research Center will present a new series of Internet-teleconference seminars beginning in January 2005.  The series, "LIVE!, from the LRC," will provide "cutting-edge information" on lighting in an easily accessible, interactive format, with programs held from 1:00-2:30 p.m. Eastern Time on the third Wednesday of each month.  The first seminar in the series will be "Truths and Myths in Lighting: Lessons from Research" on January 19, 1:00-2:30 p.m. ET.  In this seminar, a panel of LRC lighting experts will discuss many of the controversial and confusing issues that lighting researchers have been confronted with in the past few years.  [ Press release ]

·   DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program, will host a two-day workshop on solid-state lighting, Feb. 3 and 4, 2005, in San Diego, CA.  The workshop will focus on updating R&D topics within the department's solid-state lighting and R&D agenda and will provide further definition of the DOE program goals, expectations and operating plan.  The meeting will also provide a forum for sharing project updates.  [ EERE event information ]

·   Intertech's Phosphor Global Summit is set for Feb. 28 to March 2, 2005 in San Diego, CA.  The conference will focus on current trends and market opportunities impacting the phosphor industry – supply, demand, pricing, new applications, processing, and new phosphor material development, with a session dedicated to the latest developments in nanophosphors and quantum dots.  [ Conference information ]

·   The 2005 International Forum on LED & Solid-State Lighting is set for April 12-15, 2005, in Xiamen, China.  Conference topics include technology, marketing, development stratagem and applications.  Participants from Europe, U.S., Japan, South Korea and China/Taiwan are expected.  [ Conference information ] 

H.   Government Funding News and Opportunities

·   DOE announced its FY05 SBIR/STTR funding opportunities.  Topic 22 calls for research in high efficiency visible and near UV (>380 nm) semiconductor materials for LED-based general illumination technology; advanced architectures and designs for high power conversion efficiency emitters; and high efficiency, low-voltage, stable materials for OLED-based general illumination technology.  The deadline for receipt of grant applications was Dec. 13, 2004.  [ Solicitation, SBIR Topic 22 ]

·   The Japanese government spent $43,363 for an LED-based solar home lighting project in a remote village in western Nepal, according to Kyodo News.  The project includes 252 sets of 14 W solar panels and lamp accessories and is located in Bhachok, 300 km west of Kathmandu.  [ Original News item at Japan Today, URL no longer functional ]  

·   The NIST Advanced Technology Program announced awards totaling $80.1 million for research on highly innovative industrial technologies, including:  [ Press release ]

Ø       $3.4 million to Creeand business partner Nanocrystal Lighting Corp. to demonstrate a white LED lamp package with an integrated chip approach that would more than quadruple the brightness and double the efficiency of existing LED systems and significantly reduce the cost per lumen. [ Project brief; Cree Press release ]

Ø       $2 million to Crystal IS to develop cost-effective, high-quality, and commercially important, single-crystal aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates by using an approach that incorporates new techniques of crystal seed growth, coupled with advanced thermal gradient control, and new crucible designs, to grow large high-quality, AlN crystal boules.  [ Project brief; Crystal IS Press release ]

·   UC-Santa Barbara will host a new center under the National Science Foundation's International Materials Institutes Program.  The International Center for Materials Research (ICMR), initially funded with $3.5 million over 5 years (from 2004-2009), will promote global excellence in materials science and engineering through a series of research and educational programs.  Tony Cheetham will serve as director of the ICMR.  [ Press release ]