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ARCHIVE OF SELECTED HEADLINE NEWS (2004) (These links are not maintained) |
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(These links are not maintained) |
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December 30, 2004 |
DARPA's Advanced Technology Office (ATO) has issued a Broad Agency Announcement (BAA 05-13) soliciting proposals for the performance of research, development, design, and testing that directly supports ATO. Two topics involve LEDs: Topic 19 covers solid-state lighting devices and systems; topic 40 includes programmable LEDs that blink at nanosecond intervals and that can withstand launch from a medium velocity gun. The BAA will remain open from Jan. 1, 2005, through December 31, 2006. [ Solicitation synopsis ] |
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December 2004 |
Advances in HB-LEDs were featured in "Illuminating Achievements," a year-end summary of technical achievements in optoelectronics, in Laser Focus World. [ Feature article (requires free registration) ] |
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December 29, 2004 |
Zhongshan Silsmart Optoeletronics has released super-bright LEDs designed for use in traffic signal applications. The JMtraffic-G LEDs emit at 505 nm, feature luminous intensities from 4 cd to 8 cd, and offer viewing angles of 15°, 30° or 40°. [ News item at EE Times Asia (registration required) ] |
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December 24, 2004 |
The Tokyo High Court has called for a mediated settlement between Shuji Nakamura and Nichia in the blue LED case. Presiding Judge Hisao Sato notified the involved parties that he will hand down a ruling on the appeal on March 28, 2005. [ Article in Mainichi Daily News ] |
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December 23, 2004 |
The Phoenix Group Corporation has changed its name to Lighting Science Group Corporation by means of a parent/subsidiary merger with its wholly owned subsidiary, Lighting Science, Inc. The board of directors approved the merger in December and filed a certificate of merger with the state of Delaware. [ Press release ] |
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December 23, 2004 |
Opto Tech will build an LED display, apparently the largest built to date, to promote the Beijing Olympics and serve as a major focal point at the International Trade Center, according to DigiTimes. Opto Tech intends to invest $20 million in the 200 meter by 30 meter (6,000 square meter) display. Other major Chinese cities are likely to commission similar giant screens, according to the article. [ News item in LIGHTimes ] |
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December 22, 2004 |
Taiwan's Science and Technology Information Center (STIC) predicts that demand for handset-use LEDs will grow from 5.2 billion units in 2003 to 9.4 billion units in 2006 with a total CAGR of 21.9%, according to DigiTimes. STIC projects that LEDs used in mobile phones will increase from the current average of 10 units per phone to 12 by the end of 2006. [ News item at DigiTimes (subscription required)] |
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December 21, 2004 |
Super Vision signed license agreements with Illumination Management Solutions (IMS) and LED Power, both of Irvine, Calif., for its Variable Color Lighting System patent #4,962,687 and its recently acquired Laidman Technology. IMS is known for its advanced applications of LED technology for the production of LED light engines for industrial and commercial applications. LED Power produces LED lighting systems for commercial applications including aerospace, automotive, commercial signage, marine, traffic control and utility control systems. [ Press release ] |
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December 20, 2004 |
Permlight and Tempo Lighting reached a settlement in the lawsuit filed in April claiming infringement of Permlight's U.S. patents 6,416,200 and 6,082,870. Under the settlement, Tempo will license Permlight's patented theater lighting technology for its Sentinel and Sentry products, but terms of the license were not disclosed. [ Press release ] |
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December 19, 2004 |
A Japanese research team has developed an inexpensive, ZnO-based blue LED. The team, including members from the Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, reported its results as "Repeated temperature modulation epitaxy for p-type doping and light-emitting diode based on ZnO," by Atsushi Tsukazaki, et al, Dec. 19, 2004, in Nature Materials. [ Abstract for Nature Materials article, news item at Australian Broadcasting Corp. Online. ] |
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December 14, 2004 |
Color Kinetics announced an agreement with Future Electronics for distribution of Color Kinetics' Digital Light Engines (DLEs), including controllers and power/data supplies, via Future Electronics' North American distribution network. [ Press release ] |
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December 14, 2004 |
ARC 05 (the Architectural Retail and Corporate Lighting Show, Feb. 14-15, London) will include an industry forum on the use of LEDs in architectural, retail and corporate lighting. Run by the UK's Lighting Industry Federation, endorsed by the Royal Institute of British Architects, and accredited by its Continuing Professional Development program, the forum is aimed at specifiers, architects, consultants, and contractors who install lighting systems. [ News item in LEDs Magazine, industry forum ] |
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December 13, 2004 |
LED lighting adds to the ambience at an ice skating rink suspended in the Eiffel Tower. The ice is lit from beneath by 100 LED lights, which change the color of the ice without producing heat. The rink, which is on a platform lodged between two of the tower's legs, 188 feet above the ground, can accommodate up to 80 skaters at a time. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ] |
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December 2004 |
ZING Communications published a study that indicates that architects and lighting designers tend to specify fixtures with LEDs to create entirely new applications, while engineers more often specify traditional fixtures that use LEDs as the primary light source, according to an article at LEDs Magazine. The "2004 LED Specifier Study" explores attitudes in the specification sales channel by providing and analyzing survey data from architects, lighting designers, and engineers. [ Article at LEDs Magazine ] |
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December & November 2004 |
LEDs Magazine featured several extensive articles discussing the LED Alliance and its issues with the intellectual property portfolio of Color Kinetics. See "Patent issues cause discontent among LED lighting manufacturers", "LED Alliance seeks ammunition for battle with Color Kinetics", and "Color Kinetics confident of success in patent disputes". The LED Alliance comprises Super Vision, Artistic Licence (UK) Ltd., and others |
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December 10, 2004 |
Osram Sylvania patent application for a vacuum ultraviolet (VUV)-excited device with blue-emitting phosphor ( WO 2004/105070 ) was featured in the “Patent Highlights” column of Optics.org. The blue-emitting, europium-activated calcium-substituted barium hexa-aluminate (CBAL) phosphor is described as ideal for use in VUV-excited products such as plasma display panels, since it has improved degradation characteristics. [ News item at Optics.org ] |
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December 10, 2004 |
Color Kinetics expanded its Digital Light Engine (DLE) line to include the DLE L-101, a linear module incorporating 24 surface mount LEDs at a 120° x 120° beam angle; available in 12-inch and 6-inch lengths; and the DLE L-103, a 12-inch linear module incorporating 54 surface mount LEDs at a wide beam distribution of 180° x 180°. The new products are suitable for wall grazing, alcove lighting and marker lighting. [ Press release ] |
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December 9, 2004 |
BivarOpto introduced a wedge-based warm-white LED featuring accurate color output of industry standard T-1 ¾ (5mm) wedge-based incandescent bulbs, for telecommunications, switching systems, elevators, automotive instrument panels, annunciators, indicators and use in miniature lighted push-button switches. The device features a warm-white color temperature of 3500K, a flat faced lens design with an internal reflector for enhanced light intensity with a 180° wide-viewing angle, and is rated at 2.5 V DC to 48 V DC. It measures 0.80 inches (20.37 mm) in length and 0.230 inches (5.842 mm) in diameter. [ Item at Thomas Net Industrial News Room ] |
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December 9, 2004 |
Lumitex has developed a modular light engine that combines high-power LEDs (such as the Luxeon® III Star or Luxeon® V) with a Lumitex® woven or UniGlo® fiber optic panel to spread light from a single source over a wide, flat area. Encased in an aluminum housing that acts as a heat sink, the assembly provides 100 Ft-L or more for a 3“ x 5” fiber optic panel illuminated by a single HB-LED. Applications include touch screens, medical devices, LCD backlighting, and more. [ Item at Thomas Net Industrial News Room ] |
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December 9, 2004 |
LIGHTimes published an in-depth article on intellectual property issues, "The Art of Manufacturing IP," and an editorial on the IP dispute between Super Vision and Color Kinetics, "Super Vision vs. Color Kinetic Indicative of Typical Growing Pains." [ Article, editorial at LIGHTimes ] |
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December 9, 2004 |
LIGHTimes published highlights of the Compound Semi Industry Outlook conference held in Dallas. [ Article at LIGHTimes ] |
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December 8, 2004 |
Edison Electric Institute is encouraging the use of energy-efficient lighting, such as LEDs, for holiday decorations. The organization also offers energy-saving tips for consumers and its 2004 survey of electric company energy efficiency programs. [ Press release, consumer tips ] |
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December 7, 2004 |
Seoul Semiconductor introduced the Z-Power series of high-power packaged LEDs. Z-Power LEDs are available in white, red, green, blue, amber, cyan, warm white and full color. The white Z-Power LED has a luminous flux of 140 lm at 1.4 A (5 W), corresponding to 28 lm/W, with a luminous efficacy of 40 lm/W at 350 mA. In addition, the Full Color Z-Power LED, which the company says is the only multi-color packaged LED product containing three high-power (350 mA) RGB chips, emits any required color or white light with a luminous flux of 60 lm. This Full Color LED does not require color filters, unlike the existing CCFL technology. [ News item and product data sheet at LEDs Magazine ] |
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December 7, 2004 |
EDN Europe published an overview of the state of LED technology, "LEDs make the spotlight." The article covers topics such as luminous efficiency, heat dissipation, drivers, and more. [ Article at EDN Europe ] |
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December 6, 2004 |
Marktech Optoelectronics announced the availability of Cotco's LP379 series LEDs with a P4 package, concave lens and viewing angle of 120 degrees. The devices are available in red (639nm), yellow (594nm), green (520nm, 562nm), blue-green (502nm) and blue (465nm), in a 7.6-mm square four-leaded package with intensities up to 4.2 lumens. [ Item at LEDs Magazine ] |
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December 6, 2004 |
The San Jose Mercury News featured George Craford of Lumileds in its article, "Switching off bulbs for LEDs." [ Article in the San Jose Mercury News (registration required) ] |
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December 6, 2004 |
Honeywell's new Astreon LED systems will be used for anti-collision and navigation exterior lighting on Boeing's new 7E7 Dreamliner aircraft. [ Press release ] |
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December 3, 2004 |
Investor's Business Daily featured an article on the use of LED lighting for illumination on a New York City street. "NYC Street Shines Light On LED Use," describes the project, which was organized by OSRAM Sylvania and the nonprofit Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corp. and funded by private property owners. [ Article in Investor's Business Daily ] |
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December 1, 2004 |
AXT finalized its $1.4 million litigation settlement with Sumitomo Electric. The settlement includes a global intellectual property cross-licensing agreement and requires that payment be made in early January 2005, with litigation in Japan to be withdrawn shortly thereafter. [ Press release ] |
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December 1, 2004 |
Apollo Display Technologies introduced a 6.5-inch diagonal, active matrix, VGA resolution LCD display featuring white LED edge lighting. The display is suitable for industrial and medical instruments. LEDs replace the CCFL fluorescent backlights typically used in TFT displays. [ News item at ECN Magazine ] |
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December 2004 |
Compound Semiconductor focused on LEDs its December issue, featuring: Ø“ China seeks LED solution to an energy-resource problem” – This extensive article provides an overview of energy use, government policy and programs, and LED production in China. Ø“ HVPE offers alternative route to AlGaN-based UV emitters” – The combination of higher growth rates and a lower defect density gives HVPE an edge over techniques such as MOCVD for the growth of UV LEDs. TDI and the Fox Group outline their progress. Ø“ LED makers reveal performance records and high-power products” – Highlights from the Intertech LEDs 2004 conference, including a discussion of Cree, Nichia, Osram, Rohm Electronics, and Evident Technologies. Ø“ LCD backlighting continues to thrive as pricing pressure bites.” Ø“ LEDs attempt the jump from small screen to large screen.” Ø “ Silicone delivers thermal stability to LED packaging” – a discussion of the merits of silicone encapsulants. |
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December 2004 |
LEDs Magazine published a summary of the recent Bright Ideas investor-oriented conference in Boston, including discussion of interest by the financial community in investment opportunities, their need to understand the dynamics of the supply chain, and discussion of influence of Asian LED manufacturers. [ Article in LEDs Magazine ] |
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December 2004 |
Canadian retirees Anthony and Faith Harckham have brought solar-powered, LED-based light to hundreds of homes in rural areas from Peru to Pakistan. The project is financed by a mix of tourism and charity. The project was featured in IEEE Spectrum. [ Article at IEEE Spectrum, see Table of Contents here ] |
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November 30, 2004 |
CameraBright will use Nichia's white LED lamps for its CameraBright!™ X1 lighting accessory. The $29.95 CameraBright! accessory attaches to the tripod mount of most cameras and camcorders and gives users a constant light source to supplement the camera's built-in flash. [Press release ] |
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November 30, 2004 |
Semiconductor Technology Research offers a software tool, Simulator of Light Emitters based on Nitride Semiconductors (SiLENSe), for modeling band diagrams and characteristics of group-III nitride LEDs. The software features a band structure diagram of a nitride LED for various bias voltages, information concerning the distribution of electron and hole concentrations in the device structure, the electric field distribution across the device and the LED's current-voltage characteristics. [ Product release item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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November 29, 2004 |
Technologies and Devices International (TDI) showed prototype AlGaN-on-sapphire templates at the 2004 Material Research Society meeting in Boston. Novel AlGaN-on-sapphire materials, such as those made by TDI's patented hydride vapor phase epitaxial process, are transparent in the UV spectrum region and target substrate applications for high-power GaN-based UV LEDs. [ Press release ] |
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November 29, 2004 |
Super Vision has signed three additional licensees to its Variable Color Lighting System patent and its Laidman technology portfolio. The new licensees are Element Labs of Austin, TX; TPR Enterprises of Mamaroneck, NY; and Shine Lighting of West Jordan, UT. [ Press release ] |
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November 29, 2004 |
Agilent introduced an LED-based optical mouse sensor with improved tracking control that works over a wider variety of surfaces, including wood desktops and halftone images. [ Press release ] |
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November 26, 2004 |
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. [ News item at Optics.org, press release from Nichia ] |
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November 24, 2004 |
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 ] |
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November 23, 2004 |
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 ] |
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November 21, 2004 |
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. [ News item in LIGHTimes , News item at Optics.org ] |
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November 19, 2004 |
Optiled introduced its HIVE (High Intensity Vorticular Enclosure) 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. The company says that the technology provides lighting designers with an increased range of flexibility and color changing capabilities. [ Item at EE Times Asia ] |
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November 19, 2004 |
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. 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, News item at LIGHTimes ] |
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November 19, 2004 |
Philips Intellectual Property and Standards GmbH (Germany) has a patent application for “UV light source coated with nano-particles of phosphor,“ featured in the “Patent Highlights” column at Optics.org. WO2004/099664 features a transparent light source using an optical waveguide plate and UV light source. Light is coupled in at the edges of the waveguide plate and distributed within the sheet by total internal reflection. The plate is covered with a layer of phosphor nano-particles that convert UV light from 300 to 400 nm into visible light from 420 to 480 nm. [ Item ] |
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November 18, 2004 |
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 ] |
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November 17, 2004 |
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 ] |
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November 17, 2004 |
Permlight has developed a product for Philips Lighting to be used in the upcoming Holiday Snowflake Display project 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. [ Press release, Philips press release for more details and a picture), see also “ Progress at Permlight” in LIGHTimes ] |
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**New Information Portal** |
IOP (Institute of Physics) Publishing and Cabot Media launched a new online publication and web portal, LEDs Magazine, covering the applications of high-brightness LEDs and the technology of building LED-based systems. This month's features 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. [ LEDs Magazine website ] |
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**Event** |
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 ] |
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**Event** |
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. [No URL available] |
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November 15, 2004 |
Oriol's intellectual property (IP) is up for auction, including LED-related IP in the areas of vertical chip structure methods 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 ] |
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November 12, 2004 |
Osram was profiled in an article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, titled "Light diodes as small as a grain of sand bankroll Osram." [ Article in Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ] |
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November 10, 2004 |
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 Online, commentary in LIGHTimes ] |
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November 10, 2004 |
Alfalight says it has set a world record for power conversion efficiency (PCE) with a 50 W, 976 nm 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. [ Press release ] |
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November 10, 2004 |
Strategies Unlimited has 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." [ Press release ] |
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November 9, 2004 |
Osram Opto Semiconductors introduced warm white Golden Dragon LEDs, using a red converter phosphor. The device has 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. [ Press release ] |
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November 8, 2004 |
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 30mA per channel. The AAT3129 is targeted at RGB LED applications and operates across a 2.7V to 5.5V input voltage range. [ Press release ] |
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November 8, 2004 |
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. These are the company's brightest InGaN LEDs, with luminous intensities ranging from 400 to 7200 mcd. The devices are suitable for full-color outdoor video displays, stadium scoreboards and other variable message signs. [ Press release ] |
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November 5, 2004 November 12, 2004 |
Cree was been featured in popular financial publications, with articles at both the The Motley Fool and Reuters.com. [ Article at The Motley Fool; Article at Reuters ] |
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November 4, 2004 |
LIGHTimes asked Cotco for clarification on the Dorado LED products recently introduced and found that the Dorado comes in five colors. Typical lm/W for each color are: red - 8, amber - 10, blue - 9, green - 33, and white - 20. [ Article ] |
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November 3, 2004 |
Cree announced that it had achieved the industry's highest white LED brightness with its XLamp™ 7090 product offering 40-60 lumens at 350mA and a typical brightness of 45 lumens. These new higher brightness white XLamp LEDs are available in sample quantities, with production volumes targeted to be available in December 2004. [ Press release ] LIGHTimes estimates that these new products offer approximately 37.8 lm/W. [ Commentary ] |
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November 3, 2004 |
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 ] |
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November 3, 2004 |
Agilent plans to investigate the commercial viability of 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 The Korea Times ] |
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November 3, 2004 |
EE Times Asia provides a brief report on developments in China related to LED lighting and manufacturing in the article, "LED lights gain ground over traditional lights." [ Article (registration required) ] |
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November 2, 2004 October 2004 |
Intertech LED Conference: Highlights of this conference, held recently in San Diego are featured in several articles: · LIGHTimes (Alan Thompson reports) covered the conference, including a discussion of the rapid increase in the number of companies offering high power LEDs and predictions for the HB-LED market. [ Feature article ] · LEDs Magazine described the continued improvement in LED performance discussed by manufacturers at this conference. Efficacy (lm/W) of various white LEDs in the lab or on the market are discussed for Cree, Nichia, and Osram. The article also covers thin film developments at Osram, and high power LED developments at Lamina Ceramics, Cotco, and Rohm. [ Feature article ] |
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November 2004 |
Nick Holonyak, University of Illinois, will be 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." [ Article in MRS Bulletin ] |
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November 2004 |
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 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 LEO and GaN-on-silicon epitaxy, are covered in this extensive article by Richard Stevenson. [ Feature article page 1, page 2 ] |
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October 2004 |
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. [ Photonics Spectra article abstract at Photonics.com ] |
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**Event** |
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 ] |
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November 3, 2004 |
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 EE Times] |
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November 2, 2004 |
Nichia reached a settlement with an unnamed German company, which agreed to stop marketing products which included white LEDs that Nichia said were covered by its 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. "The case didn't amount to a legal dispute," says Nichia. [ Press release ] |
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November 2, 2004 |
The Asahi Shimbum featured the article "White LEDs Forecast to Shine," covering recent developments by Nichia, Toyoda Gosei, and Sony. [ Article ] |
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November 1, 2004 |
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 of electricity, 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 ] |
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October 28, 2004 |
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. [ News item at DigiTimes] |
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October 27, 2004 |
Toyoda Gosei is reported to be talking to Taiwan LED manufacturers about potential partnership opportunities. [ Item in Digitimes' "Excerpts from the Greater-China Press," item at CompoundSemi News ] |
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October 26, 2004 |
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 ] |
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October 26, 2004 |
Technologies and Devices International (TDI), in collaboration with Rubicon, has made 6-inch diameter GaN-on-sapphire epitaxial wafers, the industry's first 6" diameter GaN epitaxial materials. The wafers were fabricated using TDI's patented hydride vapor phase epitaxial process and equipment. [ Press release, item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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October 25, 2004 |
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. Showa Denko is now building a plant in Chiba and plans to produce 30 million units per month by year-end. [ Press release ] |
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October 25, 2004 |
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 until its commercial production breakthroughs, blue LEDs have been about 10 times as expensive as red and green indicator LEDs, and now it can "offer blue LED indicator lamps at commodity pricing comparable to red and green." [ Press release ] |
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October 22, 2004 |
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. [ Press release ] |
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October 19, 2004 |
TIR Systems expects to raise $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 ] |
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October 19, 2004 |
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 ] |
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October 19, 2004 |
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 ] |
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October 19, 2004 |
AXT shareholders have filed suit against the company, 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. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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October 18, 2004 |
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. [ Press release , Article in The New York Times] |
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October 18, 2004 |
COTCO launched a 1-W LED that uses an exposed pad design for improved thermal performance and heat dissipation. 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 ] |
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October 18, 2004 |
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 ] |
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October 13, 2004 |
The LRC, 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, 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. [ Press release ] |
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October 13, 2004 |
LRC'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. [ Press release ] |
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October 2004 |
The LRC 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. [ Press release ] |
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October 14, 2004 |
Intrinsic Semiconductor has acquired Swedish SiC MESFET developer Advanced Micro Device Solutions, which will now be known as Intrinsic Semiconductor AB. [ News item in CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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October 13, 2004 |
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. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net] |
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October 12, 2004 |
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 that produces SMD LEDs, LED lamps, LED displays and photo couplers; and another factory in China, now under construction, which is expected to begin operation in the second quarter of 2005.) [ News item in DigiTimes ] |
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October 8, 2004 |
AXT reached a tentative $1.4 million settlement of its litigation with Sumitomo Electric Industries, including a global intellectual property cross-licensing agreement. The settlement, subject to approval by both companies' boards, will be finalized in Q4. [ Press release ] |
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October 7, 2004 |
The New York Times published a feature article on use of LEDs in interior design, titled "Light That Swings Quick as a Mood." [ Article in The New York Times (available for purchase)] |
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October 7, 2004 |
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 ] |
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October 6, 2004 |
Camera phones with Lumileds' Luxeon® Flash LEDs will be available in the U.S., Japan, Europe and Asia before the 2004 holiday season. (See also Aug. 18 headline ) [ Press release ] |
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October 6, 2004 |
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. [ Press release ] |
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October 6, 2004 |
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. [ News item at Japan Today ] |
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October 5, 2004 October 12, 2004 |
Researchers with Japan's Visible Light Communications Consortium are demonstrating 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 EE Times Asia (free registration required)] |
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October 5, 2004 |
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 press release ] |
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October 5, 2004 |
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 also 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 ] |
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October 4, 2004 |
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 in LIGHTimes. [ Feature at LIGHTimes ] |
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October 4, 2004 |
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, 2.5 times its previous capability, according to the PIDA report. [ News item in LIGHTimes, news item in DigiTimes ] |
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October 1, 2004 |
Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) has filed a lawsuit against Taiwan-based LED packaging companies, but the 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. [ News item at DigiTimes ] |
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October 1, 2004 |
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. [ Press release ] |
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October 1, 2004 |
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 wide range 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 wide viewing angle. [ Press release at Thomasnet.com ] |
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October 2004 |
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. 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 ] |
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October 2004 |
CS-MAX 2004 is set for Oct. 24 to 28 in Monterey, CA. Invited speakers include Keith Evans of Crystal IS, speaking on "Native, quasibulk and foreign substrates for III-nitride device manufacturing," as well as Larry Wang from WJ Communications and Damian McCann from Celeritek. The conference is co-located with the IEEE Compound Semiconductor IC Symposium. [ Article in CompoundSemiconductor.net, Conference info ] |
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October 2004 |
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. [ Feature article in Compound Semiconductor ] |
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October 2004 |
Compound Semi Industry Outlook is set for Dec. 6 to 8, 2004, in Dallas. This year's meeting will review opportunities and challenges from the last year and forecast the next for industries including solid-state lighting and HB-LEDs, wireless and opto communications, wide bandgap electronics and other segments. [ Conference information] |
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September 28, 2004 |
The NIST Advanced Technology Program announced awards totaling $80.1 million for research on highly innovative industrial technologies, including: [ Press release ] · $3.4 million to Cree and 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; see also Cree's press release. ] · $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 ] |
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September 28, 2004 |
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 grant applications is Dec. 13, 2004. [ Solicitation, SBIR Topic 22 ] |
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September 24, 2004 |
Nichia and professor Nobuo Nishida of Tokushima University have developed a LED-based 3-D display device 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 strategically placed LEDs with a plate called a parallax barrier. The demonstrated device measures 145 x 77cm, but a similar display with a seven- to eight-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 ] |
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September 27, 2004 |
PolyBrite International (inventor and manufacturer of LED based products to be sold under its licensing agreement with Westinghouse Lighting Corp.) announced that its SCV ("Stole Charging Valve") 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. [ Press release carried at Yahoo Finance] |
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September 27, 2004 |
Vishay Electronics is launching 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 "super" red, orange, yellow, green, "pure" green, and blue, the LEDs provide up to 80 mcd of luminous intensity. [ Item at CompoundSemiconductor.net] |
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September 24, 2004 |
Mule Lighting has introduced a LED-Flex™, a line of LED-based lighting meant as a replacement for neon lights. While having 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. [ Item at ThomasNet] |
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September 24, 2004 |
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. 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), according to the research team. [ News item at Optics.org; Optics Letters article abstract ] |
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September 22, 2004 |
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 or line voltage installations. The products come in white (5600K), warm white (2600K), red, blue, green or amber. [ Press release ] |
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September 21, 2004 |
Harvatek expects LED-lamp shipments to reach 170 million units in September, up 40% from 120 million in August. Shipments in October and November are projected to grow sequentially to between 180-190 million units respectively. [ News item at DigiTimes, reporting on material from Commercial Times ] |
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September 21, 2004 |
Compound Semiconductor reports that confirmed speakers at the CS-MAX conference include those from Sony on blue laser diodes, and from Osram on HB-LEDs. [ News item ] |
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September 20, 2004 |
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 DigiTimes, reporting on material from Apple Daily ] |
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September 20, 2004 - September 27, 2004 |
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." [ Article in Forbes; Article at Compound Semi News ] Cree was also featured on the Motley Fool site. [ Item ] |
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September 20, 2004 |
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. [ Lumileds press release ] |
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September 17, 2004 |
CPS Corporation is offering AlSiC, a metal matrix composite said to be ideal for thermal management of high flux LED products. AlSiC has a high thermal conductivity value of 200 W/mK and a low coefficient of thermal expansion. [ Item at CompoundSemiconductor.net, item at LightTimes ] |
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September 16, 2004 |
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. [ Press release] |
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September 14, 2004 - August 30, 2004 |
Lumileds' Luxeon LEDs supply the sole light source in a new Rabat jewelry store in Barcelona, Spain, the first store in Europe to be lit completely with LEDs. Luxeon LEDs are also featured in a lighting system for store fixtures introduced by Stylmark Inc. as an option with its aluminum and steel display cases and shelving units. The patent pending display lighting is particularly useful in environments with heat-sensitive merchandise such as chocolates and cosmetics, according to the company. [ Press release on the Rabat store; Press release on the Stylmark fixtures. ] |
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September 13, 2004 |
Arques Technology introduced charge-pump white LED drivers, the AQ9156B and AQ9153. These dual-mode 1X - 1.5X switched-capacitor (charge pump) regulators are suitable for white LED backlighting and photo flash applications, according to the company. The output is a regulated 4.5V, up to 120 mA output current, and capable of driving up to six parallel white LEDs. [ Press release ] |
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September 10, 2004 |
NEC, Toshiba and Matsushita all plan to start manufacturing blue diode lasers next year, according to reports from the Tokyo-based Nihon Keizai Shimbun business newspaper. [ Item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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September 9, 2004 |
Maxim Integrated Products introduced the MAX1578/MAX1579, the first complete LCD bias and white-LED power supplies with only one inductor and no charge-pump diode, according to the company. The MAX1579 features a temperature-derating function that allows fewer LEDs to generate the same light output. [ Press release ] |
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September 9, 2004 |
Rubicon Technology and GaN-based LEDs were featured in an overview article, titled “Let There Be Higher-Tech Light” in the Chicago Sun-Times. [ Article, carried on the Cross Atlantic Capital Partners site; commentary at LIGHTimes ] |
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September 8, 2004 |
Agilent Technologies has introduced the Power PLCC-4 series of surface-mount LEDs designed and qualified specifically for automobile interior and exterior lighting applications. [ Press release] |
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September 7, 2004 |
Holiday Creations, the exclusive manufacturer and marketer of LED holiday lights, has increased its production capacity more than five-fold and plans to market the lights in more than 15,000 retail outlets in North America this fall. [ Press release ] |
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September 7, 2004 |
Color Kinetics has been awarded U.S. patent 6,788,011, extending the coverage of its core methods for controlling LED-based illumination. The patent relates in part to an LED-based lighting system comprising a user interface and an addressable controller that receives a network signal, to include such protocols as DMX512, a lighting industry communication standard. [ Press release ] |
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September 5, 2004 |
University of Minnesota’s Heiko Jacobs and colleagues report that they have demonstrated the fabrication of packaged microsystems that contain active semiconductor devices and passive components by using a directed self-assembly technique. Six hundred AlGaInP/GaAs LED segments with a chip size of 200 µm were assembled onto device carriers with a yield of 100% in 2 min. Packaged LEDs formed with yields exceeding 97% as a result of two self-assembly steps are made in 4 min. [ Feature article in the Dallas Morning News, abstract of article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ] |
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September 1, 2004 |
Epitech is ramping up production and has purchased seven of AIXTRON’s Planetary Reactors for the mass production of AlGaInP-based red and orange, and yellow-green UHB-LEDs, as well as CCS type (close coupled showerhead) reactors for the mass production of GaN-based blue, green, UV, and white UHB-LEDs. All systems will be installed at Epitech's plant in the Tainan Science Based Industrial Park in Taiwan. [ Press release ] |
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September 2004 |
Lighting Equipment News announced its upcoming conference, “LEDs: Putting Theory into Practice,” set for Nov. 10 – 11, 2004, in Brussels. The two-day event ”…breaks down and examines the individual components of LED technology, highlighting the challenges and how they can be overcome to create award winning lighting installations.” [ Conference information ] |
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September 2004 |
The North American Conference on Molecular Beam Epitaxy, Oct. 10 – 14, 2004, Banff, Canada, is “devoted to both fundamental and applied research in the field of MBE.” Conference topics include: MBE growth fundamentals; in situ monitoring; production MBE; quantum structures; spintronics; III-V's and II-VI's; SiGeC growth; optoelectronic and RF devices; and novel materials and devices. [ Conference information] |
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September 3, 2004 |
Veeco Instruments announced the sale of a D180 GaN MOCVD tool to Beijing Changdian Zhiyuan Optoelectronics, a subsidiary of Changjiang Electronics Technology (China). The company will use the system to develop novel applications for GaN materials. [ Press release ] |
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September 2, 2004 |
A federal judge in North Carolina dismissed a $3.2 billion shareholder lawsuit against Cree, saying the case against the company was deficient. The judge allowed 45 days for the investor group to file an amended complaint. [ AP News item in Winston-Salem Journal ] |
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September 2, 2004 |
Sensor Electronic Technology says it is scaling up production of deep-UV (280 nm) LEDs with a high output power and a low drive current. According to the company, the devices emit 1 mW continuous-wave output at 280 nm with a drive current of 25 mA. In pulsed mode, the same devices yield 9 mW when driven at 200 mA. [ News item at Compound Semiconductor.net ] |
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August 31, 2004 |
North Carolina State University researchers used pulsed-laser ablation to make 7-nm nickel nanodots said to be 10 times smaller than previously possible. Dr. Jagdish Narayan and Dr. Ashutosh Tiwari, hope to improve the efficiency of LED devices by applying their techniques to GaN and ZnO. Results of the research will be published in the September issue of the Journal of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology. The researchers are working with Kopin, which has licensed the patents from NC State. [ NSF press release, News item in Triangle Tech Journal, News item in EE Times Online ] |
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August 30, 2004 |
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and the OMB issued a memo outlining research priorities for 2006. It included this statement: "Priority will be given to research that aims to close significant gaps in the fundamental physical understanding of phenomena that promise significant new technologies with broad societal impact. High-temperature and organic superconductors, molecular electronics, wide band-gap and photonic materials, thin magnetic films, and quantum condensates are examples of novel atomic and molecular-level systems with such gaps where coherent control holds great potential." [ Item in SSTI Weekly Digest; OSTP memo ] |
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August 27, 2004 |
Toyoda Gosei has created two types of white LED lamps that it says are among the world's smallest to be powered by a high-charged current. The TG High Power True White II has a LED element with red, green and blue fluorescent materials, and produces close to natural light, suitable for showroom illumination. The TG High Power White II incorporates a blue LED and yellow fluorescent material, is extremely bright, and targets streetlight applications. Sales are slated to begin in April 2005. [Reported in Nikkei Business Daily - no URL available; Press release (in Japanese)] |
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August 26, 2004 |
The Missile Defense Agency (MDA) Technology Applications program offers a comprehensive report on its support of wide bandgap materials development, "Venturing Through the Forbidden Band: A Glance at MDA's Investment in Wide-Bandgap Technology (2004)." The report profiles companies and universities the MDA has funded, e.g., Cermet, Cree, Crystal IS, Emcore/GELcore, Nitronex, North Carolina State Univ., TDI International, and others. [ News item in CompoundSemi News Report ] |
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August 26, 2004 |
Daisuke Nakamura, Kazumasa Takatori and colleagues at Toyota Central R&D Laboratories and DENSO Corp. have developed a new method for growing SiC wafers, several centimeters in diameter, that reduces substrate defects in the material by 2 -3 orders of magnitude ("virtually dislocation free"). This work was reported in the Aug. 26 issue of Nature. The research has implications for widespread commercial application of SiC-based electronic devices. Nakamura's team made the breakthrough by employing "repeated a-face growth" (RAF). The process may be adapted for crystals or other "difficult" semiconductors such as gallium nitride. [ News item in Chemical & Engineering News; News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net, Nature "Highlights" item ] |
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August 25, 2004 - August 1, 2004 |
A 52-story, Manhattan skyscraper aims to be the first high-rise office building to achieve the U.S. Green Building Council's highest rating, making extensive use of energy-efficient systems, including LED lighting. The Bank of America's $1 billion new headquarters broke ground earlier this month and is set to open in 2008. It will showcase how clever design and technology can reduce pollution and operating costs while enhancing the health and productivity of its occupants. [ News item from the New York Times, USGBC press release ] |
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August 25, 2004 |
AXT announced plans to repurchase up to $2 million of its own stock, apparently as part of its continuing effort to move more of its operations to China. Repurchases will be made from time to time in the open market during the twelve-month period ending July 31, 2005, at prevailing market prices. As of June 30, 2004, AXT had 23.0 million shares of common stock outstanding. Repurchases will be made under the program using the company's own cash resources. [ Press release, news item at CompoundSemi News] |
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August 25, 2004 |
ASIP subsidiary ThreeFive Photonics (Netherlands) has secured a government contract worth $2.5 million to enable research, in collaboration with Eindhoven University, in the areas of advanced semiconductor nanostructures and photonic technology. Research efforts will focus on quantum dot active regions, high-aspect-ratio photonic band gap structures and advanced integrated device designs. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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August 25, 2004 |
Color Kinetics has received US patent 6,777,891 relating to a miniaturized, integrated, intelligent solid-state string light in which individual LED nodes can be independently controlled. [ Press release ] |
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August 23, 2004 |
Samsung released LCD monitors featuring 17-inch and 21-inch LED backlights, claiming that the larger device is only half the thickness of comparably-sized monitors, and that the 17-inch version has twice the brightness of competitive models. Color saturation is at ~92%. The products were among those Samsung exhibited at the co-located Asia Display '04 and the 4th International Meeting on Information Display held in Daegu, Korea. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net; Press release ] |
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August 25, 2004 |
Lumileds’ Luxeon® LEDs will be used to illuminate the world’s first LED backlight for LCD home TVs, which Sony says enables the TVs to deliver truer and richer colors. The Luxeon light source is integrated into Sony’s 40" and 46" QUALIA series televisions, which are scheduled to go on sale in Japan by the end of the year. [ Lumileds press release, news item at PC World, Sony press release ] |
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August 23, 2004 |
Nichia has revamped its website, which features its slogan, "Ever Researching for a Brighter World." [ News item at CompoundSemi News ] |
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August 23, 2004 |
Taiwan’s involvement in the solid state lighting industry is featured in an article in CompoundSemi News, "What's Happening in Taiwan?" Noted are key trends that have been observed, including “Taiwan's definite move up the value chain in terms of quality (and therefore, brightness); licensing agreements by The Big 5 starting to kick in; and that the anticipated ‘overcapacity issue’ which has often been predicted to kick in around Q-3 of 2004 appears to indeed be happening ... right on schedule.” [ The McDonald Report in CompoundSemi News ] |
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August 23, 2004 |
Dominant Semiconductors (Malaysia) has filed an unfair competition lawsuit against Osram in U.S. District Court in California. The complaint is based on allegations that Osram provided false and misleading correspondences to Dominant's customers and has falsely accused all of Dominant's product lines of infringing Osram patents. The suit follows a similar complaint filed by Osram against Dominant. [ News item at EE Times-Asia, Press release, news item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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August 19, 2004 |
Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology has applied for a patent for a strontium silicate-based phosphor with a europium activator, which was described in the "Patent Highlights" feature at Optics.org. The inventors say the yellow-emitting phosphor, which can be used in combination with a blue LED to produce white light, shows a wide emission spectrum and that the main peak can be altered by changing the concentration of europium. [ Item at Optics.org, WO2004/067677 ] |
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August 19, 2004 |
A University at Buffalo research team has invented a new way to synthesize quantum dots, allowing researchers to precisely control the size and luminescence wavelength of the ZnSe dots in one step. ZnSe quantum dots created by this technique have maintained their luminescent properties for more than a year. The patent-pending technique, developed by a team led by T.J. Mountziaris, enables precise control of particle size by using a microemulsion template formed by self-assembly, and was described in a recent issue of the journal Langmuir. [ News item at University of Buffalo Reporter, Press release ] |
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August 18, 2004 |
Lumileds’ Luxeon® Flash LEDs produce flash illumination on cell-phone cameras up to 12 times brighter than standard devices, allowing flash photography at distances of 1 to 2 meters, the company announced. The first camera phone with a Luxeon Flash was recently introduced in Europe and models are expected in the U.S. and Asia before the holiday season this year. [ Press release ] |
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August 18, 2004 |
A team of researchers at University of Twente and Utrecht University (Netherlands) has succeeded in controlling the pace of light emission via "lifetime-warp" in a photonic crystal, reported in the Aug. 5 issue of Nature. Speeding up light emission rates could lead to more efficient LEDs. [ News item at Optics.org, item at Physics.org, article in Nature ] |
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August 17, 2004 |
New analysis from Frost & Sullivan from “World Emerging LED Markets” -- the HB-LED market generated revenue of $2.6 billion in 2003 and is expected to reach $5.4 billion in 2007. [ Item from Business Wire, Report Table of Contents ] |
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August 17, 2004 |
Cree was featured in Business Week’s online "Focus Stock" section, which provides insight by Standard & Poor's Equity Research Services. The article includes a concise overview of the company, products, and product strategies. [ Article ] |
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August 17, 2004 - August 04, 2004 |
· Released the first world's first solar-powered, LED-based, self-contained, GPS-synchronized marine light - a three nautical mile navigation light that coordinates with GPS time signals to allow any number of units installed anywhere in the world to flash in perfect unison. [ Press release ] · Received a $1.1 million contract to supply solar-powered LED aviation lights for two air bases in the Middle East for the U.S. Marine Corps. Applications will include runway edge, threshold, taxiway and obstruction lighting. [ Press release ] |
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August 17, 2004 |
Cyberlux received U.S. Patent 6,752,515 for a broad range of emergency lighting technology using LEDs as the illumination source. [ Press release ] |
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August 17, 2004 |
Lumileds says its high-power Luxeon LEDs are bright enough to replace conventional bulbs on a one-for-one basis in rear vehicle lighting applications. Although LEDs are common in center high-mount stop lamps, Luxeon LEDs are the first LEDs with sufficient power to light all rear vehicle applications including turn signals, tail lights, brake lights, rear fog lamps and back-up lights, says the company. [ Press release ] |
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August 12, 2004 |
Agilent introduced a series of extra-bright white InGaN LEDs targeted for the electronic sign and signals market. The HLMP-CWxx circular-pattern and HLMP-FWxx flat-top extra-bright white LED lamps are available in 15-, 23-, 30-, 50-, 70- and 85-degree circular viewing angles. Product specs are available here. [ Press release ] |
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August 11, 2004 |
Color Kinetics announced the issuance of a US utility patent ( 6,774,584 ) relating to color-controllable pool and spa lighting systems. One aspect of this patent relates to controlling the lights based on a detectable condition which, for example, may be a user-controlled interface. Another potential application is an intelligent light that senses chlorine levels, temperature, or other variables within a pool or spa and displays particular colors in response. [ Press release ] |
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August 10, 2004 |
Cree plans a $300 million expansion of manufacturing and R&D operations near its Durham, N.C., headquarters. The expansion, to include the expected creation of 300 new jobs over the next five years, will begin this fall and is intended to position the company for growth in its LED chips, XLamp™ and power product lines. [ Press release ] |
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August 6, 2004 |
Asian HB-LED manufacturers are increasing production capacities as mainland China's central government launches national projects geared toward industry growth, according to an article in Global Sources. Both the new construction in Hong Kong, and the booming housing markets in Shanghai and Beijing are expected to bolster demand for HB-LEDs. [ News item ] |
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August 5, 2004 |
Lumileds has signed 10 European companies to its Luxeon Lighting Network, which offers LED luminaire manufacturer guidelines in order to encourage designers and architects to specify LED products for their projects. [ Press release ] |
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August 4, 2004 |
Aixtron (Germany) reported total revenues of €34.2 million ($41.2 million) for Q2 2004, a 35% increase compared to the previous quarter and a 53% increase from the same period last year. The MOCVD equipment supplier attributed the growth to increased demand from LED manufacturers in Asia. [ Press release, news item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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August 2004 |
The Electroluminescence Conference 2004, set for Sept. 20 – 23, 2004, in Toronto includes sessions on LED-based lighting systems, covering wide-bandgap pn-junction devices, high-power pn-junction devices and new substrates and growth processes for wide-bandgap semiconductors. Phosphors, and inorganic and organic EL are among the other topics included in this conference. [ Conference info, program, invited speakers ] |
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August 2004 |
Quantum dots and GaN-based materials and devices were featured in the ICMOVPE-XII conference held in Hawaii and reported in a recap published in Compound Semiconductor. George Craford, chief technology officer at Lumileds, gave an opening talk on the role of MOVPE in solid-state lighting. UV LED developments by Cree and University of Cambridge are covered, as well as improvements in quantum dot lasers, solar-cell production issues, and “exotic structures,” such as the work from Sandia National Labs’ George Wang on AlGaInN nanowires. [ Feature article ] |
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August 6, 2004 |
DOE has funded 11 solid-state lighting research projects for a total of roughly $20 million. The projects are listed below. These awards have been summarized in an
article at CompoundSemiconductor.net, and detailed in two DOE announcements [
SSL Core Technologies FOA and
National Lab Call for Core Technologies ].
·
Boston University -- Low-cost Blue/UV LEDs with Very High Photon Conversion and Extraction Efficiency for White Lighting
·
Cabot Superior MicroPowders -- Development of Advanced LED Phosphors by Spray-based Processes for Solid State Lighting Applications
·
Universal Display Corporation -- Novel Low Cost Organic Vapor Jet Printing of Striped High Efficiency Phosphorescent OLEDs for White Lighting
·
University of California, San Diego -- Development of White-Light Emitting Active Layers in Nitride-Based p-n Heterostructures for Phosphorless Solid State Lighting
·
University of California, Santa Barbara -- Title: Surface Plasmon Enhanced Phosphorescent Organic Light Emitting Diodes
·
University of Florida -- ZnO PN junctions for highly-efficient, low cost light emitting diodes
·
University of Southern California -- Novel Materials for High-Efficiency White Phosphorescent OLEDs NATIONAL LABS:
·
Los Alamos National Laboratory -- Material and Device Designs for Practical Organic Lighting;
·
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory -- Novel Organic Molecules for High Efficiency Blue Organic ElectroLuminescence;
·
Sandia National Laboratories -- Ultrahigh-Efficiency Microcavity Photonic Crystal LEDs;
·
Sandia National Laboratories -- Improved InGaN Epitaxy Yield by Precise Temperature Measurement; |
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August 5, 2004 |
Nichia will collaborate with the Taiwanese LED component manufacturer Opto Tech in the production of InGaN material for LEDs. The move is part of Nichia’s plan to secure the LED supply chain. [ Nichia press release, item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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August 4, 2004 |
DOE’s EERE has supplied a summary of recent LED traffic light retrofit projects, including those in Syracuse, NY (299 intersections), Dallas (1,100 intersections), Arlington, TX (243 intersections) and Elk Grove, CA (70 intersections). [ Article in EERE Network News ] |
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August 4, 2004 |
INTRINSIC Semiconductor will acquire Bandgap Technologies, a defense contractor and manufacturer of SiC wafer products, with the intention of increasing its production capacity to serve the SiC and GaN markets, as well as improving upon INTRINSIC’s "distinct intellectual property position," says the company. [ INTRINSIC press release ] |
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August 4, 2004 |
Sharp will introduce a solar-powered, LED-based street lamp and illumination panel to the Japanese market by the end of this year. The street lamp uses a polycrystalline solar cell and ten 1 W LEDs, producing an illumination intensity of 18 lux. The illumination panel uses white LEDs and a new crystalline thin film tandem solar cell with a claimed conversion efficiency of 7.3%, 1.5 times higher than the conventional amorphous silicon cell. [ Article at Optics.org, Press release ] |
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August 2, 2004 |
Compound Semi Online introduced its new website, SolidStateLighting.Net, with industry-wide news, information and resources, and the online newspaper, LIGHTimes Online ( www.LIGHTimes.com ). The sites will focus on the solid-state lighting industry as distinct from the compound semiconductor industry, and it will provide information of interest to integrators and Lighting Designers. [ News item in CompoundSemi News ] |
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August 1, 2004 |
Some 96% of patent fees that Japan’s national universities earned in fiscal year 2003 (410 of 427 million yen) came from inventions related to blue LEDs developed by Professor Emeritus Isamu Akasaki of Nagoya University, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. [ See article in Mainichi Daily News, "Majority of university patent fees related to LED inventions" ] |
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(These links are not maintained) |
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July 28, 2004 |
A team from UC-Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, led by Peidong Yang, has been able to control the direction in which GaN nanowire grows, which is critical to determining the wire’s electrical and thermal conductivity, among other properties. Research results appeared in Nature Materials. [ Press release ] |
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July 28, 2004 |
Unity Opto Technology of Taiwan plans to increase its monthly white LED capacity to 30 million units in September, up from 10 million units now. The company also intends to offer white LEDs for backlights used in 17-inch displays in September. [ News item from GlobalSources.com ] |
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July 28, 2004 |
The Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners approved an additional $150K expenditure for the Vincent Thomas Bridge Lighting project (the total project budget is $774K). The 1.1-mile-long bridge will be illuminated by 160 blue LED lamps, each made up of 360 LEDs and powered by solar panels. Installation of the lights is scheduled to begin in August. [ Press release ] |
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July 27, 2004 |
Cree announced that its 7090 series XLamp™, a high-power LED designed to provide an alternative to conventional sources for general illumination, is now available in production quantities. The 7090 series uses a high-power surface mount package, designed to operate at 1 Watt with a typical operating current of 350 mA. It has a footprint of 7 x 9 mm, with an efficacy in the 25 – 30 lm/W range. The product is available in red, blue, green, and white. [ Press release, article at CompoundSemi News ] |
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July 27, 2004 |
DOE’s NREL held a groundbreaking ceremony for its Science &Technology Facility in Golden, CO. The facility is designed to increase collaboration among researchers and speed the time it takes for new technologies to move from the lab to commercial manufacturing. The research focus will be on thin-film photovoltaic devices, but it will also enable the expansion of research capabilities in hydrogen, solid-state lighting, superconductivity, electrochromic windows, and nanotechnologies. Construction of this 71,000 square foot facility is expected be completed in 2006. [ Press release, item at SolarAccess.com ] |
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July 27, 2004 |
The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT) plans to spend more than $20 million on a 5-year, HB-LED medical equipment program. It has allocated ¥500M (~$4.6M) in 2004 to establish the Yamaguchi-Ube Medical Innovation Centre (YuMIC), with similar amounts expected to be allocated in each of the subsequent years. The center will develop non-invasive medical diagnostic and therapeutic equipment using InGaN-based white LED technology developed in part by Tsunemasa Taguchi of Yamaguchi University, the research director for the YuMIC project. YuMIC also hopes to use white HB-LEDs to develop interior lighting for medical applications, and to create disinfectant and deodorant facilities and equipment. [ News item from CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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July 27, 2004 |
Cree reported record-high revenues and earnings for its fourth quarter and for FY04. In the fiscal year ending June 27, 2004, Cree earned revenues of roughly $306.9M, an increase of 34% over revenues from the previous fiscal year. [ More detail in company press release; see also news item and commentary from CompoundSemi News ] |
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July 23, 2004 |
Jiangxi Lianchuang Optoelectronic Science and Technology, one of four national semiconductor lighting bases in China, aims to build a complete LED industrial chain covering epitaxial wafer, chip manufacture and packaging. The company has founded production bases in Nanchang, Ji'an and in Xiamen, Fujian Province, according to Asia Pulse. The company is teaming up with Japanese partners in developing new LED epitaxial materials and LED lights, and with a domestic university in developing LED automobile lights. [ News item at Solid State Technology ] |
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July 21, 2004 |
A new type of reflector that significantly increases LED luminance has been developed at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. The research team, headed by Fred Schubert, says its omni-directional reflector reflects light at nearly 100%, supplying up to twice as much light as previous designs and potentially allowing LED lighting to challenge conventional light bulbs. Research on the new reflector was published in Applied Physics Letters (May 31, 2004) [ abstract ] and IEEE’s Electron Device Letters (November 2003) [ abstract ]. [ Press release ] |
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July 21, 2004 |
Toyoda Gosei has become a co-patent holder of a white LED patent jointly owned by Tridonic Optoelectronics GmbH (Austria), Leuchtstoffwerk Breitungen GmbH and Litec GbR (both of Germany), with which Toyoda Gosei has been working as a licensee. The patent, for a blue LED/new yellow phosphor combination, has US equivalents in the application stage. [ European patent WO02/054502, TG press release, article in CompoundSemi News ] |
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July 21, 2004 |
France’s Riber and Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique have jointly set up a Process Technology Center for the development of GaN-based HEMTs, HFETs, LEDs and blue laser diodes. The center is located near Nice, France. [ Riber press release ] |
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July 21, 2004 |
Intertech announced the program agenda for "Light Emitting Diodes 2004", its 5th annual LED conference, set for Oct. 20-22 in San Diego. Conference sessions cover industry market overviews, technology processes and materials, LEDs and emerging technologies, lighting system needs and solutions, and communicating with LEDs -- projection devices and signs. [ Conference agenda ] |
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July 21, 2004 |
AXT plans to move the 20% of its product line still being produced in the U.S. to China, so that by Q1 2005, 100% of its substrate lines will come from China. The company plans to sell or lease its Fremont, Calif. facility. [ Item in CompoundSemi News, transcript of conference call ] |
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July 21, 2004 |
Commercial sub-nanosecond pulsed UV-LEDs are now available from Jobin Yvon IBH, UK, which claims the LEDs emit 800 picosecond pulses at 280 and 340 nm, making them ideal for a range of biological applications based on time-resolved fluorescence. [ News item from Optics.org ] |
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July 19, 2004 |
Picogiga’s sales of compound semiconductor substrates, including GaN-on-silicon wafers, rose by 93% year-on-year to reach €1.6 million - more than the subsidiary's total sales in the entire first half of the previous fiscal year. Picogiga is a subsidiary of Soitec (France). [ Item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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July 19, 2004 |
Cyberlux, a North Carolina based developer of white LED lighting systems using GaN LEDs, will acquire Massachusetts-based TrueToForm Ltd., a specialty lighting manufacturer with customers that include hotels, casinos and restaurant chains. Cyberlux was founded in 2000 and produces emergency lighting augmentation and home safety light products. [ Press release ] |
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July 16, 2004 |
Nitronex is now selling GaN-on-silicon epitaxial wafers. The company says that using large-area, 100mm, silicon substrates "provides the economic benefits of large wafer scaling, as well as cheaper wafer procurement costs in comparison to other substrates." [ Press release, product detail ] |
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July 15, 2004 |
An LED-based fishing lure patent application was submitted by U.S. inventor Peter Lindgren, who says that using two different colored LEDs greatly enhances the fish catch. The lure emits flashes of light from blue, green, blue-green, or white LEDs. [ News item from Optics.org; patent number WO 2004/057948 ] |
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July 5, 2004 |
Strategies Unlimited and Adams Harkness present the HB LEDs industry investor conference, "Bright Ideas 2004" to be held on November 16, 2004 in Boston, MA. This one-day event will update the investment community on the growth potential, business outlook, and investment opportunities offered by the HB-LEDs industry. [ Conference info ] |
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July 2004 |
Doru Florescu of Veeco describes GaN-based LED layer optimization using atomic force microscopy (AFM) in a feature in Compound Semiconductor magazine. According to the article, AFM shows promising results in characterizing and helping to optimize GaN-based layers grown by MOCVD. "In conjunction with finely tuned process parameters, AFM helps to significantly reduce surface defects, and ultimately contributes to brighter and more efficient devices." [ Feature article ] |
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July 2004 |
CrysTec (Germany) announced the availability of 2-inch wafers of two of the most promising candidates for the production of free-standing GaN, adding NdGaO3 (011), NdGaO3 (101) and LiAlO2 (100) to its substrate product program for nitride films. [ News item in CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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July 15, 2004 |
Agilent and Lumileds will collaborate on a new series of mid-power range LEDs and target the automotive, mobile phone and lighting markets. Lumileds will provide high-brightness LED chips and technology, and Agilent will contribute design, development and system integration expertise, including its patented manufacturing techniques. The first products from the collaboration are expected to be available in Q4 of 2004. They will be sold by Agilent, distributed by Future Electronics and use LED chips from Lumileds. [ Press release ] |
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July 15, 2004 |
The Lighting Research Center’s next “LED Lighting Institute” is being held September 22-24, 2004. This three-day, hands-on workshop is for those interested in gaining more knowledge of solid-state lighting and LEDs. [ Announcement ] |
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July 15, 2004 |
N. Narendran and Jean Paul Freyssinier of the Lighting Research Center reported at LED Expo 2004: “Even if light-emitting diodes can demonstrate long life, poor construction and misguided application of LED systems can lead to short operating life, consumer dissatisfaction and dismissal of the technology …The LED industry has significantly improved the technology to make it useful for illumination applications, but now the industry needs to look at system life and methods of life prediction. These factors ultimately will impact consumer confidence and acceptance of the technology.” [ LRC News item ] |
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July 14, 2004 |
CompoundSemi News has provided an update on GELcore, “What’s New at GELcore?” that covers the company’s activities in the European market and their introduction of the GE Tetra LED system, including white lighting, aimed at signage applications. [ News item ] |
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July 12, 2004 |
Aixtron is collaborating with researchers in Belarus, Russia, to develop silicon-based LED technology targeted at solid-state lighting. The three-year project is aimed at , improving LED performance, and exploring silicon as a low cost alternative to the more expensive sapphire or SiC substrates. The project is funded by the International Science & Technology Center in Russia. [ Press release ] |
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July 12, 2004 |
Lumileds announced the settlement of the pending litigation with Epistar related to Lumileds’ US patent 5,008,718. The parties have agreed to dismiss all claims and counterclaims in the lawsuit. As part of the settlement, Lumileds has granted Epistar a limited license to practice several patents in the field of absorbing-substrate AlInGaP LEDs. [ Press release ] |
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July 9, 2004 |
Sandia National Laboratories has won R&D Magazine’s “R&D 100” award for cantilever epitaxy, a process of growing gallium nitride on an etched sapphire substrate, which promises to make brighter green, blue, and white LEDs. [ Press release ] |
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July 8, 2004 |
US start-up, Quintessence Photonics Corporation (QPC) in California, claims to have developed 2D surface-emitting diode arrays that are made from a single piece of semiconductor. The surface-emitting prototype promises cheaper, more powerful laser-diode arrays. When making the wafer of edge-emitting laser diodes, QPC uses a method that etches a series of 45° mirrors next to the diodes to reflect light out of the surface of the wafer. As a result, 2D arrays of laser diodes can be made from a single piece of semiconductor without the need for cleaving the wafer into a series of discrete bars. [ Item at Optics.org ] |
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July 7, 2004 |
Aixtron and Lumileds have signed a long-term purchase order for a “significant number” of AIXTRON Planetary Reactors® for Lumileds’ Luxeon products. Lumileds is anticipating an epi system capacity ramp-up in the next four years. [ Aixtron press release ] |
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July 7, 2004 |
Dionics announced that it is currently beginning to market its recently developed LED-based "Silicon Light-Chip." The Chip, assembled with red, green and blue LEDs, offers a higher-efficiency design for the generation of both white and multi-colored light, according to the company. Dionics has applied for a patent and says that its design helps to both extend the operating life of the LEDs and to retain their peak light output for longer durations. [ Press release at Planet Analog, spec sheet ] |
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July 2, 2004 |
Aixtron and Genus, Inc. (a supplier of atomic layer deposition technology) are planning to merge to create “a world leading supplier of nano deposition technology to the semiconductor industry.” [ Press release ] |
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July 1, 2004 |
Arima Optoelectronics (Taiwan) is predicting an increase in production this year, according to Digitimes. Arima has expanded capacity at its Hsinchu plant, acquired in the merger with Kingmax Optoelectronics. It also aims to ship high-luminance blue LEDs in the third quarter and plans to install extra MOCVD capacity, leading to a monthly production of 100 million units by year-end. The company also hopes to increase its laser diode production. [ Item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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July 1, 2004 |
DOE has selected a proposal from the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance (NGLIA) in response to the DOE’s solicitation for a “Solid State Lighting Partnership.” DOE anticipates signing a Memorandum of Agreement with NGLIA after negotiations are completed. [ Announcement, NGLIA informational brochures ] |
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July 2004 |
GaN substrates are manufactured by only a handful of companies at prices prohibitive to volume production, but offer great potential for high-performance devices, according to an article in Compound Semiconductor magazine, “GaN substrates offer high performance at a price,” written by Richard Stevenson. Activities by Cree, Kyma Technologies, TopGaN, and TDI are discussed. [ Article ] |
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July 2004 |
Opto & Laser Europe magazine has featured Taiwan in the articles, “Taiwan: powerhouse of photonics” and “Tiger economy enters a period of transition,” which has an interview with Peter Shih, founder of PIDA. |
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(These links are not maintained) |
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June 25, 2004 |
People’s Daily reports that China plans to invest 15 million yuan initially in Xiamen City as part of its efforts to develop the semiconductor lighting sector. This base is expected to boost industrial growth through increased cooperation with Taiwan. [ Article ] |
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June 24, 2004 |
According to an article at Nikkei Electronics Asia, Nichia has announced prototypes of two new white LEDs that are 1.7 times brighter than its conventional products. The luminous efficiency of these white LEDs depends on the package structure, and the company claims that it has achieved a maximum luminous efficiency of 50 lm/w. Nichia plans to ship the LEDs in quantity around the summer of 2004. The small white LED (260 square microns) is aimed at backlighting for cell phones. It operates at a typical efficacy of 40+ lm/W. A large (1mm square) white LED is aimed at portable lighting applications and has a luminous efficacy of 35 lm/W. Nichia also has demonstrated prototypes of 19-inch and 9-inch LCD panels using white LEDs for backlighting. [ Article ] |
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June 22, 2004 |
The U.S. Display Consortium (USDC) has awarded a R&D contract to Lumileds to develop LED-based illuminators for projection display applications. The $2-million project will be cost-shared equally between the USDC and Lumileds. The goal of the project is to create a compact LED illuminator for development of a projection system with a longer lifetime and better color rendition. [ Item at Laser Focus World ] |
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June 22, 2004 |
Aixtron is being funded by the German government for a joint project to establish an R&D training center in China for optical technologies. Tsinghua University (Beijing), RWTH Aachen University of Technology, and Hong Kong University will also participate. The program encompasses the advancement of R&D, and training in the field of compound semiconductors for optoelectronic applications. [ Press release ] |
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June 22, 2004 |
A wireless nanodevice that functions like a fluorescent light — but potentially far more efficiently — has been developed in a joint project between the LANL and Sandia National Laboratories. The experimental success, reported in the June 10 issue of Nature, efficiently causes nanocrystals to emit light when placed on top of a nearby energy source, eliminating the need to put wires directly on the nanocrystals. [ Press release ] |
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June 22, 2004 |
Asia Pulse reports that Seiwa Electric Mfg. Co. has created a new type of white LED that provides a more natural kind of white light by coating a blue LED with red and green phosphors. Seiwa will ship samples starting July 1 and plans to begin volume production in August. The LEDs generate brightness of 1-5 cd on a 20 milliamp current and are targeted at backlighting, dashboard illumination, and interior illumination. [Asia Pulse, no URL available] |
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June 21, 2004 |
Nichia filed a request for preliminary injunction order against E&E Japan Co., Ltd. (formerly Epistar Japan and Everlight Japan) with the Tokyo District Court. Nichia believes that the white LEDs (model numbers 99-215UWC/TR8 and 67-21UWC/ S400-A4/TR8) handled by E&E JAPAN infringe on Nichia's white LED patent, JP No 2927279, related to white LED technology. [ Press release ] |
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June 21, 2004 |
Opto Tech plans to expand LED and OLED capacity this year, expecting monthly capacity to reach 20,000 substrates in 2005 from the current 5,000 substrates. [ Item at globalsources.com ] |
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June 20, 2004 |
A group of students and their physics teacher, Jacques Duranceau, from Arlington High School (Arlington, Mass) have devised a prototype of an automatic pedestrian crossing, which uses flashing LEDs embedded in a road surface and a pressure-sensitive pad on the adjoining sidewalk to activate the lights. [ Article in The Boston Globe ] |
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June 18, 2004 |
A patent application by Sandia National Laboratories, WO 2004/ 049764 "Photonic crystal light source," was featured in the “Patent Highlights” column at Optics.org. The application relates to a photonic crystal light source based on its characteristic stacked-log lattice structure. [ Item ] |
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June 17, 2004 |
Stanley Electric’s UVGB1306L surface-mount LEDs feature three high-luminous red, green and blue dies. According to the company, the chip LEDs can simultaneously emit the three colors at 2.5 times the current ratings of conventional models. [ Item at EE Times Asia ] |
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June 17, 2004 |
Procomp Informatics (Taiwan) is seeking bankruptcy protection, according to the Taipei Times. The company is involved in a number of joint ventures, one of which is Supra Opto, a partnership with Sumitomo Electric to commercialize ZnSe white LEDs. [ Item at Compoundsemiconductor.net, CompoundSemi News article ] |
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June 17, 2004 |
Evident Technologies has received funds from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), in a joint effort with the Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer, to develop a white LED-based lighting system using quantum dots. [ Press release ] |
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June 16, 2004 |
Salon.com featured solid-state lighting in its article "Saving the World by Building a Better Light Bulb." Mentioned or described in the article is work by Sandia National Laboratories and Lumileds; as well as DOE’s program, "Lighting For Tomorrow," and PNNL’s BetterBulbsDirect.com, both of which promote the use of more efficient (CFL) lighting products. [ Article at Salon.com, requires free registration ] |
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June 15, 2004 |
Toyoda Gosei announced that all of its business activities will be united under one common "Toyoda Gosei" brand identity in celebration of its 55th anniversary. Regional headquarters in the U.S.A. and Europe will change their official company names from "TG" to “Toyoda Gosei” in August 2004. [ Press release ] |
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June 14, 2004 |
Work from University of Florida researchers, published in a recent paper in Nano Letters, has shown that thin sheets of carbon nanotubes are effective transmitters of electricity into LEDs. Their experiments showed the nanotube films had about one-third of the resistance of the industry standard metals in getting the current where it is needed. With such improvements, LEDs "will produce more light with significantly less power consumption, which also increases their useful lives." [ Press release ] |
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June 11, 2004 |
Under DARPA's Super-High Efficiency Diode Sources (SHEDs) program, Alfalight has made a laser diode with a peak wallplug efficiency of 65%. Producing 3W of optical output at around 970nm, the company obtained this efficiency by improving the internal injection efficiency through strain adjustments to the quantum well barriers, as well as modifying the doping profile of the laser's separate confinement heterostructure layer. [ Item at Compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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June 11, 2004 |
Nichia reports that it has recently filed a lawsuit against a Taiwanese company and a South Korean company that has been doing business with the Taiwanese company in South Korea. Nichia believes the companies have been conducting activities infringing on Nichia's patent related to a technology that induces vapor growth of GaN-based semiconductor used in manufacturing LEDs. [ Nichia announcement ] |
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June 10, 2004 |
UC scientists working at LANL with a colleague from SNL, have developed a new method for exciting light emission from nanocrystal quantum dots. The discovery provides a way to supply energy to quantum dots without wires, and paves the way for a potentially wider use of tunable nanocrystalline materials in a variety of technologies, including solid-state lighting and electrically-pumped nanoscale lasers. [ Press release, results published in a paper in Nature, June 10, 2004 ] |
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June 2004 |
Compound Semiconductor magazine featured a number of articles of interest: · "Korean Manufacturers Focus on White LEDs": Because of falling blue LED prices, Korean companies are now focusing more on applications of white HB-LEDs in phone backlighting and camera flash units, as well as outdoor billboards and illumination. Samsung Electric, Seoul Semiconductor, LG Innotek, Lasemtech, Photron, and EST are among the companies discussed in this article. Some additional points: Ø Seoul Semiconductor has "thrown down the gauntlet to industry-leading companies such as US-based Lumileds." Seoul Semi claims to have HB-LEDs with 150 lm brightness, a 25+% improvement on Lumileds' devices. Ø EST wants to widen its market share by replacing incandescent and fluorescent lamps with LEDs. It plans to set up an offshore factory in China in the next year. Ø Korean manufacturers have started to target the local automotive market. Ø The article includes a table on LED chip and epiwafer manufacturing in Taiwan, Korea, and China. · "Samsung and Toyoda Gosei Unveil Progress in Violet Lasers" describes work reported at ISBLLED-5, held in Korea in March. Samsung and Toyoda Gosei are improving 405 nm laser diodes, targeted at optical data storage. Some of the other interesting points in this article:
Ø Among the topics highlighted at the symposium: Ø T. Nakamura from Sumitomo Electric (the electronic devices division of which is now part of the Eudyna Devices, a joint venture with Fujitsu Quantum Devices ) presented recent results on increasing the operating lifetime of ZnSe-based white LEDs from 3,000 to 10,000 h (at 25 ºC). For 5 mm LEDs, lamp power of 8.1 mW was demonstrated at 20 mA and 2.5 V, corresponding to an external quantum efficiency of 16.9%. Ø UV LED and laser improvements were described by presenters from Sensor Electronic Technology, University of South Carolina, and Nichia. · "Compound semiconductor devices offer new driving experiences" features a discussion of LEDs in automotive applications. · "Taiwanese companies ramp up MOCVD capacity" is an article that includes discussion of Taiwan’s III-V industry revenues and its R&D consortium for next generation lighting. Also included are a table of Taiwan LED manufacturers and a table of III-V industry revenues. |
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June 9, 2004 |
Osram Opto's Golden Dragon LEDs are used in headlights in Ford’s "Australian" concept car at the Auto China Motor Show 2004. [ Press release, Item in CompoundSemi News ] |
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June 8-9, 2004 |
OSRAM Opto has filed a complaint against Dominant Semiconductors (a Malaysian manufacturer of LEDS) with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC). The complaint alleges that Dominant infringes upon nine of Osram's LED technology patents. [ Business Wire item ] CompoundSemi News provided an update on this story, revealing that the ITC had decided to start an investigation of this matter, and that two additional companies are under investigation -- American Microsemiconductor Inc. (NJ) and American Opto Plus Inc.(CA), both headquartered in the US. [ News story ] |
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June 8, 2004 |
Arima Optoelectronics has recently completed the development of high brightness blue LEDs for handset backlight modules, and will start volume production in mid-June. [ Article in Digitimes ] |
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June 8/June 3, 2004 |
Taiwan LED Production: Taiwan-based LED makers Arima Optoelectronics and Tyntek are ramping up AlGaInP LED manufacturing capacity in an effort to compete with Epistar and United Epitaxy Company, according to a report from DigiTimes. [ Item at Compoundsemiconductor.net ] Epistar also announced that it will spend more than $212 million to boost its production of 4-element and nitride-based LEDs. [ Item at EE Times Asia ] |
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June 7, 2004 |
Nichia reports that it is actively licensing intellectual property, and is "exploring the possibilities of alliances with certain Taiwanese manufacturers, including licensing our technologies." [ Nichia announcement, see also editorial in CompoundSemi News ] |
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June 4/May 27, 2004 |
Toyoda Gosei plans to invest $140 million in the construction of a second factory for manufacturing GaN-based LEDs. Also, Nichia plans to double LED production capacity at its Tatsumi manufacturing site. While Nichia currently has a 70% share of the global market for LEDs, it believes by increasing production it can be more competitive and increase its share of lower-end markets. [TG item and Nichia item at Compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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June 4, 2004 |
The Fox Group, a start-up LED manufacturer in Ripon, California, is manufacturing blue AlGaN/GaN-based LEDs by using an HVPE production method. The company shipped its first order of 460 nm FoxBlue™ LEDs in May. While the LEDs are not high brightness, the HVPE process is intrinsically low cost, it is protected by a strong patent portfolio, and the LEDs have extremely good color consistency, according to the company. The HVPE method was developed by Technologies and Devices International (TDI). Fox has exclusive licenses to use TDI’s patents, and has moved the technology from an R&D stage to a fully-automated, reproducible manufacturing process. [ Item at Compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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June 3, 2004 |
Nichia America has filed a lawsuit against Sharper Image, claiming infringement of a patent relating to white LEDs. Nichia has also successfully persuaded two other companies (one is US-based Optronics) to start using Nichia’s white LEDs in place of devices made by Nichia’s rivals in Taiwan. [ Item at Compoundsemiconductor.net, Nichia announcement ] |
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June 3, 2004 |
The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has brightened one of the city’s busiest pedestrian throughways, Strawberry Way, in an enhancement project that includes artistic lighting displays and illuminated signage. Red LED lighting is included in the lighting enhancements. [ Press release ] |
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June 2, 2004 |
Nichia is profiled in the McDonald Report (see "Catching up with Nichia") in CompoundSemi News. Sales, profitability, LED prices, and litigation are described in this report. |
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June 1, 2004 |
The Phoenix Group Corporation (Delaware) announced the acquisition of Lighting Science, Inc. (Las Vegas, NV) a designer of a new generation LED light bulbs. Lighting Science is preparing to introduce products for both commercial and residential applications in late 2004. [ Press release ] |
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June 1, 2004 |
Dialight Corporation offers its 586 series of wedge based LEDs for illuminating switches, panel indicators and reels in gaming equipment. Mounting directly into industry standard sockets, the new units are designed to replace many subminiature and miniature incandescent lamps. The products use AlInGap and InGaN technology in a multi-LED design and are available in white, warm white, red, green, amber, and blue. [ Press release ] |
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May 28, 2004 |
Optics.org reports in its "Patent Highlights" column that Sanken Electric (Japan) has applied for WO 2004/042832, "Semiconductor light-emitting device and method for manufacturing the same", which is related to a LED based on a low-resistance silicon substrate. Improved emission characteristics are claimed. [ Item ] |
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May 2004 |
The Asian Technology Information Program (ATIP) released a report, "Chinese LED R&D and Industry" in May. [ Report overview, China report index ] |
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May 27, 2004 |
Advanced Analogic Technologies (AnalogicTech) announced a new generation of high efficiency charge pumps for white LED applications. Designed to maximize power efficiency in battery-powered portable designs, the AAT3140 and AAT3141 charge pumps combine a loadswitch (1X) with fractional (1.5X) and doubling (2X) conversion to support LEDs with a wide range of forward voltages. [ Press release at Yahoo Finance ] |
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May 26, 2004 |
Permlight introduced the Enbryten Portrait series of LED luminaires for general illumination applications. The luminaires are designed to mount to conventional electrical junction boxes, and contain an integrated, self-contained, constant current LED driver. The products are designed for low-location emergency, floor, egress, stairwell, or boat and RV lighting. [ Press release, picture and specifications ] |
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May 26, 2004 |
The International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York included displays using LEDs. Draped around an entrance was Divvali's Lume, “a giant cozy quilt-like wall hanging embedded with hundreds of glowing LEDs … that resembled a blanket of snow lying atop strings of fairy lights." Also on display was Element Labs' Versa Tile, a LED video display technology used to create dynamically changing colored walls. [ Article in Globe and Mail ] |
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May 24, 2004 |
Nichia announced that an (unnamed) Japanese-affiliated company in Taiwan has agreed to cease manufacturing activities involving white LEDs made in Taiwan. Nichia claims the Taiwanese white LEDs infringe on Nichia’s patents. The Japanese-affiliated company has agreed to begin using Nichia white LEDs in its products. [ Press release ] |
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May 20, 2004 |
DOE has issued the "Solid State Lighting Product Development" funding opportunity, which is focused on four areas of solid state lighting product development: 1) LED Luminaire Design and Materials, 2) High Efficiency, Reliable, Intelligent Electronics for LEDs, 3) OLED Luminaire Design and Materials, and 4) High Efficiency, Reliable, Intelligent Electronics for OLEDs. Total funding available is $8 million and 4 awards are expected. The application deadline is July 8, 2004 |
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May 20, 2004 |
Osram Opto Semiconductors has provided LED lighting for five stainless-steel “UFOs" hovering in the air in the Sheik Rashid Terminal at Dubai International Airport (United Arab Emirates). The 20-foot wide, nearly 2-ton spaceships are suspended by cables from the terminal’s ceiling. Each spaceship is outfitted with more than 8,500 LED modules and special optics. [ Press release, Article in Photonics.com ] |
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May 18, 2004 |
Sumitomo agreed to purchase $160 million in LEDs from Cree during its fiscal year ending June 2005. Sumitomo’s purchases anticipated to cover Cree’s full line of standard brightness, mid-brightness and high brightness LED devices, including MegaBright®, XBright® and Xthin ™ LEDs. The two parties also extended their distributorship agreement through the end of Cree’s FY 2007. [ Press release ] |
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May 17, 2004 |
Supertex introduced the “industry’s first" universal HB-LED driver integrated circuit (the HV9910), which boasts over 93% efficiency. Supertex claims the device has a lower parts count and lower cost than comparable solutions currently on the market. HV9910 is designed specifically to drive HB LEDs from an off-line voltage source and is applicable for use in LED general and decorative lighting, LED signs replacing neon signs, and other high voltage AC and DC input-based applications. [ Press release at Yahoo Finance, product information ] |
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May 12, 2004 |
Lumileds announced plans to open a new plant in Malaysia this summer in an effort to triple its Luxeon LED production capacity. The facility will produce the full Luxeon product line, including the first volume production of Luxeon warm white LEDs. [ Press release, Article in CompoundSemi News ] |
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May 11, 2004 |
At the Blue 2004 conference in Taiwan, Cree announced it had recently demonstrated 57 lm/watt of white light from a XB900 class power LED chip operating at 350 mA. Under 1 amp of drive current, the same chip emitted 142 lumens. [ Article in CompoundSemi News, Press release ] |
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May 11, 2004 |
DARPA’s SUVOS research: In an extensive article reviewing this program, Compound Semiconductor reports that Phase II participants have succeeded in making 275nm LEDs with output powers in the milliwatt range under DC conditions, have demonstrated UV biosensor and communication systems, and have developed lasers operating below 350 nm. Program manager John Carrano has called the results to date “wildly successful" and says that DARPA is “now intending to expand the goals of the program to get all the way down to 265 nm LEDs." [Article in Compound Semiconductor ( page 1, page 2) ] |
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May 10, 2004 |
Color Kinetics signed an OEM agreement with Main Light, allowing Main Light to incorporate Color Kinetics technology in its Soft-LED LED-based drapery for entertainment applications. The Soft-LED drapery is composed of programmable points of light that can be used as dynamic backdrops at a variety of venues. Main Light will use the Color Kinetics LED control technology to allow for precise control of individual tri-color LED nodes. [ Press release ] |
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May 10, 2004 |
Agilent Technologies debuted a line of extra-bright InGaN LEDs targeted for the outdoor electronic sign and signals market. The LEDs have brightness ranging fromfrom 0.31 - 27 cd on 20 mA forward current (depending on color and model), and are available in blue (470 nm), green (521 nm) and cyan (505 nm). [ Press release, Data sheets ( HLMP-Cxxx, HLMP-Hxxx) ] |
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May 10, 2004 |
BivarOpto has introduced the SMPT RGB Series of surface mounted LEDs designed exclusively for use with the company’s Flexible Light Pipes. The product eliminates the need for through-hole PCBs typically required for light pipe installation. Each SMPT RGB module can be used as an individual full color pixel in either fixed or moving messages in a display ranging in length from 2.5" to 328 ft (100 m). [ Press release ] |
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May 6, 2004 |
Cree announced the XT-21, the newest product in their Xthin™ line. This 460 nm blue-spectrum device features a brightness of 21 mW minimum. The product is targeted for white light applications, including LCD backlighting for mobile phones and digital camera flashes. [ Article in CompoundSemi News, Press release ] |
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May 4, 2004 |
Cree introduced two new versions of its green LED product line, including the XT-290™ LED (527nm version with a typical radiant flux of 9mW at 20mA and a typical forward voltage of 3.2V) and the XB-900™ LED (the 527nm version has a typical radiant flux of 30mW at 350mA, and the 505nm version has a typical radiant flux of 45mW at 350mA). Key uses for these products are white light applications using RGB technologies, traffic signals, and signage. [ Press release ] |
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May 3, 2004 |
Osram Sylvania recently announced plans to donate LED technology to the Atlantic Avenue Local Development Corporation (LDC) for "Lighting the Boulevard," a doorway lighting project developed for Atlantic Avenue in downtown Brooklyn. The technology will illuminate 150 residential and commercial doorways. Lighting artist Leni Schwendinger has been retained by the LDC to conceptualize, design and manage the program. [ Press release ] |
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April 27, 2004 |
Osram says that it has made a red surface-emitting LED with a high luminance -- 100 lm/W -- thought to be a record for the 618 nm emission wavelength. The LED emits more than 12 lm through a 300x300 µm surface at a 70 mA drive current and uses Osram’s thin-film technology. The company also noted that InGaN-based blue- and white-emitting devices based on the thin-film technology will be launched within the next few weeks. [ Article at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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April 27, 2004 |
“Solid State Lighting Will Save Billions of Pounds By Reducing The Amount Of Electricity Needed To Light Homes And Offices” – this article covers work at University of Bath by Dr. Nang Wang. Some 30 million LEDs based on the resonance tunneling structure developed by Professor Wang’s team are being produced commercially each month by Arima Optoelectronics in Taiwan, according to the article. Wang’s team was funded by a £400,000 grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and the Department of Trade and Industry. [ Item at Azom.com ] |
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April 26, 2004 |
Veeco Instruments announced that it has received a $10 million plus order for multiple MOCVD production systems from Fujian Quanzhou Sanan Group Ltd. (Fujian Province, China), a manufacturer of HB-LEDs. The order is for Veeco TurboDisc® MOCVD GaNzilla® systems, which can be used for the production of white, blue and green HB-LEDs. [ Press release ] |
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April 23, 2004 |
NIST has developed a portable "rainbow source" light that can be tuned across the entire visible light spectrum, from red to blue light. The device exploits recent materials advances in LEDs of different colors. By mixing exact percentages of LEDs at different wavelengths of visible light with the desired brightness, the optical properties of the source (such as the color) can be changed and tailored for a particular application. [ Item at EurekaAlert ] |
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April 23, 2004 |
Optics.org featured a “White light emitting device” by Toyoda Gosei in their patent highlights section (international patent application WO 2004/032251) “The devices are based on a purple LED which is sealed into the package using a transparent resin. The resin contains red, green, blue and yellow-emitting phosphors. The phosphors emit a range of different wavelengths, resulting in an LED that emits white light.” [ Item at Optics.org ] |
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April 23, 2004 |
Beeman Lights is developing "turtle-friendly" LED lighting for beachfront buildings that won't attract hatchlings as they emerge from their nests. [ Article at Bradenton Herald, Beeman’s sea turtle lighting webpage ] |
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April 22, 2004 |
Nichia/Nakamura Litigation: Nichia, ordered to pay damages of 20 billion yen to Shuji Nakamura, said that the financial value of the LED product was "overrated" in an appeal hearing and asked the Tokyo High Court to reduce the damages set by the district court. Lawyers for Nakamura said that Nichia's claims were groundless and asked the court to dismiss the appeal. [ Item in Mainichi Daily News, see also item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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April 22, 2004 |
Nichia and Sony have a cross-licensing agreement for Blue-Violet Laser Diode (LD) related patents for optical disc use. According to a Nichia press release, in December 2002, Nichia and Sony agreed to collaborate on the development of a Blue-Violet LD for optical disc recording/ play-back use. The cross-license agreement will further strengthen the collaboration and will enable use of all related patents on Blue-Violet LD, with no time limit, in the field of the optical disc recording/playback usage. Collectively, there are a total of approximately 800 patent applications filed by both companies. Both Sony and Nichia will mass-produce the lasers. [ Press release, item at Optics.org] |
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April 21, 2004 |
Kopin announced that its CyberLite™ LED was chosen as Product of the Year by Electronic Products magazine. The magazine's 28th annual award series recognizes outstanding electronic components from the thousands of products introduced in 2003. The selection of winners was based on significant advances in technology or its application, and its innovation in design. [ Press release ] |
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April 20, 2004 |
Asian LED Production: LED production continues to ramp up in Asia. Developments at Epistar and Formosa Epitaxy in Taiwan, and Nichia of Japan are covered in an article at CompoundSemiconductor.net |
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April 20, 2004 |
Seoul Semiconductor (a LED packaging company in Korea) and TridonicAtco (a lighting company and an affiliate of the Austrian group Zumtobel AG) have developed a high brightness LED for use in technical and general illumination. The "Alpha Power LED" can be assembled in surface mounting technology. [
Item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ] |
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April 19, 2004 |
Catalyst Semiconductor has expanded its white LED product family with the introduction of the CAT37, an inductor-based white LED driver boost converter. Designed for color LCD and keypad backlighting, the CAT37 delivers a regulated output current at a constant switching frequency of 1.2MHz that allows the device to be used with very small value external inductor and ceramic capacitors. [ Press release ] |
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April 15, 2004 |
“A Better Way of Making Blue Laser Diodes?” – this article in IEEE Spectrum features Jon Heffernan’s work at Sharp using MBE for creating InGaN blue-violet laser diodes. [ Article ] |
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April 16, 2004 |
Taiwan’s National Science Council (NSC) held a press conference on LED developments, saying that their two-year, NT$12-million research project on highly efficient LEDs had led to 14 patents, licensed in both Taiwan and the US, and more than 20 new manufacturing process technologies. NSC also demonstrated epiwafers with high-efficiency LEDs with special mirror substrates fabricated by wafer-bonding technology, which make it possible to produce larger but cheaper LEDs with high thermal conductivity. [ Taipei Times article ] |
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April 15, 2004 |
Color Kinetics announced two new patents. US 6,717,376 is a utility patent covering “Automotive Information Systems” that, in part, relates to color-controllable automotive lighting systems. US 6,720,745 (“Data delivery track”) relates to a LED lighting system where the lighting control signals are communicated through a light track. [ Press release ] |
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April 15, 2004 |
TIR Systems (Canada) has introduced a new product, LightScript™ The company claims it has been able to improve to traditional channel lettering with this product – it ensures visual uniformity, protects the LEDs (lengthening their life), and is designed for maximum flexibility -- the product can fit into spaces too small for neon. [ Press release ] |
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March - April, 2004 |
CHINA’s SEMICONDUCTOR LIGHTING INITIATIVE: China has released information about its semiconductor lighting initiative. It will open four industrial base areas to support the initiative, in Xiamen (Fujian Province), Dalian, Shanghai, and Nanchang. China plans to invest US$1.2 billion initially in the semiconductor lighting project. It has set a goal of semiconductor lighting output of US$3.6 billion by 2010. AXT's optoelectronics business, which was sold to the US-based "Lumei Optoelectronics" is part of this Chinese effort at Dalian. A joint venture company, Dalian Lumei Optoelectronics Corp (DLOC), has been formed by Lumei Opto and Dalian Luming Science and Technology Group ("the largest supplier of patented afterglow materials around the world"). [ Item at People’s Daily, item from CCTV/China View, carried by xinhuanet.com, item from Asiaport carried by Laser Focus World, item 1, item 2 at globalsources.com, item from Shanghai Daily News ] |
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April 13, 2004 |
LEDtronics has introduced the PNL-1145 series of LED lamps, which are designed as direct replacements for incandescent high-voltage panel indicator lamps. The lamps are available in aqua green, warm white (3200 K), super blue, ultra yellow, and ultra red. [ Item at compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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April 13, 2004 |
Nitronex has raised $6 million in venture capital, bringing the company’s total venture funding to $50 million, and has appointed an acting CEO, Charles Shalvoy, who was previously at superconductor manufacturer Conductus. [ Item at compoundsemiconductor.net] |
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April 12, 2004 |
DARPA has issued BAA04-19 for work related to Wide Band Gap Semiconductors for RF Applications. The overall objective of this effort is to exploit the properties of wide band gap semiconductors to enhance the capabilities of microwave and MMICs and, in turn, enable future RF sensor, communication, and multifunction military capabilities. [ Synopsis, Proposer Information ] |
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April 12, 2004 |
Color Kinetics announced its initial IPO. The prospectus includes detailed information about the company. [ Press release ] |
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April 12, 2004 |
Dialight has launched a new specialist division, the Luxeon Design Center, to serve the needs of users of HB Luxeon LEDs. [ Press release ] |
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April 12, 2004 |
Shenzhen Lanke Electronics Co (China) has released its 1004WC ultra-bright LEDs that feature a luminous intensity of 3cd to 9cd. Available in white, blue, green, red, and yellow, the 10mm LEDs have a wavelength of 1.5nm minimum and 2.9nm maximum, and forward voltage of 3V to 3.6V. [ Item at EE Times ] |
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April 11, 2004 |
CompoundSemi News has provided commentary by patent expert Stephen Smith on Nichia’s recent statement about white LED patents. It has also reported on Japan’s effort to “prevent patent outflow,” to protect their state-of-the-art technologies. [ Items ] |
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April 6, 2004 |
The China Fangda Group has developed a “powerful semiconductor chip used for illumination … two to three semiconductor chips … are able to form a high-powered illumination … [whereas more than] 100 semiconductor chips are [usually] needed to make a reading lamp.” [ Item from Xinhua News Agency ] |
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April 6, 2004 |
The Lighting Research Center is investigating the performance characteristics -- light output depreciation and color shift -- of five types of high-power LEDs: single-die red, green, blue, and white, and multiple-die white, with each package containing multiple emitters. Over the last year, LRC has gathered more than 7,500 hours of light output and chromaticity data. The results to date show a large variation in LED product performance. Individual white LEDs in each package show significant color variations, which “creates an aesthetic challenge for general illumination with LEDs,” says LRC. [ LRC Newsletter item ] April 6, 2004 - Cree acquired the GaN substrate business of ATMI for $10.25 million, which includes related intellectual property (a pioneering white LED patent as well as others, according to the company), fixed assets and inventory. [ Cree press release, CompoundSemi News article, ATMI press release ] |
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April 1, 2004 |
Linear Technology has released its LT3466 dual, full function, step-up dc/dc converter designed to drive up to 20 white LEDs from a Li-Ion battery. The product's high efficiency, current mode and fixed frequency operation ensure uniform LED brightness, low noise and maximum battery life, while on-chip Schottky diodes eliminate both the added cost and space requirements of external diodes, according to the company. [ Item at EE Times Asia ] |
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April 1, 2004 |
Lightfair International announced the winners of this year’s New Product Showcase Awards. Many of these awards have been given for LED-based products, including: · io Lighting got the “Best New Product of the Year” award for LINE - an exterior LED based linear luminaire for applications where "light pollution" and "light trespass" are an issue in façade lighting. · Enlux Lighting got the “Energy Award” and a “Best of Category for LED Lamps” award for a new LED floodlight that generates equivalent light of a 60-watt incandescent flood, while using 1/3 of the power and offering longer life. · Traxon USA got the “Judge’s Citation” award for a new Mood Light Objects line, LED-based color-changing objects that are rechargeable and remote-controlled. · Element Labs got the “Roeder Award” and the “Best of Category Award for Theatrical and Entertainment Lighting Category” for Versa™TILE, a glowing LED light tile controlled by video signal that generates visual effects when used in large arrays. · GELcore got the “Best of Category Award for Site and Roadway Lighting” for its LED light kit. [ Press release, detailed product award list, Special Awards, LED “new product showcase” list ] |
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(These links are not maintained) · News that its research labs have developed red, thin-film LED technology that is able to deliver energy-efficient performance of up to 100 lm/W at 20 mA. Among the product configurations using the thin-film technology are the Golden DRAGON™ LED that, when driven at a maximum 750mA, delivers 45 lumens of output with 30 lm/W efficiency. [ press release ] · A lead-free, two-watt white Golden DRAGON LED that can be operated up to 500mA with a typical output of 40 lm and a broad 120-degree viewing angle. The white Golden DRAGON delivers 23 lm/w, and additional efficiency improvements are planned for rollout in the near future. [ press release 1, press release 2 ] · Demonstration of its 6-lead MULTILED®, a high-power SMT LED that contains red, green and blue chips and is designed specifically for accent and color-changing lighting applications. [ press release ] · A color-on-demand LED that consists of a blue InGaN chip, encapsulated in a surface-mount package with pre-selected red, yellow and green phosphors. Customizing colors within CIE focus is now possible. [ press release ] · A new Colormix LED system, the first all-in-one LINEARlight Colormix and OPTOTRONIC® RGB Control System lighting package. The package features LINEARlight Colormix LED modules, OPTOTRONIC power supplies with individual color control and color sequencing capabilities. It is designed for the retail, hospitality and architectural industries. [ press release ] |
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March 31, 2004 |
Lumileds forms the Luxeon Lighting Network™, a certification, training and technical support program designed to assist the lighting specification community. [ Press release ] TIR announced that it had become a founding member of this network. [ Press release ] |
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March 31, 2004 |
CEIEC (China) has introduced CEIECSXD6-004 super-bright LEDs featuring rated forward voltages of 3.2V to 4V, current of 20mA, power dissipation of 70mW, and luminous intensity between 10mcd and 7cd. They are available in super-bright blue, purple or white. [ Item at EE Times ] |
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March 30, 2004 |
Agilent has introduced what it claims to be the industry’s smallest surface-mount LEDs for mobile phones and PDAs. The HSMx-C120 series LEDs are available in a variety of colors. With dimensions of 1.6 mm (L) x 1.0 mm (W) x 0.6 mm (H), the LEDs are compatible with the industry-standard 0603 footprint. Their height is 0.5mm less than most competitive packages, according to the company. [ Item at Planet Analog ] |
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March 30, 2004 |
OptiLED has signed a memorandum of understanding with California Lighting Technology Center (CLTC), a newly-formed lighting innovation center based at the University of California, Davis, involving the California Energy Commission, the state's utility companies, the National Electrical Manufacturers Association, and various other lighting companies. OptiLED will work with the CLTC to identify emerging applications for LEDs and develop them to be used in residential and commercial settings. [ Business Wire item at TCMnet.com ] |
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March 30, 2004 |
Crystal IS, and subcontractor University of Albany, has won two new SBIR Phase 1 awards from DARPA to investigate epi-ready substrates and quantum dot technology (which it says has the potential to enable the first, high-efficiency deep green LEDs). [ Item at compoundsemiconductor.net, article at CompoundSemi News ] |
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March 29, 2004 |
The Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation launched its new LED Traffic Signal Upgrade Grant Program, which supports Illinois municipalities in upgrading traffic signals to low-energy consuming LEDs. The Foundation will review grant applications this summer. [ Press release ] |
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March 25, 2004 |
South Epitaxy of Taiwan has recently purchased five Veeco GaNzilla MOCVD tools for producing blue and green HB LEDs. [ Press release, articles at CompoundSemi News] |
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Undated, 2004 |
The proceedings of the MRS 2003 Fall Meeting are now online and available to members. [ Proceedings ] |
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March 18, 2004 |
Researchers at National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan) report that red LEDs based on a copper substrate can produce a luminous intensity that is three times higher than that of traditional GaAs-substrate LEDs. They also claim that these LEDs can operate at injection currents 8 times higher than that of traditional GaAs-substrate devices (research reported in Applied Physics Letters 84 1841). [ Item at optics.org, paper abstract ] |
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March 17, 2004 |
Nichia posted a statement on its website, warning producers about patent infringement. It mentions Osram's recent patent licenses to Asian manufacturers for white LEDs that combine LEDs with fluorescent substances. Nichia says that it also holds valid and enforceable patents in many countries, and a "license granted under Osram patents does not necessarily mean license under Nichia patents." [ Full statement by Nichia ] |
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March 16, 2004 |
Optics.org featured a new patent application by GELcore in its weekly "Patent highlights" column. WO 2004/021461, entitled "Coated LED with improved efficiency", claims a LED with increased efficiency. The design features a light-emitting chip and a hemispherical lens which is positioned a set distance from the chip. The invention involves coating the lens with a uniformly-thick layer of a fluorescent phosphor, which converts some of the radiation emitted by the chip into visible light. A key claim is that the surface area of the lens should be at least 10 times that of the LED chip. [ Item at optics.org ] |
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March 16, 2004 |
Giga Epitaxy (Taiwan) will introduce LED epiwafers grown by liquid phase epitaxy. The company plans to start production of both single-hetero and double-hetero structures for red LEDs in July of this year. [ Item at compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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March 15, 2004 |
Elma-Malachit (Russia) has ordered a new Veeco TurboDisc D180 GaN MOCVD tool for the purpose of expanding its GaN epiwafer manufacturing capability. The company will use the D180 for the production of high-level GaN high brightness LEDs for several industrial applications. [ Item in CompoundSemi News, Veeco press release ] |
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March 15, 2004 |
The market for GaN laser diodes will grow at a CAAGR of 97% through 2008, according to a new study from Strategy Analytics (UK). "Gallium Nitride Laser Diodes: Markets and Applications" describes the established markets for GaN-based laser diodes. Growth, however, will be driven by optical storage applications with the emergence of violet-DVD players, accounting for over 97% of unit shipments by 2008. [ Strategy Analytics' Press release, article at compoundsemiconductor.net (note: this item reports the CAAGR figure as 195%, which is incorrect according to Strategy Analytics) ] |
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March 16, 2004 |
Cree and Boston University have dropped their patent infringement lawsuit against substrate maker AXT. Brought against AXT in June 2003, the lawsuit was related to US patent number 5,686,738 entitled "Highly insulating monocrystalline GaN thin films". AXT has now dropped all of its counterclaims. Financial terms were not disclosed. [ Press release, item at optics.org] |
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March 15, 2004 |
Sarnoff Corporation unveiled the FabriLEDtm product, a programmable sign that integrates superbright LEDs with woven fabric to create a low-cost, lightweight messaging medium for trade shows, aisle or point-of-purchase displays, and other applications. The signs, which roll up into a shipping tube for transportation, were to have been demonstrated at exhibitions in Las Vegas.[ Press release ] |
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March 10, 2004 |
Super Vision (Orlando, FL) has acquired exclusive rights to a patent on "Variable Color Lighting Systems" owned by High End Systems of Austin, TX. According to the article in EE Times, the patent development dates back to Richard Belliveau's inventions in the late 1980s, which resulted in multi-color lighting systems for entertainment applications, including High End's Color Pro products. Super Vision is expected to use this patent to incorporate all future development of its LED lighting systems for the lighting, sign, pool, and landscape industry. [ Item in EE Times Asia ] |
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March 8, 2004 |
Orca Green Marine Technology (OGM) has started shipping its LX Series LED Anchor Light, the latest product in their expanding Argo Navistm Series of LED Navigation Lights. The LX Series uses 2 Luxeontm LEDs from Lumileds for 2 mile visibility and uses patent-pending regulation circuitry to allow the light to maintain constant full brightness from 8VDC up to 36VDC. Anchor lights have long been seen as necessary power drains, as they use up to 25W of battery power during a time when the engine is not running to replenish battery banks. With the OGM Anchor's power consumption at only 3W (0.3 amps), boats at anchor can ensure anchoring safety all night while limiting power drainage. [ Press release carried at eMediaWire ] |
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March , 2004 |
Compound Semiconductor magazine featured white LEDs in its March issue, in the article "Lighting Community Outlines Challenges for LED Industry," written by Tim Whitaker. At the conference, "LEDs: Meeting the Design and Performance Challenges," held in London in late January, it was evident that many designers and specifiers in the lighting community remain unsure of how to adopt this new technology in their products and projects. The article covers meeting highlights, including challenges and benefits of using LEDs, metrics for evaluating LEDs and the need for standardization, variation of white LED color within batches, thermal management, and improvements in LED efficacy (lm/W) and total luminous output. Companies mentioned in this article include Lumileds, Osram Opto, and Color Kinetics. [ Article page 1, page 2 ] |
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February 26, 2004 / March 5, 2004 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY |
Ø DOE has issued a funding opportunity announcement for collaborations on SSL core technologies. The deadline for submission of proposals is April 15, 2004. Applications are sought in six areas: · LEDs: Area of Interest 1 - High efficiency visible and near UV (>380 nm) semiconductor materials for LED based general illumination technology [ detail ]; Area of Interest 2 - Advanced architectures and high power conversion efficiency emitters [ detail ]; Area of Interest 3 - High temperature, efficient, long-life phosphors, luminescent materials for wavelength conversion and encapsulants [ detail ]. · OLEDs: Area of Interest 4 - High efficiency, low-voltage, stable materials for OLED-based general illumination technology (hosts, dopants, and transport layers) [ detail ]; Area of Interest 5 - Strategies for improved light extraction and manipulation [ detail ]; Area of Interest 6 - Novel device structures for improved performance and low cost [ detail ].The number of expected awards is 3-6, with total available funding of up to $6 million. Synopsis, Full Announcement document ]
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March 4, 2004 / March 8, 2004 |
White LED prices: · White LED prices have dropped by 8% per unit since December 2003 according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper. The price charged to large-lot users by manufacturers Nichia, Toyoda Gosei, and others is roughly 54 yen or $0.49 per unit. Blue LED price drops and projected sales for camera-equipped phones are also discussed. [News item at compoundsemiconductor.net] · There are also reports that Nichia may be dropping the price of white LEDs for wireless applications by as much as 40%, perhaps triggered by Osram’s recent aggressive licensing of its technology to several of Nichia's competitors. However, no direct confirmation of this price drop has yet been received (from Nichia, its competitors, their distributors, or packagers) by CompoundSemi News, the publication that reported this story. [See "The McDonald Report" and news item in CompoundSemi News here and an updated "McDonald Report" item here. ] |
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March 3, 2004 |
Lumileds announced the availability of Luxeon DCC, the first fully assembled LED-based RGB light sources for use as an alternative to cold cathode fluorescent lamps in LCD backlights. Available in five sizes for backlights ranging from 5" to 18.1", these ready-to-use systems use high-powered Luxeon LEDs. Each Luxeon DCC integrates red, green and blue emitters in a one-piece unit that can be deployed with light guides and other components to form a complete illumination system for LCD backlighting. [ Press release at Yahoo Finance ] |
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March 2, 2004 |
Osram Opto is supplying LEDs for use in a head-up display in the new BMW 5 Series being launched this spring. The head-up display appears to float over the bonnet of the car and presents drivers with important data such as current speed, warnings and navigation information so drivers no longer have to take their eyes off the road. The LED light source has a luminance of more than 500,000 cd/m² and comprises a total of 128 high-brightness red and green LED chips arranged in groups of four in a matrix of 32 chip modules. This light source acts as the backlight for a LCD, the image from which is projected onto the BMW's windshield. [ Item at compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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March 1, 2004 |
Strategies Unlimited issued an official press release on its new report, " Asian Producers of High-Brightness LEDs (Taiwan, South Korea, China)," providing this detail from their analysis: · The non-Japan region of Asia, including Taiwan, South Korea and China, has become the world's largest volume producer of HB LEDs. 23 companies in the region produced the equivalent of 13.4 billion red-orange-yellow (InGaAlP-based) LED chips and 3.4 billion blue and green (GaN-based) LED chips in 2003, representing 80% and 40% of the world totals, respectively. The total regional revenue for merchant epitaxial wafers and chips amounted to $403 million in 2003 · While Taiwan has long led the region in HB-LED production, South Korea has become a significant producer in recent years, and mainland China began ramping up its production capacity and sales in 2003 · While the vast majority of chips produced to date from this region have been of low-to-medium performance levels, technology and performance are steadily improving, and several Asian producers are beginning to target the higher-performance HB LED markets now served by top-tier suppliers such as Nichia, Cree, Toyoda Gosei, Osram and Lumileds. [ Press release ] |
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March 1, 2004 |
Business Week featured blue LEDs in the article "For High Technology, A Bolt From The Blue". The article briefly covers the use of blue LEDs in DVDs and illumination applications. Last year, Toyoda Gosei, according to the article, sold $300 million worth of blue LEDs for use in cars and other applications. [ Article ] |
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February 17, 2004 |
Nichia expects 2004 sales to be 220 billion yen ($2.1 billion) according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper, representing an increase of about 18% over 2003 sales (180 billion yen or $1.7 billion). About 80% of Nichia’s sales in 2003 came from LEDs. [ Item in compoundsemiconductor.net, article in CompoundSemi News ] |
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February 17, 2004 |
The Lighting Research Center will hold an internet teleconference seminar on May 12, 1:00 – 2:30 pm EST, on "LEDs – The Solid-State Lighting Revolution" (a fee is charged). [ Announcement ] |
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February 12, 2004 |
Senator Pete V. Domenici introduced a new energy bill, S.2095, called the "Energy Policy Act of 2003." The Next Generation Lighting Initiative (NGLI) is included in this legislation and supports R&D, demonstration, and commercial application activities related to advanced solid-state lighting technologies based on white light emitting diodes. Some highlights: · Funding for the NGLI: FY04 -- $20 million (M); FY05 -- $30 M; FY06 -- $50 M; FY07 -- $50 M; FY08 -- $50 M. In addition, extended authorization for $50 million for each of fiscal years 2009 through 2013 is included
·
The bill contains provisions for the formation of a competitively selected Industry Alliance, intellectual property rights of participants, and periodic reviews of the NGLI by the National
Academy of Sciences. (See Section 905, pp 494-500, for the applicable portion of the bill; full bill text online here:
http://energy.senate.gov/legislation/energybill2004/full_text.pdf.)
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February 12, 2004 |
Osram has granted Samsung Electro-Mechanics Co. Ltd a royalty-bearing license to manufacture and sell white LEDs with conversion technology, for which Osram holds patents. The conversion technology enables white LEDs to be produced using blue emitting InGaN based chips and a suitable fluorescent converter. [ Item in EE Times Asia (free registration required) ] |
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February 10, 2004 |
Optics.org featured a new international patent application from Philips on an efficient white light made by combining the output of a blue and green emitting fluorescent lamp with a red-yellow emitting AlGaInP LED or a red emitting AlGaAs LED. ["Patent Highlights" item] |
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February 9, 2004 |
PIDA reports that Taiwanese LED makers produced about 4.3 billion super bright LEDs in 2003, valued at $830 million. Growth in 2004 is projected at 20% and a number of Taiwanese manufacturers have announced expansion plans. [ Item in EE Times Asia (free registration required) ] |
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February 8, 2004 |
CompoundSemi News reports on new figures supplied by Strategies Unlimited on the dramatic ramp-up of HB-LEDs in Taiwan, Korea, and China. Production/ sales totals for 2003 of epi-based HB LED companies in Taiwan, Korea and China combined: 8.9 billion InGaAlP chips and 3.0 billion GaN chips. Epiwafer output for these three countries, compared to 2002, shows a 25% increase in InGaAlP (80% of the world's output) and a 700% increase in GaN production (40% of the world's total output). [ News item ] |
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February 8, 2004 |
CompoundSemi News, reporting on the Strategies in Light conference held in California, included these developments: [see " Strategies in Light Roundup"] · HB-LED Market: Robert Steele of Strategies Unlimited reported that the HB-LED segment experienced 47% revenue growth in 2003, growing to US$2.7 billion, and the market is expected to reach $6 billion in 2008. · High Power LEDs Panel: Representatives from Cree, Lumileds, Nichia, Osram, and Toyoda Gosei discussed latest advances, particularly for white LEDs – problems with reliability, color balance, and heat extraction are being tackled successfully; luminous efficacies are generally in the 30-50 l/W range for warm white; and multi-watt devices are making their way into production. |
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February 5, 2004 |
Supra Opto announced that, in cooperation with Sumitomo, it has completed the development of white LED lamps made from ZnSe-based blue LEDs plus PL substrates. It plans to expand capacity to for these LED lamps to 10 million during the 4th quarter of 2004. These LED lamps feature a driving voltage of <2.7V; a static resistance of <8kV; a life span of 7,000h; brightness of 5 -7 cd; and light efficiency of 20-25W. [ Item in EE Times Asia (free registration required) ] |
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February 2, 2004 |
Osram Opto reports that the next-generation Golden DRAGON, Advanced Power TOPLED, and Power TOPLED will include OSRAM state-of-the-art advancement in thin-film chip technology, which has demonstrated engineering efficiency of 96 lm/W at 20mA in 617nm color. The company's SMT LEDs were used in automobiles debuting at auto shows held in Chicago and Detroit in January and February of this year. [ News item ] |
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February 2, 2004 |
EE Times reviewed the blue spectrum device market, touching on solid-state lighting. In this article, the author reports on the latest figures for MOCVD installations in Taiwan -- about 240 - which keeps the country in the lead for the most platforms installed. [" Blue-Spectrum Market is Growing "] |
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January 30-31, 2004 |
Shuji Nakamura lawsuit: The Tokyo District Court has ruled on the Nakamura case, ordering Nichia Corporation to pay Shuji Nakamura ~ $189 million (20 bn yen) for developing the blue LED. The development has earned Nichia millions of dollars a year. Nichia filed an appeal shortly after the verdict. [ News widely carried, see New York Times item, BBC News item and Japan News item, for example ] |
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January 28, 2004 |
Zero-Energy Home: The International Builder's Show in held in Las Vegas in mid-January featured tours of the "Ultimate Family Home" that, over the course of a year, will produce as much electricity as it uses. Among this home's energy saving features are fluorescent and LED lighting. (DOE started the Zero Energy Homes initiative to bring the latest research out of its national laboratories and into homes. DOE and NREL partnered with Pardee Homes and Consol Energy Consultants to build the Ultimate Family Home.) [ EERE news item ] |
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January 28, 2004 |
Osram has signed a patent cross-license with Lite-On Technology (Taiwan). Osram is granting Lite-On a royalty-bearing license to manufacture and sell its patented surface-mount LEDs and white LEDs with conversion technology. In return, Osram will be able to access Lite-On's patented LED manufacturing processes. Lite-On is expected to start volume shipments of white LEDs in March, with blue LEDs purchased from two Taiwanese companies, Epistar and South Epitaxy. (Lite-On is a major shareholder of Epistar.) [ Article in Digitimes, item at Business Wire ] |
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January 27, 2004 |
BivarOpto introduced the "Infinite 1" LED lamp that features an all-in-one LED-based lighting alternative for incandescent spot and flood lamps. The product design includes an Edison based housing assembly directly interchangeable with industry-standard PAR stylespots and floods. Thirty-nine LEDs are arranged in a grid-array pattern to project an evenly distributed light pattern. [ Item at EE Times Asia (free registration required) ] |
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January 26, 2004 |
Agilent announced the "industry's first" super bright white InGaN LED with a protective zener diode for electrostatic discharge protection (the HLMP-CWx8 and HLMP-CWx9 series). The new lamps are also rated at 30% duty factor at 100 mA, which is 3 times that of similar white LEDs offered by other manufacturers, according to Agilent. The LEDs are ideal for outdoor lighting applications as well as backlighting. Samples are now available. [ Press release ] |
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January 22, 2004 |
Sensor Electronic Technology (SET) has been awarded two SBIR Phase II contracts to develop technology for high-power microwave transistors and deep UV light emitters using novel single crystal bulk AlN substrates. SET is purchasing novel single crystal bulk AlN substrates from Crystal IS. [ Article at Compounsemiconductor.net ] |
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January 16, 2004 |
Lighting Coalition: Lighting industry leaders have founded a coalition to embark on a five-to-ten year effort to chart a new socially responsible course for the field of lighting. The Bridges in Light advisory council, composed of researchers, utility officials, government agencies and manufacturers, met in December to begin developing an action plan. [ Article in LRC News ] |
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January 16, 2004 |
The Lighting Research Center's ASSIST program (Alliance for Solid-State Illumination Systems and Technologies) has been active in a number of research projects and other activities to advance and promote LED technology. These activities were summarized in the most recent issue of LRC News, and include studies of color rendering and color tolerance, applications of LED lighting beneficial to older adults, aircraft reading lighting specifications (with Boeing), and the "ASSIST Recommends" program to promote consistency and standards. [ Article ] |
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January 14, 2004 |
Lumileds Luxeon LEDs have been incorporated into the Audi A8 6.0, the first production vehicle to feature LED headlights. Each headlamp uses five white LEDs arranged in a five-point pattern to form a combination daytime running lamp and night-time position lamp. [ press release ] |
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January 9, 2004 |
Sharp Laboratories of Europe has developed the world's first blue-violet laser diodes fabricated using molecular beam epitaxy. The ridge waveguide InGaN multiple quantum well lasers operate at room temperature with an output wavelength of 400 nm. The diodes are grown on a sapphire substrate. This work was reported on in a recent paper in Electronic Letters. [ Item at Compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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January 8, 2004 |
Cree introduced two higher brightness versions of its Xthintm LEDs. The new versions include the XT-15tm LED with brightness levels at 15 mW minimum, and the XT-18tm LED (18 mW minimum). These products, available in 460 nm and 470 nm versions, have a lower forward voltage and thinner design. [ Press release ] |
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January 8, 2004 |
The New York Times ran a story, "Let there be L.E.D.s", which featured the use of LEDs in architectural design and described an apartment lit completely with LEDs. [New York Times article (free registration required), item also carried at cnet.com ] |
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January 6, 2004 |
Japanese LED manufacturers Nichia, Toyoda Gosei and Matsushita Electric Works are working with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry to draw up a common set of standards for LED-based lighting equipment. [ Article at CompoundSemi News, Item at Compoundsemiconductor.net ] |
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January 5, 2004 |
The European Photonics Industry Consortium (EPIC) has been formed by five European companies: Aixtron AG, Cambridge Display Technology Ltd, Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH, Philips Lighting BV, and Sagem SA. EPIC's goal is to build sustainable growth for the European optoelectronics industries by bringing together manufacturers of fabrication equipment, components manufacturers and users of photonics components and systems. [ Article at Compoundsemiconductor.net, Article at CompoundSemi News ] |
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January, 2004 |
The January 2004 issue of IEEE Spectrum featured an article, "The Great Gallium Nitride Gamble," in which approaches to growing gallium nitride single crystals by Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, GE, Global Research Center, and ATMI are discussed. [ Article ] |
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The information presented in this section has been developed by
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