·   AXT has applied for a new high luminous flux LED patent (WO 03/100874) claiming enhanced current spreading with a novel electrode design.

·   Carmanah announced that a new market has opened up for LEDs because the U.S. Coast Guard has enacted a regulation allowing private aids-to-navigation (PATONs) to use LEDs.

·   Cree announced record Q2 revenues of $72.7 million, up from last year's Q2 revenues of $56.7 million.

·   DOE's "Ultimate Family Home" was featured at the International Builder's Show in Las Vegas – it is designed to produce as much energy as it uses and includes many energy saving features, such as LED lighting.

·   DOE/NETL has posted online the November 2003 SSL workshop meeting materials and presentations and a document describing the portfolio of SSL-related projects.

·   Epitech has ordered another Aixtron MOCVD Reactor.

·   A European Photonics Industry Consortium has been formed by five European companies to build a photonics technology roadmap.

·   Formosa Plastics Group opened a new $5.8 million company to diversify into blue LEDs.

·   Global Communication Semiconductors and Global Communication Technology have merged to form the III-V industry's largest foundry service provider.

·   A new Japanese Industry Consortium, up to 50% funded by the Japanese government, has been formed with the aim of creating general-use white LEDs in 3 years.

·   Japanese LED manufacturers are increasing their LED output capacity.

·   Leading Japanese LED firms are working to create common standards for LED-based lighting equipment.

·   Kolorfusion and PermLight Products announce a joint development agreement to develop products for the LED signage market.

·   Kopin's two high-volume III-V production facilities have received ISO 9001: 2000 certification.

·   The Lighting Research Center's ASSIST program's activities to advance and promote LED technology are profiled.

·   New Millennium Media's OnScreen^tm architecture for LED displays was introduced at the "Strategies in Light" conference.

·   Nichia expects record sales of $2.1 billion in 2004, 18% higher than the expected 2003 sales of $1.7 billion for 2003; 80% of 2003 revenues are estimated to come from LEDs.

·   Nichia was ordered by the Japanese court to pay Shuji Nakamura $189 million.  Nichia has filed an appeal.

·   Nitto Denko has announced the development of a new thermosetting polymer with the world's highest refractive index at 1.76.

·   OptiLED's new LED linear light wins an award at the Entertainment Technology Show.

·   OptiLED experiences triple-digit revenue growth in its first year.

·   Osram has signed a white LED patent cross-licensing agreement with Lite-On Technology (Taiwan).

·   Osram grants Samsung a royalty-bearing license to manufacture and sell white LEDs with Osram's conversion technology.

·   Osram announces that its next-generation Golden DRAGON, Advanced Power TOPLED, and Power TOPLED have demonstrated engineering efficiency of 96 lm/W at 20mA in 617nm color.

·   Rohm says its zinc oxide white LEDs (R&D) now equal Nichia's in brightness.

·   Samsung orders another GaN MOCVD reactor from Aixtron.

·   Sandia National Labs seeks to improve green LEDs.

·   Researchers at Sandia National Laboratories and the University of New Mexico reported a new approach for the preparation and modification of complex and oriented ZnO nanostructures.

·   Sumitomo Electric filed a patent application for white LEDs based on zinc selenide.

·   Supra Opto (joint venture of Sumitomo and Procomp Informatics) completes the development of ZnSe-based white LED and is planning expanded capacity.

·   Thomas Swan sells another MOCVD system in Taiwan.

·   Universal Communication System's subsidiary Millennium Electric signs agreement with Digital Light to develop new solar-powered super bright LED lighting products.

   B.  New Products:

·   Agilent introduces "industry's first" super bright white InGaN LEDs with electrostatic discharge protection.

·   BivarOpto introduces the "Infinite 1" LED lamp that features an all-in-one LED-based lighting alternative for incandescent spot and flood lamps.

·   BivarOpto announces new ultra-wide (180 degree) viewing angle Mako-Wide™ LED module for high intensity displays.

·   Cree introduced two new higher brightness versions of its Xthin^tm LED product family.

·   Nichia introduces a new 365nm, 100mW line called the "i-LED" with a peak wavelength that makes it "the most powerful in the market".

·   Omron announces a new bright white LED for interior lighting, planned for launch in March.

·   Showa Denko announced its new AlInGaP LEDs are three times brighter than existing devices.

·   Sipex introduces a new white LED driver.

  C.  Novel or Interesting LED Applications/Uses:

·   Aki Denki has invented a self-powered LED bike headlamp.

·   Lumileds introduces the first production vehicle with LED daytime running lights.

·   New Jersey State Police are replacing all-red revolving lights on trooper cars with red and blue Linear-LED light bars.

·   PG&E and SF Environment gave away free LED holiday lights in San Francisco.

  D.  Market Information:

·   Small Times reviewed market size projections from Strategies Unlimited and iSupply, as well as some of the research challenges and possibilities for white LEDs in lighting markets.

·   Strategies Unlimited reports on HB-LED production and activities in Taiwan, South Korea, and China in a new market report, "Asian Producers of High Brightness LEDs." 

·   Strategies Unlimited reports on the size of the current HB-LED market ($1.8 billion in 2002, and forecast at $2.5 billion in 2003) and forecasts that illumination portion of the market will grow from 5% (2002) to 12% in 2007 (reaching $520 million).

·   Taiwan LED Industry: Vice Premier of Taiwan, Lin Hsin-i, predicts Taiwan's LED industry to have a production value of $700 million for 2004.

·   Taiwan LED Makers: PIDA reports that Taiwanese LED makers produced about 4.3 billion super bright LEDs in 2003, valued at $830 million.

  E.  Overview Articles:

·   Solid-state lighting is the special focus of the December 2003 issue of Compound Semiconductor magazine; the issue included four articles of interest.

·   EDN featured the article, "LEDs glow in anticipation", which reviews LEDs in the lighting market (January 8, 2004).

·   EE Times carried the article, "Blue-spectrum device market is growing," which briefly discusses solid-state lighting and includes the latest count of MOCVD installations in Taiwan -- 240 (February 2, 2004).

·   Electronic Engineering Times Asia carried the article, "Light-emitting diode-based lighting positioned for profit" on February 2, 2004.

·   IEEE Spectrum has produced a series of articles in "IEEE Spectrum Predicts Winners, Losers and Holy Grails of Technology for 2004" – one of the winners is Sumitomo Electric for their mass production of thin, crystal-clear disks of pure gallium nitride, featured in "The Great Gallium Nitride Gamble."

·   The New York Times featured the article, "Let There Be L.E.D.'s" (January 8, 2004).

·   Opto & Laser Europe featured three revolutionary optical technologies that are likely to have a profound impact on society when they become commercially available, including white LEDs, in the article, "Photonics to revolutionize the world." (January 2004).

  F.  Selected Events of Interest:

·   Intertech announced that the "Phosphor Global Summit 2004" is to be held March 16-18, 2004 in Miami, Florida.

·   RPI's Lighting Research Center will be holding an internet teleconference seminar entitled, "LEDs -- The Solid-State Lighting Revolution," May 12, 2004 and will hold the next LED Lighting Institute April 21-23, 2004.

  G.  Government Funding News and Opportunities:

·   DARPA/ATO has issued BAA04-09, soliciting research on solid-state lighting devices and systems, among many other topics (executive summaries are due Oct 15, 2004). 

·   DOE issues competitive funding opportunity announcement for Solid-State Lighting Core Technologies.

·   Sensor Electronic Technology wins two SBIR contracts to develop nitride-based transistors and UV emitters on bulk AlN substrates.

F   Selected Events of Interest

Ø  LRC will be holding an internet teleconference seminar, "LEDs -- The Solid-State Lighting Revolution," on May 12, 2004 from 1:00 – 2:30 EST.  This seminar "will provide a clear picture of the current state of LED technology and its potential for development over the next five years. Presenters will also discuss new applications where LEDs are likely to make the biggest impact in the coming years and issues that will need to be considered when developing products or installations for each of these applications."  The presenter listed is N. Narendran, the director of research for the LRC.  [ Announcement ]

Ø  LRC's next LED Lighting Institute will be held on April 21-23, 2004.  In this three-day institute, LRC experts help participants learn more about the quickly evolving LED lighting  technology in a small-class setting. Enrollment will be limited to 30 students. [ Announcement ]

G.   Government Funding News and Opportunities