A.   Developer News

·   911EP, Inc. has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against four companies over the use of its LED technology in emergency lighting products such as the light bars used on police vehicles.  The suit was filed in the U.S. District Court in Texas against Whelen Engineering Company, Inc., Federal Signal Corporation, Code 3, Inc. and Tomar Electronics, Inc. [ Press release ]

·   Agilent's market strategy is discussed in a feature article at Compound Semiconductor magazine.  The article identifies the camera cell phone as Agilent's core strength and notes that the company is targeting the consumer electronics sector, including camera-phone flashes, illuminators for personal hand-held projectors, and backlights for large LCD televisions, to create opportunities for its daughter company Lumileds. [ Feature article ]

·   Agilent launched its test and measurement certification program in Beijing, China.  The program will become part of Agilent Technologies University, which aims to improve standards among testing and measurement professionals.  Participants can receive certification that covers wireless communication; radio frequency and microwave; optical and photonics; general electronics and digital; network equipment; and test automation.  After completing the training and passing the thorough examination, program participants are awarded associate, expert, or master proficiency levels of certification.  [ News item at CompoundSemi News ]

·   Agilent will increase the number of employees in its China locations by 36% (from 1,100 to 1,500) by the end of 2005, according to an announcement made at the China Development Forum.  The company has facilities in 16 cities in China and is investing in operations in Beijing and Shanghai.  China is Agilent’s second-largest market, after the U.S., according to company officials. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]

·   Aixtron 's merger with Genus was completed after Genus' shareholders approved the merger with a majority of about 61% of the shares entitled to vote at the meeting.  The merger was first announced in July 2004.  Genus is a supplier of atomic layer deposition technology to the semiconductor and hard disk drive industries.  [ Press release ]

·   Alfred University 's School of Engineering received a $10 million endowment from Kyocera Corporation (Japan) for its program in advanced ceramics, biomaterials and photonics.  The research initiative funded by the gift will complement ongoing collaborations between the university and the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) at the University at Albany--SUNY.  Alfred University participates as a member of the CNSE and other joint nanotechnology enabled collaborations in a number of areas, including solid state lighting.  The university intends to rename the school the Kazuo Inamori School of Engineering in honor of the founder and chairman emeritus of Kyocera Corporation. [ Press release ]

·   The Alliance for Solid-State Illumination Systems and Technologies (ASSIST) has published recommendations for defining and measuring LED life for lighting.  The publication, "ASSIST Recommends: LED Life for General Lighting," proposes a definition for the life of LED products for lighting based on light output depreciation and appropriate light levels for different types of lighting applications.  The group recommends 70% lumen maintenance (i.e., a 30% reduction in light output over time) as the useful life for general lighting applications and 50% lumen maintenance for decorative lighting applications.  The document's purpose is to help manufacturers present information to end users in a consistent manner.  ASSIST is a LED industry group organized by RPI's LRC. [ Press release, publication ]

·   Arrowhead Research has exclusively licensed new technology in dip pen nanolithography (DPN) from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), with the intent of commercialization.  Arrowhead also acquired a 12-month option to exclusively license additional patent applications from Caltech covering nanotube-based scanning probes, lipid membrane fabrication, nanotube-based memory devices, and nanotube strain sensors.  The technology could potentially be used for mechanically tunable LEDs.  [ Press release ]

·   AXT appointed Philip C. S. Yin as chief executive officer, replacing interim CEO Donald L. Tatzin.  Yin most recently served as AIXTRON 's North American general manager.  AXT also reduced the workforce at its Beijing manufacturing facility by about 15% (100 positions), for an anticipated annual payroll and related expense savings of about $300,000.  [Press release 1, 2 ]

·   Carmanah has signed an agreement for Australian distribution of its LED lighting technologies with Orion Solar Solutions of Worongary, Queensland.  Orion will represent all of Carmanah's solar-powered LED lights for the marine, aviation, transit and road markets in Australia. [ Press release ]

·   Carmanah has received orders for solar-powered LED runway lighting.  Two contracts totaling Cdn$391,000 are for runways undergoing resurfacing and pavement upgrades, one at Nassau International Airport (Bahamas) and one for a U.S. defense customer.  Carmanah also received a $765K order to supply more than 1,500 solar-powered LED airfield lights for the U.S. Marine Corps.  This new order is for the company's Model A601 and A702 airfield lights, which will be used for runway edge, threshold, taxiway edge, helipad edge, and obstruction lighting at the USMC's second largest air base in the Middle East.  [Press release 1, 2 ]

·   Carmanah received orders for solar LED lighting for transit systems in the U.K. and the U.S.  The company will provide the City of Edinburgh Council with its i-SHELTER™ solar LED bus shelter lighting systems, for a contract totaling $200,597, and will supply four U.S. transportation authorities and municipalities on the west coast with i-SHELTER™ solar LED shelter lighting systems and i-STOP™ solar LED transit stops, a $279,000 order.  [Press release 1, 2 ]

·   Catalyst Semiconductor and Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions have signed a non-exclusive agreement to jointly promote each others' products in the systems solutions they offer to their global solid-state illumination customers.  Catalyst Semiconductor designs and manufactures a family of dedicated circuits for LED backlights, LCD displays and automotive/aircraft interior lighting.  TAOS,  formerly the Texas Instruments optoelectronic business unit, designs and markets a broad range of light sensor product families including color sensors, light-to-frequency converters and ambient light sensors.  [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics will partner with industry veteran David Cunningham to develop advanced, intelligent solid-state lighting solutions for high-performance entertainment, theatrical and architectural applications.  The solutions will be marketed worldwide by Color Kinetics.  Cunningham is credited with designing some of the entertainment industry's most commercially successful lighting products, including ETC's Source Four™ fixture and Sensor™ dimmer lines.  [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics was awarded its third patent relating to intelligent pool and spa lights.  U.S. patent 6,869,204, "Light fixtures for illumination of liquids," relates in part to mechanical advancements, such as those that enable a thin, surface-mounted light. [ Press release ] 

·   Color Kinetics has licensed its intellectual property to James Thomas Engineering in connection with the marketing of James Thomas' Pixel Range line of LED-based products in North America.  The Pixel Range includes high intensity solid-state color changing fixtures for architectural and entertainment applications.  [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics was granted a summary judgment by a U.S. District Court regarding three of the claims made in a lawsuit brought by Super Vision.  The judgment means no trial will be held regarding Super Vision's claims of interference with prospective business relationships, trade disparagement and defamation.  Arguments regarding further summary judgment motions, for claims pertaining to patent validity, enforceability and infringement, are expected to be heard by the court in May 2005.  Super Vision had filed the suit in March 2002.  [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics co-founder and CEO George Mueller was named full-time founder chairman, while Bill Sims, now the company's president and COO, will become president and CEO.  Both remain members of the company's Board of Directors.  The executive transition will be effective July 1, 2005. [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics was awarded two new patents. U.S. Patent 6,888,322, "Systems and methods for color changing device and enclosure," covers a color changing enclosure where illumination is provided by multicolor LED-based sources.  The color changing device could form part of a neon replacement system, tile light, consumer product, computer, peripheral or accessory, for example. U.S. Patent 6,883,929, "Indication systems and methods," covers power generation for LED-based light sources based on a thermoelectric process called the Seebeck Effect, which allows a temperature differential to generate electricity.  For example, the invention could be used to convey the temperature of a stove top through the color of light emitted by a multicolor LED-based source.  [ Press release ]

·   Color Kinetics has designed Cree's high brightness XLamp™ 7090 LED series into a number of architectural and entertainment lighting products.  [ Press release ]

·   Cotco was one of nine companies to receive a “Digital Signage Innovator (DSI) Award,” the first formal recognition of innovation and excellence in the digital signage industry.  The DSI Awards recognize installations in a range of industries, including corporate, retail and transportation.  Cotco received the award in the Corporate Installations category for its interactive touch-screen application. [ item at ECN Asia ]

·   Cree 's CEO and president, Charles M. Swoboda, has been named to the additional role of chairman of the board, succeeding F. Neal Hunter, who recently resigned.  Hunter was a founder of the company and served as CEO from 1994 to 2001.  [ Press release ]

·   Cree has signed two agreements for distribution of its XLamp LEDs.  Vossloh-Schwabe Optoelectronic (Germany) will distribute the products in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, France and the Benelux countries, while Forge Europa (UK) will distribute them in the United Kingdom, other European countries and Russia.  [Press release 1, 2 ]

·   Crystal IS will move to a 10,500-square-foot facility in Green Island, N.Y., not far from its current 6,000-square-foot operations in a Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute incubator building in Watervliet, N.Y.  The move is expected to take place in June 2005. [ Press release ]

·   Diehl Luftfahrt Elektronik (Germany) will provide LED-based main cabin lighting for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  Production of the airplane will begin in 2006, with its first flight in 2007 and certification, delivery and entry into service in 2008.  [Boeing Press release ]

·   Furukawa (Japan) will begin making 2-inch GaN substrates at the end of this year, according to a report at Nikkei.net.  The company is planning to produce 5000 to 6000 units per month by 2008, or about $77 million per year, and will target next-generation DVD applications.  [ News brief at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]

·   Goldeneye has been granted U.S. patent 6,869,206, "Illumination systems utilizing highly reflective LEDs and light recycling to enhance brightness," for a technique that will enable the use of LEDs in large area projection displays.  The patent describes a LED array placed within a highly reflective cavity so that the LEDs absorb very little of the emitted light, improving the source's output. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]

·   i-Vision was featured in an article in icWales.  The company, which has supplied LED lighting systems for a GMTV television show, expects to double their turnover in the next 18 months to two years, partly by increasing exports to central and eastern Europe.  [ Article in icWales ]

·   II-VI Inc, SemiSouth Laboratories and Mississippi State University will jointly establish a SiC semiconductor substrate manufacturing facility in Starkville, Miss.  The effort will focus on II-VI's production capabilities in SiC substrates and SemiSouth's advanced SiC epitaxial material growth technology.  II-VI Inc. also announced that it made an investment in SemiSouth.  Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. [ Press release ]

·   InnovaLight has moved its operations to St. Paul, Minn., from Austin, Texas.  The company's core technology is focused on developing next-generation lighting based on novel luminescent silicon nanocrystals, and is based on work by Dr. Uwe Kortshagen of the University of Minnesota, Dr. Brian Korgel of the University of Texas, and others.  InnovaLight was founded in 2002 and is funded by venture capital firms such as Apax Partners, ARCH Venture Partners, Sevin Rosen Funds, STARTech and Triton Ventures.  The company also has received federal research grants from the DOE, DOD and NSF.  [ Press release ]

·   Intematix announced production availability of the first members of its fully patent-backed phosphor family.  The White Lightning Y450™ and the White Lightning Y460™ deliver YAG-equivalent performance and color benefiting many applications requiring bright, vibrant light.  These include backlighting, camera flash, automotive lighting, large area signage and architectural lighting.  Intematix has licensed its white LED phosphor technology to Advanced Optoelectronic Technology (Taiwan); ITSWELL Co. (Cheongwon Chungbuk, Korea); and LumiMicro (Suwon Gyunggi-do, Korea).  Intematix's approach to creating white LEDs while avoiding intellectual property issues is discussed in a commentary in CompoundSemi News by editor Jo Ann McDonald.  [Press release 1, 2, 3, 4; commentary ]

·   ITRI's Opto-Electronics & Systems Laboratories (OESL) has developed a LED that can operate at 110 V AC without a converter.  According to OESL, the AC LED's light output per watt is more than 50% greater than that of an ordinary LED.  The patent-pending AC-LED has been demonstrated in blue and green and is suitable for many industrial and consumer lighting applications. [ Press release ]

·   Kumho HT Autonix Corp. will expand its business this year by focusing on advanced LED technology instead of conventional bulbs, company Chairman Oh Hong-sik said, adding that he believes his company's products can compete with those of other major bulb producers such as Osram or Philips.  Kumho supplies 90% of the small bulbs for turn signals, dashboards and interiors used by Korean automakers such as Hyundai Motor, Kia Motors and GM Daewoo.  The company was established in 1988 as a joint venture between South Korea's Kumho Electronics Inc. and Japan's Harison Toshiba Lighting Corp. [ News item in Joong Ang Daily ] 

·   Lamina Ceramics added Kaga Electronics to its international distribution network.  Kaga, a Tokyo-based electronics manufacturer and distributor, will sell Lamina’s LED light engines as well as develop and sell products equipped with them.  [ Press release ]

·   Several recent LED-related patent applications were listed in LEDs Magazine.  The applications cover a driver circuit for LED vehicle lamp (assignee is Osram Sylvania) [ application ]; a universal light emitting illumination device and method (assignee is Technology Assessment Group Inc.) [ application ]; a light emission control circuit uniformly and non-uniformly controlling a plurality of light-emitting elements [ application ]; and a LED lamp (assignee is Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.) [ application ].  [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]

·   The Lighting Research Center (LRC) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute announced a new partnership with Boeing to develop innovative and efficient lighting solutions for use aboard commercial aircraft.  The LRC and Boeing will collaborate on projects to evaluate current aircraft interior lighting designs and to specify new lighting concepts and requirements.  Many of the research projects to be conducted through this partnership will focus on lighting solutions for Boeing and its partners/suppliers for the new 787 Dreamliner jet, a super-efficient airplane now in development.  [ Press release ]

·   Lumileds and Future Electronics formed Lumileds Future Electronics, a joint effort to ease development and manufacture of Luxeon-based lighting solutions.  Lumileds Future Electronics intends to enable lighting system manufacturers and designers to easily and quickly engineer, prototype and manufacture solid-state lighting solutions.  Services available through Lumileds Future Electronics and affiliated system integrators and component suppliers include Luxeon assembly, board integration, illumination systems, standard and custom optics, heat management solutions, optimized power solutions, and technical, design and manufacturing support. [ Press release ]

·   Microvision has filed for patent protection relating to a novel display system architecture that would use an array of low-cost LEDs to enable very high resolution displays with extremely wide fields of view.  Potential applications include wearable displays that can simulate the "immersive" viewing experience of a movie theater or a very large high resolution television.  The invention would use an array of conventional, inexpensive LEDs and a simple optical system, an improvement over the cumbersome wide field of view near-eye display systems currently available. [ Press release ]

·   The Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology awarded grants totaling $600,000 to seven faculty research teams, including one for research by Vladimir Bulovic and his team on a new quantum-dot-based light-emitting device for flat-panel displays.  In addition to financial support, the center's network of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and academic and legal experts helps recipients commercialize their innovations.  [ Press release ]

·   N-Hitech (South Korea) exported more than 20 billion won in display parts to Japanese companies last year, according to a feature article in the Korea Times.  N-Hitech makes back light units (BLU) for LCDs, LEDs and lead-free controller boards, and supplies components to companies such as Fuji Xerox and Samsung.  The company's annual sales increased last year by 72%, to 26.8 billion won, from 15.6 billion won in 2003, and it expects to more than double its sales to 58 billion won this year and to 100 billion won in 2006.  The company is developing LED lamps for buildings and automobiles.  [ News item in the Korea Times ]

·   The IP legal battle between Nichia and Shuji Nakamura was discussed in an article titled "Nichia marches on, Nakamura licks wounds and pays lawyers," in the March 2005 issue of Compound Semiconductor Magazine.  Editor Michael Hatcher looks back at the blue-LED case and assesses the reaction of the two protagonists.  [ Article in Compound Semiconductor Magazine ]

·   Nichia expects its LED sales to increase 30% by 2008, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun newspaper.  The company's new four-year plan calls for investing about ¥30 billion ($277 million) in plant and equipment and ¥17 billion in research and development, according to the report.  By 2008, 25% of Nichia's LED sales are expected to be from its current primary application, backlighting of screens in cell phones and other small devices, while large display applications will increase to 18% of sales and automotive applications will total 15%.  The company plans to increase its number of employees from 3700 to 5000 by 2008.  [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]

·   Nichia was to begin selling LEDs for use in personal computers and car navigation systems in March, according to Nikkei.net.  Demand for PC and automotive use LEDs is projected at 150 billion yen and 600 billion yen, respectively.  [ News item at LIGHTimes ]

·   Nichia settled its patent infringement lawsuit with Sharper Image and entered into a business arrangement with the retailer.  Nichia filed a lawsuit in April 2004 alleging that some of the products sold by Sharper Image, such as flashlamps and booklights, infringed U.S. Patent 5,998,925 for a nitride-based emitter and a fluorescent yttrium aluminum garnet (YAG) phosphor.  According to the suit, Sharper Image had purchased devices used in its consumer products from an unnamed third-party Asian LED manufacturer that had not signed a licensing deal with Nichia.  Sharper Image denied the claims.  Details of the new agreement were not released.  [ Press release, News item at CompoundSemiconductor.com ]

·   OptiLED announced a partnership with Philips-Construlita, a division of Philips Lighting in Mexico.  The partnership means OptiLED LED lights will be sold in 55 major stores in Mexico and supplied to hundreds of other lighting distributors, and Philips-Construlita will incorporate OptiLED lamps in its new Terrane product line of in-ground and submersible fixtures.  Philips-Construlita is the largest network of retail lighting stores and exclusive dealers in Mexico.  [ Press release ]

·   Osram will provide its high-brightness Golden Dragon™ LED technology for several of Color Kinetics' intelligent, white, solid-state lighting systems.  Color Kinetics will use the Osram products in systems that feature Color Kinetics' proprietary control and dimming technologies. [ Press release ]

·   Osram filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Citizen Electronics Co. (Japan), claiming Citizen has imported and sold white LEDs that use Osram's patented conversion technology.  Citizen manufactures white LEDs using technology licensed from Nichia, and Nichia and Osram have signed a cross-licensing agreement, allowing the companies access to each other’s technology.  The agreement does not, however, cover third-party access.  The suit was filed in Dusseldorf Regional Court.  [ Press release, Article at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]

·   Permlight and ElectraLED have reached a settlement in the patent infringement lawsuit filed in February 2005, asserting infringement of Permlight's U.S. Patent Nos. 6,712,486 and 6,846,093.  ElectraLED received a license under Permlight's patented LED thermal management technology.  Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.  [ Press release ]

·   Permlight filed a patent infringement lawsuit against GELcore, asserting that GELcore LEDs infringe Permlight's patents, including U.S. Patent No. 6,712,486, "Mounting Arrangement for Light Emitting Diodes"; U.S. Patent No. 6,578,986, "Modular Mounting Arrangement and Method for Light Emitting Diodes"; and U.S. Patent No. 6,846,093, "Modular Mounting Arrangement and Method for Light Emitting Diodes." The patents are related to Permlight's RL, SL, DL, DL2, DL3, DSL, PaletteLight, PaletteLight MINI, Twister and EL Blanco White LED product families.  The complaint requests damages and an injunction against infringement.  [ Press release ]

·   Permlight's El Blanco white LED products were used in a sign that won “Best Illuminated Sign for 2005” at the European Sign Industry Awards.  The sign, for the Intercontinental Hotel Vienna, was fabricated by Ashleigh Signs.  The El Blanco system (900-WHT-12) used on the Intercontinental Hotel used Cree’s XLamp LEDs.  [ Press release ]

·   Koninklijke Philips Electronics (The Netherlands) has applied for an international patent for a mercury-free, low-voltage disinfecting lamp that uses UV LEDs emitting over the 250 to 280 nm wavelength band.  The application, WO 2005/031881 (“LED disinfecting lamp”), covers a LED created from a mixture of semiconductor compounds such as InN, InGaN, AlN or AlGaN and with a conduction band of about 4.7 eV and an emission wavelength of 265 nm.  [ Patent highlights at Optics.org ]

·   Philips has licensed use of its Parousiameter technology to Radiant Imaging.  The Parousiameter is an instrument that measures the appearance of surfaces and characterizes textures, gloss and flip-flop effects as a quality factor for product appearance, and can also be used for characterizing LEDs and other self-luminescent devices.  The output, called the Parousiagram, can help companies to create consistency between surfaces of product elements that are manufactured at different locations.  The high-resolution measurement is 1000 times faster compared to a photogoniometer.  [ Press release ]

·   The Photonics Cluster (UK) has created a "Solid State Lighting and Novel Light Devices" Special Interest Group (SIG), to include a voluntary steering committee of eight representative individuals or organizations in the field.  Issues highlighted for discussion include LED packaging; technology transfer to wider sectors; thermal management; LED classification; system integration issues; LED measurement and lifetime; driving technologies; LED markets and exploitation; training and skills; and the development of conferences, newsletters, forums and workshops.  Volunteers for steering committee posts may contact Photonics Cluster (info@photonicscluster-uk.org) for consideration.  [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]

·   Dr. Jong Ram Lee of Pohang University of Science and Technology (Korea), in cooperation with Seoul Optodevice, has developed a very bright, vertically configured blue LED, which Seoul Optodevice will soon release as a 10-W lamp.  The electrode structure of the group's previous blue LED was horizontal, and brightness and lifetime were diminished when it was activated at high power.  The new LED has a light power 3.5 times greater than the previous device. [ News item from Donga Daily News at ATIP.org ]

·   Rohm (Japan) plans to sell ZnO-based blue LEDs as early as 2007, according to a report in the Japanese online newspaper Nikkei.net.  The ZnO-based LEDs reportedly will be 10 times brighter than current GaN-based blue LEDs, at one-tenth the cost.  Rohm will spend about $10 million to develop the technology over the next three years in collaboration with the Institute of Materials Research at Tohoku University.  [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]

·   SAIC has been awarded a DARPA contract to deliver 800 high-performance solid state flashlight prototypes.  The flashlights will be supplied to deployed U.S. forces in Afghanistan and Iraq for in-the-field experimental evaluation and feedback.  SAIC and SureFire, LLC, a manufacturer of tactical flashlights, have been collaborating for several years to develop new technologies that enhance flashlight performance.  The prototypes will use LEDs from Lumileds.  In addition to the main white-light dimmable output, the flashlights also will be capable of emitting red, green, blue and infrared light.  [ Press release ]

·   Soitec announced that it has generated a single-crystal, thin-film GaN-on-insulator substrate, which it says is the world's first.  The breakthrough is an important step forward in enabling the development of high-performance blue and white LEDs, as well as for improving current and future device performance in radio-frequency and discrete power applications.  The development was made using Soitec's proprietary Smart Cut™ layer-transfer and wafer-bonding technology.  The Soitec team worked in collaboration with Soitec's Picogiga division at the Smart Cut Enabling Application Laboratory, a joint technology development program between the Soitec Group and French research consortium CEA-Leti.  Production quantities of GaN-on-insulator wafers will not be available, however, until bulk GaN substrates become more affordable and widely used: Picogiga says commercialization is not expected until 2006