LED Manufacturing

Is the LED boom and bust cycle leveling out?

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:06:00 GMT

After a surge in 2010 and oversupply in 2011 that suppressed 2012 fab, LED makers will see a leveling out of supply and demand into better equilibrium, according to NPD DisplaySearch. Demand will shift from LCD-backlit LEDs to LEDs for lighting.

Beyond sapphire: LED substrates from GaN to ZnO, SiC, and Si

Mon, 14 May 2012 22:39:00 GMT

LEDs are typically manufactured on sapphire substrates, about 90% of the blue LEDs currently in production. SiC substrates are used for virtually all the remaining 10% of blue LEDs. To improve efficiency and brightness, as well as cost, LED makers are looking to other substrates, such as Si and ZnO.

The low utilization/MOCVD uptick phenomenon, LED efficacy and price, more from Lightfair

Mon, 14 May 2012 20:04:00 GMT

Barclays Capital analysts attended Lightfair International and gleaned several trends in LEDs and OLEDs for lighting, including an interesting phenomenon around MOCVD utilization rates and new orders.

GaN-on-Si LED from Bridgelux, Toshiba hits performance record

Fri, 11 May 2012 20:31:00 GMT

Bridgelux and Toshiba reported a 1.1mm² LED chip fabricated on an 8" GaN-on-Si wafer, emitting 614mW, <3.1V @ 350mA. The companies will collaborate on commercializing GaN-on-Si LEDs, and Toshiba has invested in Bridgelux.

AMAT throws the brakes on LED fab equipment

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:59:00 GMT

In light of “challenging industry conditions” in the LED and PV manufacturing sectors, Applied Materials (AMAT) decided to restructure its Energy and Environmental Solutions (EES) segment.

SEMI lauds Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI) for microelectronics/photovoltaics support

Wed, 09 May 2012 18:36:00 GMT

SEMI presented US Congressman Dave Camp (R-MI) with its 2012 North American Government Leadership Award for his leadership and support of the US microelectronics and photovoltaic manufacturing value chain.

LED maker SunSun Lighting raises $30M from investors

Wed, 09 May 2012 14:22:00 GMT

SunSun Lighting, a provider of high-performance, energy-efficient and low-cost LED lighting technologies, received $30 million in Series B financing from GSR Ventures and Oak Investment Partners and additional commitments from its original angel investors. Allan Kwan, a China-based advisor for Oak, is joining the board of SunSun.

HB-LED makers drive economic improvement with alternative substrates, automation, and yield

Tue, 08 May 2012 21:11:00 GMT

SEMI’s Paula Doe covers the “commodity market” of LEDs, including capacity utilization at LED fabs, automation in manufacturing that could improve yields, LEDs fabbed on silicon and GaN instead of sapphire wafers, and more.

AIXTRON MOCVD tool installed for GaN research at U of Warsaw

Tue, 08 May 2012 19:35:00 GMT

University of Warsaw, Poland, researchers will grow GaN materials on a new AIXTRON SE Close Coupled Showerhead MOCVD reactor in a 3 x 2” wafer configuration.

AIXTRON wins repeat MOCVD order from LED maker

Mon, 07 May 2012 15:03:00 GMT

AIXTRON SE’s long-time customer Formosa Epitaxy Inc. (FOREPI) ordered several MOCVD systems: 4 CRIUS II-XL systems in a 19 x 4” wafer configuration and 2 G5 HT reactors in a 14 x 4” wafer configuration.

LED makers qualify c-axis sapphire wafers from ARC Energy, Trinity Material

Fri, 04 May 2012 18:54:00 GMT

Sapphire wafers grown using ARC Energy’s Controlled Heat Extraction System furnaces for Trinity Material was certified for high-quality LED chip production at two leading LED chip companies.

Toyoda Gosei, Showa Denko form GaN LED JV

Tue, 01 May 2012 13:00:00 GMT

Showa Denko KK will transfer 70% of its gallium-nitride (GaN)-based blue light emitting diode (LED) chip business into a new company, TS Opto Co. Ltd, with Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd.

What have we done for you lately?

Tue, 01 May 2012 05:00:00 GMT

This page is usually reserved for a guest editorial by someone in the industry that wants to rant a little bit about the lack of standards in any given area, the need to get young students interested in engineering and the sciences, why fab safety is so important, or answering the call to innovate, to give a few examples.

Phosphor trends for LED manufacturing

Tue, 01 May 2012 05:00:00 GMT

The phosphor market is largely a game of scale and relationships, as much of the intellectual property (IP) around phosphors was created in the 1970-80s (at least for select element combinations) and protection has by now expired, analysts from Barclays Capital.

LED manufacturer Lumichip expands in Finland, opens development center

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 19:16:00 GMT

Lumichip Limited, an LED manufacturer, expanded its commercial operations in Finland and opened a new development center in Espoo, Finland.

MEI semiconductor wet process tools built to prevent contamination

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 14:27:00 GMT

MEI uses Vycom Flametec PVC-C for chemical rinse tanks and other wafer-contacting elements of its process tools, reducing tool-based contamination and protecting fab workers. Bill McGinty, MEI operations manager, discusses the benefits the new-generation plastic for semiconductor fab tools.

LED maker orders multiple fab tools from OEM Group

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 18:00:00 GMT

OEM Group began shipping a multi-tool order to a major LED manufacturer, including Spray Ozone Tool and Spray Acid Tool semi-automated batch surface preparation systems.

Round LEDs released by Luminus Devices

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 20:44:00 GMT

Luminus Devices Inc. unveiled its round LED architecture, meeting the circular aperture designs of many optical devices.

Nichia sued over LED fab IP by Everlight

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:42:00 GMT

Everlight Electronics Co. Ltd. filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nichia Corp., seeking enforcement of a patent covering LED metallization technology, and asked that 2 Nichia patents on LED phosphor technology be rendered invalid.

MOCVD and MBE epitaxy trends for compound semiconductors

Fri, 20 Apr 2012 20:55:00 GMT

The corresponding combined revenue opportunity for MBE and MOCVD is estimated to be around US $6.1 billion for the 2012-2020 periods, shows Yole Développement.