2005 Archived Selected Headlines of Solid-State Lighting Headlines News

November 30, 2005	Lamina Ceramics introduced the BL-4000 Warm White LED light engine, which produces 95 lm at a 3000 K color temperature and consumes 5.3 W. The device is intended as an alternative to halogen and tungsten incandescent lamps. [ Press release ]
November 29, 2005	Strategies Unlimited analyst Bob Steele said that out of a total of 30 companies selling epitaxial wafers and/or HB-LED chips into the market in 2004, the top three suppliers accounted for over half of the sales of these materials. In the latest analysis of the industry by the company, Steele also said that while more than 100 companies are now selling HB-LEDs at different levels of the supply chain, there is still room for innovative new entrants. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
November 28, 2005	Agilent has completed the sale of its stake in Lumileds to Royal Philips Electronics for about $950 million, plus repayment of $50 million of debt from Lumileds. The divestiture is one in a series of actions Agilent announced in August. [ Press release ]
November 25, 2005	Epistar president Biing-jye Lee discussed LED market trends, Epistar's merger with United Epitaxy, competition with South Korean and Chinese LED makers, and more in an interview published in DigiTimes. Lee said he sees mergers as "the future trend for the Taiwan LED industry." [ News item at Digitimes - no URL available ]
November 23, 2005	Osram has increased the luminous efficacy and extended the color palette of the Power TopLED. In addition to amber (617 nm), Power TopLEDs are now available in yellow (590 nm), orange (606 nm), red (625 nm) and super red (633 nm) in the previous brightness levels and also in brighter versions. The orange Power TopLED, for example, is available in 3 lm and 7 lm versions. The new LEDs are up to 150% more efficient than before. [ Press release ]
November 22, 2005	Researchers at Seoul National University have more than doubled the output power of GaN-based LEDs by using a holographic process that etches a two-dimensional photonic crystal into the device. The holographic method creates an array of air holes within the device and is better suited for large area processing with high throughput than is electron-beam lithography. Research results were published in Applied Physics Letters as "Enhanced light extraction from GaN-based light-emitting diodes with holographically generated two-dimensional photonic crystal patterns," by Dong-Ho Kim, et al. (87 203508). [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net, abstract ]
November 22, 2005	DOE released the Solid-State Lighting (SSL) Product Development funding opportunity. The National Energy Technology Laboratory (Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Building Technologies Program) is soliciting applications in support of this SSL program area. The objective of the Product Development opportunity is to solicit applications from industrial organizations to examine certain high-priority product development activities that will advance the state-of-the-art of SSL used for general illumination applications. Technical activities are to be focused on a targeted market application with fully defined price, efficacy, and other performance parameters necessary for success of the proposed product. [ Announcement; solicitation ]
November 21, 2005	Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA) executive director Michael Lebby expects the HB-LED market to grow to more than $7 billion by 2009, led by rapid growth in noncommunications markets such as mobile appliances, signs and displays, signals, illumination and particularly the automotive industry. Lebby, speaking at SPIE's Optics East 2005 meeting held in October in Boston, said white LEDS will likely appear in consumer vehicles in 2007 or 2008 as headlights, interior lighting, day-running front sidelight, indicator lights and backlights for dash consoles. [ News item at Photonics.com ]
November 21, 2005	Taiwan's National Central University (NCU), Optical Science Center, has purchased an Aixtron Thomas Swan 3x2" Close Coupled Showerhead GaN epitaxy reactor. The system will be used to provide high quality GaN-based epitaxial materials for research on a wide range of LED structures. [ Press release ]
November 21, 2005	Researchers at Brown University have developed what they say is the first directly pumped silicon laser by changing the structure of the silicon crystal through a novel nanoscale technique. The team, led by engineering and physics professor Jimmy Xu, created a template of anodized aluminum which they used as a mask while drilling holes in the silicon using an ion beam. Research results were published in an advanced online publication of Nature Materials. [ Press release ]
November 18, 2005	University of Exeter researchers have discovered that the light-extraction system that allows butterfly wings to emit blue-green light is analogous to that used in LEDs. A team led by Pete Vukusic found that the efficient extraction of fluorescence from wing scales of African Swallowtail butterflies is facilitated by a two-dimensional photonic crystal slab that uses a multilayer to help control emission direction. Research results were published as "Directionally Controlled Fluorescence Emission in Butterflies," by P. Vukusic and I. Hooper, in the Nov. 18, 2005, issue of Science. [ Press release, abstract ]
November 15 & 22, 2005	Researchers at Meijo University of Science and Technology (Nagoya, Japan) have developed a white LED that reportedly achieves 130 lm/W, according to LIGHTimes and Nikkei Business Daily. The team, led by Satoshi Kamiyama, made the device from a purple LED with a phosphor coating, using a SiC substrate. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net, news item at LIGHTimes ]
November 15, 2005	Formosa Epitaxy introduced a green LED chip that reportedly achieves 60 lm/W. The chip, which the company says is the world's brightest green LED, is intended for use in RGB LEDs for large-size panel backlighting. [ News item at Digitimes (registration required)]
November 14, 2005	Osram has licensed its white LED technology to Lednium (Australia). The agreement allows Lednium to use white LEDs containing blue-emitting InGaN chips and a phosphor converter in its multi-chip, geodesic-dome-shaped LED lamps. [ Press release ]
November 14, 2005	KLA-Tencor introduced the Candela CS20 automated wafer inspection system aimed at HB-LED manufacturing. The system combines four detection methods (optical profilometry, scatterometry, phase shift and reflectometry) to inspect transparent wafers and epi layers for micro-pits and other defects, non-destructively and at throughputs of up to 25 wafers per hour. [ News item at NE Asia Online ]
November 10, 2005	MPP Corp. (Osceola, Wisc.) has agreed to stop manufacturing products which Nichia claims infringe its LED patents. Some distributors are now marketing products with labels indicating they contain Nichia LEDs inside, which the company apparently sees as a satisfactory solution. [ Nichia press release ]
November 10, 2005	Lumileds filed patent infringement complaints against Epistar and United Epitaxy at the U.S. International Trade Commission and in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Lumileds accuses Epistar's omnidirectional mirror adhesion AlGaInP LED products and UEC's metal bond and glue bond AlGaInP LED products of infringing one or more of Lumileds' U.S. patents 5,008,718; 5,376,580; and 5,502,316. Epistar and United Epitaxy have denied the claims. [ Press release, news item at LIGHTimes ]
November 9, 2005	NanoMarkets and CIR expect the combined HB-LED and UHB-LED market to grow from $5.0 billion in 2006 to $10.8 billion in 2010 and $17.4 billion in 2013, according to the recently published market report, "The Global Market for HB-LEDs." NanoMarkets analysts Lawrence Gasman and Robert Nolan also stress that for SSL to penetrate mainstream lighting applications, the industry must address a range of problems, including more transparency and cooperation between different levels of the industry supply chain; a greater marketing emphasis on the consumer benefits of LEDs; and new characterization standards. [ Press release, news item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
November 8, 2005	OptiLED introduced its S6 LED pseudo-filament lamp, intended to replace incandescent S6 glass light bulbs. The 0.5W lamp is available in red, green, blue, amber, white, and warm white. The OptiLED S6 is suitable for applications including marquees, retail, hospitality, staging and residential environments that require a bright-colored lighting effect while offering low power consumption and heat output. [ Press release at CompoundSemi.com ]
November 8, 2005	Edison Opto (Taiwan) was awarded government funding to develop a 100 W white LED with an output of 7000 lm and a luminous efficacy of 70 lm/W. Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs, Department of Industrial Technology, will subsidize part of the cost of the $600,000 project. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
November 7, 2005	Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has prioritized eight industries, including LED lighting, for developing "green" energy sources, with the aim of boosting the overall annual production value of such industries to NT$159.3 billion by 2010, according to the "Green Energy Industry Plan" just completed by the ministry. To encourage the development of these industries, which also include solar power, solar water heating systems, wind power, bio-diesel fuel, hydrogen powered fuel cells, freezing and air conditioning, and gasoline/electric hybrid autos, the MOEA will provide incentives and expects to induce private investments worth NT$24.6 billion. [ News item at Taiwan Headlines ]
November 7, 2005	Showa Denko launched GaN-based LED chips in near ultraviolet, for use in general white lighting, and in green, for backlighting of large LCD screens. The near-UV flip-chip LED achieves 14 mW at about 400 nm and was created by means of the UV-LED epitaxial wafer technology developed as part of the high-efficiency electro-optic conversion compound semiconductor development program (the "Light for the 21st Century" project) of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). The new green LEDs have a face-up structure and emit 6.5 mW (400 mcd) at 505 nm (bluish green) and 6 mW (500 mcd) at 525 nm. [ News item at JCN Network ]
November 7, 2005	Nitto Denko has developed a nano-scale YAG phosphor material using a physical vapor process suited to mass production, in collaboration with an unnamed U.S.-based venture company. The material has an average particle size of 40 nm and an internal quantum efficiency of 70%. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
November 2005	Toyoda Gosei has disclosed that the phosphor material used in its blue LED (and other chips producing white light) is a barium ortho-silicate (BOS) material, rather than the conventional YAG-based phosphor. Toyoda Gosei has developed four BOS phosphors by tweaking the ratio of constituents, and has found that using more than one yellow phosphor with a blue LED allows for adjustments to the final white color. [ "Improving White LED Yield with Two Types of Yellow Phosphor" in Nikkei Electronics Asia ]
October 27, 2005	Everlight Electronics (Taiwan) plans a $14.9 million expansion in 2006, according to DigiTimes and LEDs Magazine. Everlight's total monthly LED capacity will increase from 372 million units to 650 million units by the end of 2006, according to company chairman Robert Yeh. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
October 26, 2005	Tekcore, Epitech, and Advanced Optoelectronics Technology Inc. were ranked among Deloitte's "Fast 50 Technology Companies in Taiwan." LED manufacturer Tekcore, which increased its revenue 1043% in the last three years, was also selected for Deloitte's "Top 500 High-Tech Growth Companies in Asia-Pacific Area." Epitech and Advanced Optoelectronics also had large increases in revenues in the past three years (702% and 415%, respectively). [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
October 26, 2005	Seoul Semiconductors introduced the Z-Power P3 series of high-power LED packages, including a white LED that achieves a luminous efficacy of 40 lm/W and luminous flux of 52 lm at 350 mA. The P3 Warm White emits 35 lm, which the company says is the world's brightest. The series also includes a package containing eight high-power red, green, blue, white, warm white, amber, cyan, and royal blue chips. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
October 26, 2005	Nichia introduced a line of 200-lm and 400-lm white LEDs, and new Rigel products, including one whose efficacy does not fall dramatically for warmer white devices. The mid-power Rigel is a 150 mA, 0.5 W device with an efficacy of 38 lm/W for cool white (4600-9000 K) and 31 lm/W for the warm white incandescent-equivalent (2800 K). The 1.0 W Power Rigel (40 lm, 350 mA) is expected to become the most cost-effective power white LED on the market, according to a Nichia spokesperson. Nichia has also developed 200-lm (5.5-W) and 400-lm (11-W) devices for automotive forward lighting, under the name Kirameki. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
October 26, 2005	NeoPac introduced a new 80-W NeoBulb� Combo series product, called Array, that is based on a matrix array design with a double-row module of 10 LEDs at 8 W each. The Array emits more than 2,000 lm, and can be used in a variety of indoor and outdoor settings. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
October 25, 2005	U.K.'s Department of Trade and Industry will send a group to Japan and the U.S. to look at emerging solid-state lighting technologies and assess their potential for use in the U.K. Representatives from academia and industry will spend 10 days in each country in November and December. [ News item in Leeds Today ]
October 25, 2005	SemiLED, a new GaN-based LED company, was started by Trung Doan and Chuong Tran. The U.S.-funded startup has headquarters in Silicon Valley, with operations in Taiwan. The company's first product is MvpLED (Metal Vertical Photon Light Emitting Diode), a GaN-based vertical LED. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
October 21, 2005	Former Cree co-founder Neal Hunter and others have founded a company, temporarily named LED Lighting Fixtures Inc., to develop LED-based lighting fixtures. The new company plans to open offices in North Carolina and Hong Kong and is now being funded by the founders: Hunter, Gerry Negley, Antony van de Ven, and Tom Coleman. [ News item at Photonics.com ]
October 20, 2005	Cree's quarterly revenue exceeded $100 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2006, a new record. The $103,856,000 quarterly revenue represents an 8% increase over the same period last year. [ Press release ]
October 19, 2005	Osram demonstrated a laptop display featuring LED backlighting which draws 5.5 W and achieves a luminance of 220 cd/m2, outperforming conventional units that need 8 W to 10 W to produce an average luminance of 200 cd/m2. The demonstration was made at the Flat Panel Display Fair in Yokohama. [ Press release ]
October 19, 2005	Nitto Denko has developed a YAG phosphor in the form of a nanopowder for use in the fabrication of white LEDs, according to The Nikkei Business Daily and LIGHTimes. The development, made in collaboration with an unnamed U.S. venture company, should result in less light scattering, greater light emitting efficiency, and lower power consumption than with conventional phosphors. [ News item at LIGHTimes, company press release ]
October 18, 2005	Researchers at Vanderbilt University have developed quantum dots that emit warm white light. The pyrolytically synthesized CdSe nanocrystals exhibit broadband emission (420-710 nm) that covers most of the visible spectrum while not suffering from self absorption. Research results were published online as "White-Light Emission from Magic-Sized Cadmium Selenide Nanocrystals," by M.J. Bowers et al., Journal of the American Chemical Society, Oct. 18, 2005. [ Press release, abstract ]
October 14, 2005	Permlight Products has begun shipping its Enbryten Under ENBU Series of dimmable LED under-cabinet lighting fixtures for residential applications. The ENBU Series, which features Cree's XLamp Power LEDs, is the first production product to use Permlight's new phase control dimmable technology that operates on line voltage (120VAC) and works with any off-the-shelf dimmer. [ Press release ]
October 14, 2005	Optek Technology has signed a solid-state lighting research and development, manufacturing and marketing agreement with Lednium, an Australia-based advanced LED manufacturer. Optek will develop a series of solid-state lighting products using Lednium packaging technology, according to the agreement. [ News item at Photonics.com ]
October 14, 2005	Dominant Semiconductors introduced the 1-W Nova-LED series in blue, true green, yellow, red and white. Target applications include automotive signals, channel lighting, general lighting and more. [ News item at EETimes Asia ]
October 13, 2005	Pira-Intertech launched a biweekly newsletter, "LEDs in lighting and display news," which tracks the latest developments in backlighting and solid-state lighting applications for LEDs. Pira International, a UK-based supplier of information and business solutions, recently acquired Intertech, a conference organizer based in Portland, Maine. [ News item in LEDs Magazine; subscription information ]
October 13, 2005	Japan's Fisheries Agency plans to expedite the use of LED-based fish-collecting lamps to shield fishermen from the impact of crude oil price surges, a decision made at the inaugural meeting of a public-private council for promoting the use of such lamps. [ News item at Japan Today ]
October 6, 2005	JP Sercel Associates (JPSA) has developed a scribing process for four-inch LED wafers. The process uses JPSA's ChromaDice ultraviolet diode-pumped solid-state laser system, which delivers high-speed wafer scribing with typical yields greater than 99 percent at very low operating costs, according to the company. [ News item at Photonics.com ]
October 2005	LEDs Magazine published a feature article on the many patents, cross-licensing agreements and infringement lawsuits involving the "big five" white LED manufacturers, and the future of smaller companies in the industry. The article, "Small companies fight for a foothold in white LED sector," by Andrew Phillips of phconsult Ltd, features a helpful diagram of key intellectual property relationships, and concludes that it may be possible that no company holds a valid patent for a white light source involving a blue LED and a standard YAG:Ce phosphor. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
October 2005	LEDs Magazine published a feature article on multi-watt LED light engines. The article, "Multi-watt LED light engines offer challenges and opportunities," by Gareth Jones of Enfis, discusses issues such as niche market applications and design challenges, and concludes that standardization of arrays, connectors, optics, thermal management systems and electronic designs are necessary to reduce costs. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
Event	The U.S. Department of Energy will hold a workshop on solid-state lighting on Feb. 1-3, 2006, in Orlando, Fla. The workshop is intended to bring together SSL experts to address the multi-disciplinary, multi-industry, science-to-market challenges facing SSL technology. The workshop provides a forum for sharing updates on DOE's SSL portfolio, projects, and progress. The agenda will include a series of brief presentations from researchers involved in DOE-funded projects. Additional information is forthcoming. [ No URL available ]
Funding Opportunity	DOE's FY06 SBIR solicitation includes topics relevant to solid-state lighting. Topic 24, "Solid-State Light Emitting Diodes for General Illumination," includes projects in high efficiency visible and near UV (>380 nm) semiconductor materials for LED-based general illumination technology; high efficiency materials for OLED-based general illumination; advanced phosphors for UV or blue LEDs; and advanced materials for thermal management in III-nitride LEDs. Topic 22, "Nanotechnology," includes a subtopic on solid state lighting in buildings. Proposals are due Dec. 2, 2005. [ SBIR information]
October 17, 2005 issue	Forbes Global published a feature article on China's adoption of solid-state lighting for energy savings. The article, "Lighten up," by Bob Johnstone, quotes Robert C. Walker of ELite Optoelectronics, who predicts that China will be the first country to make the move to LED-based lighting, with other Asian countries second, Europe third, and the U.S. last to adopt it. Wu Ling, director of the China SSL alliance, expects Beijing's next five-year plan to contain a major increase in spending on SSL R&D (roughly $17 M has been spent since January 2003). Thus far, Ling estimates that $725 M in private and public funding has been invested in China's domestic SSL industry. [ Feature article in Forbes Global ]
October 10, 2005	Samsung Electro-Mechanics (Korea) plans to begin marketing LEDs for backlighting and general illumination next year. The company, which now makes LEDs for mobile phone applications, will initially focus on LED backlighting for car navigation systems and 40-inch LCD TVs, and will eventually produce a full line of LED backlighting products. [ News item at EE Times ]
October 10, 2005	Lumileds reports that in the seven years its products have been used by Dialight, not one LED has failed in the field. Dialight uses Lumileds' Luxeon LEDs in traffic signals and other products, and has used more than 17 million Luxeon light sources without incident or failure since 1998. [ Press release ]
October 7, 2005	Epistar Corp. and United Epitaxy Co. have officially merged under the Epistar name, which is expected to be the world's largest supplier of AlGaInP LEDs. Combined production facilities have a total of 80 MOCVD machines, and combined total monthly output of 300 million blue LEDs and 25 million HB LEDs, apart from AlGaInP LED production. [ News item at Global Sources ]
October 6, 2005	Aixtron AG completed the installation of a Thomas Swan 19x2" Close Coupled Showerhead GaN production reactor at Blue Photonics, Inc. (Walnut, CA). The new system will be used to produce high quality GaN-based epitaxial materials for a variety of products including high-power transistors, blue laser diodes, high efficiency blue, green and white LEDs, and solar-blind photo-detectors. BPI is a start-up company specializing in GaN-based materials. [ Press release ]
October 2005	The MRS Bulletin's Science Policy section featured "Searching for a U.K. Energy Policy with LEDs." The item notes Cambridge University researcher Colin Humphrey's comments on support of LED lighting by the U.K. government at a recent London meeting of the photonics community. According to author Michael Kenward, Humphreys' message was that "if the United States can put more than $50 million into its next generation lighting program, while the Korean government plans to spend $100 million between 2005 and 2008 to develop an LED industry, why will the United Kingdom not provide support?" [ Article ]
September 30, 2005	The Chinese Academy of Sciences plans to build 10 interdisciplinary research bases to promote scientific innovation, in the areas of information technology, space technology, advanced energy technology, nanotechnology and other new materials, life sciences, advanced bioengineering, advanced agriculture, ecological and environmental technology, resources and marine biology. An outline for building the research bases will be worked out in November, with the plan scheduled to begin in early 2006. [ News item at Small Times ]
September 29, 2005	Rensselaer's Lighting Research Center has been selected by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to join its "Centers of Excellence" program. The LRC will apply its expertise in the area of solid-state lighting and vision science to provide new lighting solutions that benefit the aviation industry, as part of the Center of Excellence for Airport Technology. [ Press release ]
September 29, 2005	Seoul Semiconductor plans to market to Japan its high-brightness white LEDs for backlighting in LCD monitors and TV sets, according to Nikkei Business Daily and LEDs Magazine. The company has set up an office in Japan and plans to use local agents such as Kaga Electronics Co. and others. Shipments of white LED samples have already begun, and the company will also market its RGB backlight LEDs in Japan. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
September 28, 2005	Researchers at Ohio University and the Universitat Aut�noma de Barcelona have used scanning tunneling microscopy to study the surface structure of cubic gallium nitride, and their findings bring into question the existence of linear Ga tetramers. The new research could help scientists learn how to use cubic gallium nitride as a new semiconductor for lasers, display technologies, and bright blue LED applications. Research results were published as "Scanning Tunneling Microscopy and Surface Simulation of Zinc-Blende GaN(001) Intrinsic 4� Reconstruction: Linear Gallium Tetramers?", H.A.H. Al-Brithen, et.al, Physical Review Letters (95), 146102, 2005. [ Press release, abstract ]
September 28, 2005	The European Commission (EC) has launched a new project, Merging Optics and Nanotechnologies (MONA), to coordinate research in those fields. The project, which is part of the Sixth EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP-6), is led by CEA-LETI, the Laboratory of Electronics and Information Technologies, based in Grenoble, France, and includes industry and research organizations from six European countries and regions. Aixtron is one of the participants. [ News item at Photonics.com ]
September 27, 2005	Infinilux introduced a light engine that produces 150 lm of white (6500K) light. The InfiniPower, the first in a planned series, is a 2.40" (61mm) diameter module based on Cree XLamp� technology that incorporates a proprietary 0.157-inch (4 mm) thick metal core printed circuit board (MCPCB), for thermal management. The InfiniPower IP-3 Series operates on 9-12 VDC at 350 mA and features a standard 100-degree viewing angle. [ Press release, data sheet ]
September 22, 2005	University of Victoria in British Columbia (Canada) researchers have developed a composite material that generates white light by up-conversion when pumped by a 980-nm laser. The color of the emission can be tuned by adjusting either material concentrations in the nanoparticles or the relative concentrations of nanoparticles themselves. Research results were published as "Bright White Light through Up-Conversion of a Single NIR Source from Sol-Gel-Derived Thin Film Made with Ln3+-Doped LaF3 Nanoparticles," S. Sivakumar, et.al., Journal of the American Chemical Society 127 (36), 12464 -12465, 2005. [ See "The Next Great White Hope?" news item at materials@Nature.com - Nanozone (registration required), abstract ]
September 22, 2005	Cree is now taking orders for 100 mm (4-inch) n-type SiC substrates and epitaxy material. The availability of single crystal SiC in the100-mm format may allow Cree's customers to double the number of devices produced per wafer compared with current production on 3-inch material, according to the company. [ Press release ]
September 21, 2005	Ya Hsin Industrial (Taiwan) has signed a licensing contract for white LEDs with Osram, according to LEDs Magazine and DigiTimes. Other Taiwan-based LED makers that have recently licensed Osram's white-LED patent technology include Harvatek, Everlight Electronics and Lite-On Technology. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
September 21, 2005	Researchers at the University of California at Santa Barbara, the University of Tsukuba and the Tokyo University of Science have developed a new class of GaN semiconductor thin films, termed semipolar and nonpolar GaN, which are expected to allow higher wall-plug efficiencies in LEDs and laser diodes based on them. The research was performed as part of the Nakamura Inhomogeneous Crystal project, headed by UCSB's Shuji Nakamura and supported by the Japanese Science and Technology Corporation's Exploratory Research and Advanced Technology (ERATO) program. [ Press release ]
EVENT	The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) plans an "International Symposium on Solid State Lighting, LED and Illumination Design" to be held Sept. 26, 2005. The symposium aims to introduce the latest developments and applications of illumination technologies and address business opportunities for local manufacturers. Industry experts from the U.S., Spain, Singapore, China's Mainland, Taiwan and Hong Kong will present updates on market trends and technologies. [ News item at People's Daily Online ]
EVENT	"The Future of Light: The 9th Annual Executive Symposium on Emerging Business Opportunities in Photonics" will be held November 10, 2005 at the Photonics Center at Boston University. Leading industry and government experts will present their perspective on the current status and future outlook of the photonics industry. The objective is to provide the audience with insight into how photonics will impact the society/economy over the next five to ten years. [ Symposium information ]
September 15, 2005	A U.S. District Court has dismissed the lawsuit filed by Super Vision against Color Kinetics, alleging infringement of U.S. Patent No. 4,962,687. The court determined that Super Vision was not the owner of the patent but a non-exclusive licensee, with no right to enforce the patent. [ Color Kinetics press release ]
September 14, 2005	Dow Corning announced the formation of a new Light Management group to commercialize the company's photonics innovations. It aims to help customers develop and commercialize applications that rely on the emission, transmission, amplification, detection, modulation and switching of light. The initial focus of the group includes commercializing encapsulants and lenses for LEDs as well as materials for optical assemblies, fiber optics and light pipe/guidance applications. [ Press release ]
September 12, 2005	Japan's Environment Ministry will offer subsidies to switch to LEDs starting in FY06, according to Nikkei Net Interactive as reported in LIGHTimes. The program will pay businesses up to one-third of the cost of installation of LEDs for lighting needs. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
September 8, 2005	Taiwan LED makers have seen unit prices for handset keypads with blue LEDs decrease by half this year, according to a Digitimes article as reported in LIGHTimes. The unit prices decreased from NT$1.3-1.5 to NT$0.7-0.8, and sources predict they could fall to NT$0.55. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
September 7, 2005	Intematix has entered into agreements with two Taiwanese companies for use of its white LED phosphor. Edison Opto will use Intematix's White Lightning Y450/Y460 phosphor in its core and emerging businesses, which include applications such as power LEDs, LCD backlighting, camera flashes, emerging general illumination and architectural solutions. ProLight Opto Technology Corporation will license the phosphor from Intematix for use in a variety of applications in the white LED market. [ News item at EETimes Asia, article at TMCNet, news item at LIGHTimes ]
September 7,2005	Toshiba has developed a portable LED pocket projector that can be used to connect to 3G multimedia handsets. The LED projector weighs 565 g; features SVGA (800 x 600) resolution using a 0.55-in. digital mirror device (DMD) chip; has a contrast ratio of 1500:1; and uses USB connectivity. The projector is set to be available by year-end, and will sell for 999 euros (about $1,250). [ News item at PC Pro ]
September 7, 2005	Super Vision plans to open a new training center for its customers and distributors in October 2005. The project is focused on showcasing its new SaVi� brand LED lighting systems and controls and the latest in fiber optic lighting products. The new center features a 64-seat classroom, and retail, commercial, signage and residential application vignettes where customers can see the products in use. [ Press release ]
September 7,2005	Dominant Semiconductors (Malaysia) launched a new range of white LEDs using a non-YAG phosphor encapsulated with "superior" epoxy. The LEDs are suitable for use in general lighting, backlights in mobile phone displays, mobile flash LEDs, and car instrument panels. The products are offered in a variety of packaging and a wide range of spectra under the CIE curve. [ News item at EETimes Asia (registration required) ]
September 6, 2005	The Indian government plans to set up nanoelectronics centers at the Indian Institute of Technology in Bombay (IITB) and the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore (IISc). The centers will develop a variety of technologies, including GaN devices at IITB. Both centers will operate under the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology's Microelectronics and Nanotechnology Development Program. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
September 6, 2005	BivarOpto introduced a 3-W LED module that features 90-lm brightness with improved thermal management properties. Based on the latest Cree XLamp technology, the new LK3 series is provided in a compact ready-to-use module that is packaged onto a metal core PC-board (MCPCB) base, using standard reflow technologies to achieve electrical and thermal connections without epoxy. The device is available in wavelengths from 465 nm to 635 nm, and also in white to 8,000 K. [ News item at EETimes Asia ]
September 5, 2005	Epson has developed a prototype mini-projector using an LED light source. The mini-projector, which has a 13.8 by 10.3 cm footprint and weighs 500 g, was shown at the IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany. The company has no immediate plans to market the device. [ News item at Physorg.com ]
September 2, 2005	Neo-Neon has received a U.S. patent for its flexible LED cable lighting system, LED Duraflex Mini Flat. U.S. patent 6,914,194, "Flexible LED cable light," describes a flexible LED cable light which has a flat insulation body, at least two wires embedded in parallel in the insulation body, multiple LEDs connected in parallel electrically to the two wires and a protective layer covering the insulation body. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
September 2, 2005	Cree announced that XLamp 7090 LEDs in development have demonstrated maximum luminous flux of 86 lm and 70 lm/W at 350 mA. This represents a 43 percent increase in brightness compared with the maximum luminous flux of white XLamp 7090 power LEDs currently in production. The press release quotes Steve Johnson, head of the Lighting Research Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, as saying "these performance results indicate that the LED industry is at least two years closer to achieving the holy grail of 150 lumens per watt." [ Press release ]
August 31, 2005	Philips Research has developed a fabric that incorporates multicolored LEDs. Potential applications of the SMS Fabric include displaying text or images from a cell phone message. The LED substrates are also capable of displaying Windows Media Player-style visualizations and feature responsive sensors so that the patterns of diffused light displayed can change according to how they are handled. Philips showed prototypes of the fabric at the Internationale Funkausstellung 2005 consumer electronics show in Berlin. [ News item at TravelGizmo, item in Philips' Password Magazine ]
August 31, 2005	Color Kinetics received a fourth patent relating to intelligent pool and spa lights. U.S. patent 6,936,978, "Methods and apparatus for remotely controlled illumination of liquids," relates to remote control of a variable color (hue, saturation) and intensity of light output from an LED-based pool or spa light. [ Press release ]
August 31, 2005	Accent Optical Technologies has developed a novel etch process for electrochemical CV (ECV) carrier concentration profiling of p-doped GaN. "Achieving a high concentration of holes in p-type GaN is one of the most critical steps in the manufacture of HB LEDs," say the company. ECV profiling directly measures the electrically active carrier concentration, which has direct influence on key performance parameters such as forward voltage and contact resistance. The new method produces a flat and consistent etch profile that enables ECV profiling of complete device structures, according to the company. [ Press release ]
August 31, 2005	In the article, "Light bulbs - the neglected power consumer," author Paul Mighetto of Berkeley Reclaimed Light reports that LED light bulbs combining high-power devices and excellent thermal management can replace standard incandescent bulbs and overcome the drawbacks of LED fixtures. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
August 30, 2005	Nanosys has licensed two patents from MIT covering technology to allow semiconductor quantum dots, or nanocrystals, to be used as down converting phosphors for white and colored light emission. U.S. Patents 6,890,777 and 6,914,265, both titled "Quantum Dot White and Colored Light Emitting Diodes," were issued in May and July 2005 and cover "critical features of quantum dots, including fundamental new compositions of matter to significantly increase performance and capability." [ Press release ]
July/August 2005	Two research firms recently published reports on the LED industry: Ø iSuppli Corp. published a market analysis report that concludes LEDs will become a significant part of the general purpose lighting market, but not until 2010. Price erosion in the backlighting market means suppliers will need to search for new markets, but most are not yet ready for commercialization, according to the report. This will slow growth in the HB-LED sector to an estimated 10% this year, compared with a recent average of about 50%. The ultra high brightness LED (UHB-LEDs) market was worth about $100 million in 2004, according to the report, and by the end of the decade, UHB-LEDs will command an estimated market of $2.3 billion. This figure would represent around 32% of a total LED market worth $7.4 billion in 2010. [ News item in Compound Semiconductor ] Ø Strategies Unlimited published "High-Brightness LED Market Review and Forecast - 2005," its sixth report on LED applications and markets. The market for HB LEDs has grown at an average annual rate of 46% since 1995, reaching $3.7 billion in 2004, according to the report. In recent years, much of this growth has been driven by the increasing use of HB LEDs in mobile appliances, and this segment accounted for 57% of the HB LED market in 2004. [ Press release ] Ø LIGHTimes commented on the two reports in an "Apples to Oranges Comparison of LED Market Predictions." [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
August 25, 2005	Roxboro (Huntingdon, U.K.) will focus on its LED lighting business, Dialight, after selling its electronic measurement business Solatron to Ametek Inc. for �42.1m cash, and returning �46.6m to shareholders. Dialight (New Jersey) is established in the road and rail signals sector and is a market leader in the emerging solid state lighting sector where LED technology is replacing conventional light sources, according to the company. [ Article in the Cambridge Evening News ]
August 24, 2005	Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center studied chromaticity shifts due to dimming in high-power white LEDs. Both continuous current reduction and pulse-width-modulation dimming schemes were studied. Under either scheme, phosphor-coated white LEDs showed small chromaticity shifts while an RGB mixed-color system suffered large chromaticity shifts. Research results will be published as "Impact of dimming white LEDs: Chromaticity shifts due to different dimming methods," by Dyble, M., N. Narendran, A. Bierman, and T. Klein, Fifth International Conference on Solid State Lighting, Proceedings of SPIE 5941, 2005. [ Research summary ]
August 23, 2005	Yokohama Electron (Japan) introduced a new line of high-power LED lighting devices. The CupLight, TopLight, PositionLight, and custom StarLight modules are available in production volumes and in a range of single colors, including UV, and all-in-one RGB package styles providing multi-color dynamic digital white. Power ratings vary from 0.2 W for a miniature Surface Mountable Device (SMD) to 15 W for a custom high radiance flat plate illuminator. [ Press release at PRWeb ]
August 22, 2005	The Taiwanese government will funnel at least NT$1.6 billion (US$49.84 million) into the development of six emerging technologies, according to comments made by Premier Frank Hsieh at the recent Strategic Review Board meeting, reported in Taiwan Economic News. Hsieh also "instructed the government sector to take the initiative to adopt the development results of the new six emerging technologies so as to stimulate the investment willingness of private enterprises. For instance, Hsieh noted, the government units can cut power consumption and meet related requirements from the Kyoto Protocol if they "adopt white-light LED light fixtures." [ News item at Taiwan Economic News ]
August 22, 2005	Technologies and Devices International (TDI) has demonstrated novel 2-inch diameter InN-on-sapphire templates and InN/GaN heterostructures, a significant step in the development of advanced HVPE technology for group III nitride products. The new process, developed in collaboration with the Army Research Laboratory and Texas Technical University, allows deposition of InN epitaxial layers or 3-dimentional nano-size structures in a controllable manner. [ Press release at Market Wire ]
August 22, 2005	A U.S. District Court granted all of Color Kinetics' motions for summary judgment against Super Vision, finding not only that Super Vision's claims were invalid but also that the company was infringing Color Kinetics' patents. The ruling means that no trial will be held. The ruling pertains to a group of five Color Kinetics patents, three of Super Vision's current color-changing LED products, and two products that are no longer sold. [ Press release, news item at LEDs Magazine ]
August 19, 2005	Sololuce Srl (Milan, Italy) has developed a new LED light engine based on chip-on-board (COB) technology. The Power Giant delivers 560 lm at 15 W with a color temperature of 3500K by using 16 large, high-power (1 x 1 mm) chips, with an approximate power of 15 W. Sololuce plans to mass produce the platform by the end of 2005, and to achieve more than 800 lumens in warm white (3500K) by mid-2006. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
August 18, 2005	Researcher Ji Ung Lee and a team at GE Global Research have developed an "ideal" carbon nanotube diode that operates at the "theoretical limit," or best possible performance. The GE team formed the p- and n-regions by using an electrostatic doping technique using two separate gates that couple to two halves of a single carbon nanotube, and discovered that an ideal diode could be realized by suspending the middle portion of the carbon nanotube where the carrier recombination occurs. Research results were published as "Photovoltaic effect in ideal carbon nanotube diodes," in Appl. Phys. Lett. 87 073101. [ Press release, Abstract ]
August 18, 2005	LED lighting was the focus of a feature article in the *Boston Globe, "Living in color: The lighting of the future comes in a rainbow of dazzling shades," by Cate McQuaid. The article describes an early-adopter home which uses LED light fixtures for background lighting and spotlighting art. Experts from Color Kinetics, Cree and RPI are quoted. [ Feature article in the Boston Globe* ]
August 17, 2005	Young ECC Electronics introduced new lines of white LEDs based on non-YAG phosphor technology. The move was intended to satisfy a demand for cheaper white LEDs that do not infringe on Nichia's patents, according to company officials. Young ECC claims their products will produce more than 11 cd in a 5 mm LED and 140 lm in a 5 W LED. The LEDs are suitable for decorative lighting, indoor architectural lighting, torch lighting, camera flash, traffic signaling and other lighting applications. [ News item in EETimes Asia ]
August 11, 2005	Nichia announced an essay contest with a $25,000 prize. The contest, billed as a search for "The Next Big Thing," invites entries from individuals 18 years and over on the topic, "How can electronics contribute to environmental solutions?" Entries will be accepted until Sept. 9. [ News item in III-Vs Review, contest information ]
August 2005	Heat dissipation concerns are discussed in a feature article in LEDs Magazine, "Protecting high brightness LEDs from thermal stress," by Alan Buxton and Ho Wong of Zetex Semiconductors. The article addresses junction temperature control, buck converter operation, and adding thermal control, and concludes that relatively simple and low-cost electronics can help protect HB LEDs from heat stress. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
August 2005	Eyeleds has introduced its Outdoor Pro line of products for the garden architecture business. The products are based on the same technology as their indoor counterparts, Eyeleds' "flat" LED lighting systems for flooring. The round-fitting Eyeleds Outdoor contains three SMD LEDs and is available in white, blue and amber. A 40-LED Eyeleds chain (50 m long) can be run from a single 12 V transformer. [ News item at Gulf Construction Online ]
August 2005	Obstacles to adoption of LEDs as replacements for incandescent light bulbs are discussed in a feature article in LEDs Magazine, "Light bulbs - the neglected power consumer," by Paul Mighetto of Berkeley Reclaimed Light. In order for LEDs to compete with incandescents, heat intensity and dissipation must be comparable to that of a standard incandescent bulb, Mighetto says. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
FUNDING OPPORTUNITY	DOE issued two solicitations for SSL research: "Solid State Lighting Core Technologies" (FOA) and "Research Call to DOE National Laboratories: Research and Development Activities to Support Solid-State Lighting Core Technologies" (Lab Call). The solicitations seek proposals for applied research in these areas: LED high-efficiency semiconductor materials; LED device approaches, structures and systems; OLED materials issues; and OLED packaging, encapsulation and fabrication. Proposals are due Oct. 18, 2005. [ FOA summary and full announcement; Lab Call ]
August 16, 2005	Two Taiwanese LED manufacturers, Epistar and United Epitaxy Company (UEC), plan to merge, according to filings with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, as reported by DigiTimes and CompoundSemiconductor.net. The new company will go by the name Epistar. The merger will take effect on December 30, 2005, and every 2.24 shares of UEC will be swapped for one Epistar share. [ News item in CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
August 16, 2005	Agilent introduced a family of high-brightness, white LEDs in the industry-standard PLCC-2 (plastic leaded chip carrier) and Power PLCC-4 surface-mount form factor. These white LEDs are drop-in replacements for the Osram TopLED and Power TopLED products in automotive interior lighting applications, according to the company. [ Press release ]
August 16, 2005	Cyberlux announced that the U.S. Patent Office had awarded protection for the Company's "Apparatus and Methods for Providing an Emergency Lighting Augmentation System." [ Press release ]
August 15, 2005	Philips (Netherlands) will buy Agilent's 47% stake in Lumileds, giving Philips a controlling 96% interest in the company, which was created in 1999 as a joint venture between Philips and Agilent. Completion of the transaction is expected in the fourth quarter of 2005, subject to regulatory approval. [Philips press release, Lumileds press release ]
August 12, 2005	Osram is offering a "LED kit for electricians," a system that comprises three LINEARlight modules, appropriate driver, feeders, connectors and optics. The kit is suitable, for example, for marking walkways, for effect lighting, for cabinet lighting and as decorative lighting. [ Press release ]
August 11, 2005	Toshiba has developed a LED for cell phone cameras that helps eliminate white balance problems typically caused by camera flashes, according to reports in Nikkei Net and LIGHTimes. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
August 11, 2005	Cree announced that its fiscal year 2005 revenue reached $389 million, a 27 percent increase over the 2004 figure. Net income for the year increased 57 percent to $91 million, or $1.18 per share, compared to the previous year. [ Press release ]
August 10, 2005	Color Kinetics announced that it has joined the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance. [ Press release ]
August 9, 2005	Toyoda Gosei plans to develop and market high intensity, white LED chips for automotive headlights by 2008, according to Nikkei Net Interactive and LIGHTimes. The company expects to increase the efficiency of its white LED chips from their current 40 to 50 lm/W up to 100 lm/W by 2008, allowing more compact headlights requiring few LED chips. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
August 2005	The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was signed into law on August 8th (see below for legislation). Implications of the bill for solid-state lighting and research were reported in a number of articles and publications, including: Ø" U.S. Energy Bill provides funding for solid-state lighting" (LEDs Magazine, Aug. 5) Ø "Next Generation Lighting Initiative Started With Passage of Energy Bill" (LIGHTimes, Aug. 3) Ø "U.S. Energy Bill Promises Some Boosts for Research" (requires subscription) (Science, Aug. 5) Ø "US energy bill pushes research but fails to cut consumption" (requires subscription) (Nature, Aug. 4) Ø "NEMA hails passage of U.S. comprehensive energy bill" (Control Engineering, Aug. 2)
August 3, 2005	A class action lawsuit brought against Cree by its shareholders was dismissed by U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. The complaint, filed in 2003 against Cree and some of its current and former employees, claimed that the company's share price was artificially inflated by a number of false statements to the marketplace. The dismissal applies to all of the plaintiffs and all of the claims still pending. A related lawsuit brought by former Cree CEO Eric Hunter against the company was dropped in November 2003. [ Press release, news item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
August 2, 2005	Intematix announced a LED phosphor partnership with Unity Opto (Taiwan) based on Intematix' White Lightning Y460� and Y450� phosphor solutions. [ Press release ]
August 1, 2005	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute's Lighting Research Center (LRC) will hold a hands-on seminar to teach industry professionals about incorporating LEDs into lighting applications, September 21-23, 2005. The LED Lighting Institute features workshops and lab sessions about rapidly evolving LED technology, lighting design, and optical modeling, while using the newest LED products on the market. [ Press release ]
August 2005	*oemagazine's August issue contains a tutorial, "Lighting by Design: Solid-state lighting requires specialized optical design for optimal performance," by David Pelka of Tailored Optics Inc.* [ Table of contents ]
July 31, 2005	Intematix will move to Fremont, Calif., in order to increase its production capacity, in response to rising demand for phosphors driven by solid state lighting and other industries. [ Press release ]
July 29, 2005	Nichia filed a provisional injunction action against Doshisha Corporation in Osaka District Court. The action seeks to prohibit Doshisha's sales of certain Christmas light products, claiming they infringe on Nichia's white LED patent 3503139. [ Press release ]
July 27, 2005	Dominant Semiconductors (Malaysia) plans to double its output of PLCC LED products to 100 million units per month. The expansion is reportedly due to rising demand from the automotive and mobile communication industries, and will take place by October 2005. [ Press release, news item in LEDs Magazine ]
July 2005	California Lighting Technology Center and partners have developed a hybrid LED/incandescent light fixture. The device includes a motion detector and is now being applied to pathway, entryway and security lighting. A 5-W amber LED operates continuously, and the occupancy sensor turns on the incandescent lamp when motion is detected. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
Event	iSuppli will hold a webinar event, "Ultra High Brightness LEDs: Key To Lighting Up The LED Market," on Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2005 at 8:30 a.m. U.S. Pacific time. The event will be hosted by Jagdish Rebello, Ph. D., principal analyst with iSuppli, and will provide an overview of the LED market, including the major established applications for high-brightness LEDs; future growth opportunities for LEDs; and the growth outlook for high-brightness LEDs in 2005 and beyond. [ Webinar information ]
Event	Strategies Unlimited, in cooperation with Adams Harkness, has announced Bright Ideas 2005: The High-Brightness LED Industry Investor Conference. The second annual investor conference dedicated to the high-brightness LED industry will be held November 2, 2005. The conference will provide the investor community with an update on the growth potential, business outlook and investment opportunities in the HB-LED industry. [ Press release ]
July 29, 2005	The U.S. Congress passed the Energy Policy Act of 2005. The bill includes the following provisions for solid-state lighting: $50 million for Next Generation Lighting Initiative (NGLI) programs for each of the fiscal years 2007 through 2009 (sec. 912, p. 818 and 820-825); DOE is directed to carry out a program of fundamental research on SSL, in support of the NGLI (sec. 975, "Solid State Lighting," p. 961). [ Full text of bill; passage of bill widely reported -- for example, see AP item carried at Business Week Online ]
July 27, 2005	Permlight Products has filed suit against Microsemi Corporation, alleging that Microsemi issued a certificate of conformance on defective products, and is seeking $1 million in damages. Microsemi has closed the Watertown, Mass., factory that provided the products that are the subject of the lawsuit. [ Press release ]
July 25, 2005	Both Toyoda Gosei and Nichia plan to expand production of white LEDs, according to reports in Nikkei Net Interactive and LIGHTimes. Toyoda Gosei will add a production facility and Nichia will greatly expand its research and development facility, according to the report. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
July 25, 2005	Cree released a new 3-W XLamp� 7090 high power LED in a full range of colors. The XLamp 3 7090 white LED is achieving average luminous flux of 85 lm and maximum of more than 90 lm, well above the 65 lm typical rating reported for existing 3-W LEDs, according to the company. The white lamp will be used in Cyberlux's new RelyOn� portable work and emergency light. [ Press release 1, 2 ]
July 20, 2005	Researchers at the National Tsing Hua University (Taiwan) have found the first single-material white phosphor, a zinc gallophosphate laced with nanoscale pores. The research was published as "Direct White Light Phosphor: A Porous Zinc Gallophosphate with Tunable Yellow-to-White Luminescence" by Yueh-Chun Liao, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 127, 9986-9987 (2005). [ Research Highlights item in Nature (see "Materials: All White Now" - subscription required), abstract for paper ]
July 20, 2005	Wal-Mart will use LED lighting, among other resource and energy conservation technologies, in prototype superstores in suburban Dallas and Denver. The new stores are part of a three-year test, with results to be measured by independent auditors from Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Natural Renewal Energy Laboratory, who will make their findings public, according to a Wal-Mart spokesperson. The company will incorporate the prototype's most successful features, including LED lighting, into future stores. [ Article in Los Angeles Times (registration required) ]
July 19, 2005	Researchers from National Cheng Kung University and We-Fung Institute of Technology (Taiwan) have fabricated vertical-structured GaN-based LEDs using nickel electroplating and patterned laser lift-off, creating devices with more than twice the output power of a standard LED. The team addressed issues both with current crowding and with sapphire's poor thermal and electrical conductivity by using a patterned laser lift-off technique to simultaneously define the device area and separate the GaN epilayer from the sapphire substrate. Research results were published as "Use of patterned laser liftoff process and electroplating nickel layer for the fabrication of vertical-structured GaN-based light-emitting diodes," by Shui-Jinn Wang et al., in Applied Physics Letters 87, 011111 (2005). [ Item at CompoundSemiconductor.net, abstract ]
July 15, 2005	The *Journal of Crystal Growth* published papers from the International Workshop on Bulk Nitride Semiconductors III in its July 15, 2005, issue, edited by J.A. Freitas and Z. Sitar (vol. 281, issue 1). The workshop was held Sept. 4 to 9, 2004. [ Table of contents ]
July 15, 2005	Philips has installed what it says are the first LED streetlamps. The streetlamps use yellow and white LEDs and were installed in the central Dutch town of Ede. A Reuters news story on the installation was widely published. [ Reuters news item carried at Yahoo Finance ]
July 12, 2005	LRC conducted a field study showing that LEDs can be effective, energy-saving alternatives for incandescent downlights in elevators. The field installation, in an RPI campus elevator, used prototype LED fixtures and showed an energy savings of 45% compared with the original incandescent lights. The low-profile LED fixtures may also change the way elevator cabins are built, resulting in further energy savings, according to the study. [ Article in LRC News ]
July 11, 2005	Columbia University professor Gertrude F. Neumark has filed patent infringement lawsuits against four major LED manufacturers. Neumark filed separate but similar suits against Cree, Lumileds, Toyoda Gosei, and Osram, claiming the companies have infringed her U.S. patents 4,904,618, "Process of Doping Crystals for Wide Band Gap Semiconductors," and 5,252,499, "Wide Band Gap Semiconductors Having Low Bipolar Resistivity and Method of Formation." Toyoda Gosei denied the claims and issued a statement accusing Neumark's patents of lacking novelty and inventiveness. [ News item in LIGHTimes, news item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
July 5, 2005	Group IV Semiconductor (Ottawa) received funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada to use a silicon thin-film process to develop a solid-state light bulb suitable in terms of performance and price for the mass market. The project was one of 15 to receive a total of $43.4 million. [ Press release ]
July 5, 2005	Cotco announced its half-watt Mini Dorado LED, which features the smallest LED footprint on the market, according to the company. The device is suitable for applications including automotive and traffic lighting, interior and exterior architecture design, entertainment, decorative and landscape lighting, and in displays for hand-held devices. [ Press release ]
July/August 2005	LED lighting was discussed in a feature article in *Small Times, "Flashes of brilliance: Creative strategists say you must strike twice - at least - to succeed in energy markets," by David Forman. The article mentions marketing efforts at Veeco, energy savings in China, and more. [ Feature article in Small Times* ]
July 4, 2005	Topology Research Institute (TRI) has reported that Taiwan-based LED suppliers are the major providers for mobile phone applications. Taiwan's global market share of blue LED chips may reach at least 15% this year, from 8 to 10% last year, according to Chris Wang, researcher at the Photonics and Semiconductors Research Center at TRI. [ News item at EETimes Asia ]
July 2005	Nikkei Electronics Asia published an overview of LED technology, "LEDs to Outshine Florescent Lamps," in its July 2005 issue. The article suggests that LED and light manufacturers are increasingly confident that the first practical lighting systems using white LEDs will appear in 2005 or 2006. The article discusses recent developments at Toyoda Gosei, Koizumi Sangyo Corporation of Japan, Nichia, Seiwa Electric, Matsushita Electric, Rohm, and Toshiba Lighting. It also quotes representatives from Citizen Electronics and Lumileds Lighting Japan. White LED brightness, color rendering, efficiency, price parity, and markets are discussed. [ Feature article in Nikkei Electronics Asia ]
July 2005	*Physics World* published a feature article, "The solid-state lighting revolution," by Nadarajah Narendran in its July 2005 issue. The article gives an overview of progress in solid-state lighting toward general illumination applications. [ Feature article in Physics World ]
July 2005	*LED Monthly* published an interview with Sidney Chu, business development manager at Cotco. In the article, "White Light at the End of the LED Tunnel?", Chu discusses patent issues, market opportunities such as backlighting, and progress in cost and brightness. [ Feature article in LED Monthly ]
July 2005	Research at Cermet and Georgia Tech on production of a phosphorless white LEDs by applying GaN to a ZnO substrate is discussed in an article in Compound Semiconductor Magazine, "Fluorescent substrate offers route to phosphor-free LEDs," by Jeff Nause of Cermet. The article reviews the team's research, partly funded by DOE, on doped ZnO substrates, which offer better lattice-matching between the epilayer and substrate and make new device configurations feasible. [ Feature article in Compound Semiconductor Magazine ]
July 2005	*Compound Semiconductor Magazine* published a feature article on the implications of recent IP litigation and cross-licensing agreements entitled, "Rising patent awards hint at a future increase in litigation," by Michael Hatcher. The article discusses consolidation in the Asian LED industry, increases in use of litigation as a business tool, and more. [ Feature article in Compound Semiconductor Magazine ]
July 2005	*LEDs Magazine Review* published a feature article on criteria the lighting community can use to evaluate LED lighting, "LEDs for general illumination: energy codes, lumens per watt, and other lighting criteria," by Jeffrey Schwartz of ICF Consulting. The article includes a sidebar on the ENERGY STAR program, and discusses lumen maintenance, correlated color temperature, color rendering, glare control and more. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine Review (free subscription required) ]
July 1, 2005	Shuji Nakamura was named as a "Star of Asia" by Business Week magazine. Nakamura's litigation with his former employer, Nichia, "has forced a reworking of the way Japanese companies remunerate the brains behind the thousands of patents registered in Japan each year," according to the article. The magazine's series is meant to honor "25 leaders at the forefront of change." [ Feature article at Business Week magazine ]
June 29, 2005	Cree has signed a three-year agreement with Osram, one of its largest customers, for the purchase of LED chips. The agreement covers Cree's entire LED chip product line, including standard, mid-bright and XBright� LED families. [ Press release, news item in LEDs Magazine ]
June 28, 2005	Mitsubishi Chemical has developed a white LED lamp, according to reports in LIGHTimes and Nikkei Net Interactive. The RGB lamp uses a near-UV LED and Mitsubishi's proprietary red florescent substance, reportedly an organic europium ion complex, to produce a balanced light more like sunlight. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
June 28, 2005	Gwangju, South Korea's "LED Valley" project is progressing, according to a feature article at Optics.org. Nine LED-related companies have so far moved into the city's business incubation center in the Korea Photonics Technology Institute (KOPTI), and a total of 40 to 50 are expected, from chip makers to system providers. The project is backed by a budget of $100 million between 2005 and 2008. The "LED Valley" project is part of the second phase of the Gwangju government's ambitious Photonics 2010 plan that aspires to establish the city as one of the world's top 5 photonics clusters by 2010. [ Feature article at Optics.org ]
June 28, 2005	DOE's "Exceptional Circumstances Determination" regarding intellectual property issues for its Core Technology Research program was discussed in articles in Compound Semiconductor and LIGHTimes. The articles highlight the move's ramifications for small companies and non-profit groups such as universities. [ News item at Compound Semiconductor; news item and commentary at LIGHTimes ]
June 23, 2005	Sharp Laboratories of Europe has demonstrated room temperature continuous wave operation of violet laser diodes fabricated by MBE. The devices are being developed to comply with the Blu-ray DVD standard. Research results were published in Electronics Letters, 41(13) June 23, 2005. [ Press release ]
June 22, 2005	Hangzhou Silan Azure, a new LED start-up in China, plans to mass produce high brightness LEDs. AIXTRON announced that it received an order for an AIX 2400G3 HT and a 19x2" Thomas Swan Close Coupled Showerhead system from Silan Azure, which will use the two mass production MOCVD systems for the manufacturing of GaN-based LEDs. Silan Azure's product line will cover both the epi wafer growth and chip processing. [ AIXTRON Press release ]
June 21, 2005	Stanley Electric (Japan) has developed a high-power white LED which produces a luminous flux of 180 lumens at 6 W, according to information on the Tech-On website reported by LEDs Magazine. A reflector plate in the ceramic package allows light from the four high-power LED chips to be efficiently emitted to the exterior. The package measures 5.9 x 11.5 x 1.1 mm, while the light-emitting part measures 2.4 x 5.6 mm. The company plans to start volume production in December 2006, and its target applications include automotive headlamps, lighting products and LCD monitor backlights. [ News item at LEDs Magazine (scroll down) - see also development at Citizen Electronics, below. ]
June 20, 2005	TIR Systems has been granted U.K. Patent GB 2,398,116, the first to be granted to TIR in the U.K. The patent recognizes the same technology as U.S. Patent 6,871,983, covering the use of TIR's proprietary LED-based lighting technology for grid ceilings used in general illumination. [ Press release ]
June 20, 2005	Color Kinetics introduced a series of intelligent digital light engines (DLEs) for white light applications, enabling manufacturers to develop complete lighting systems with the advanced feature of color temperature control. The Series 300 product line is based on Color Kinetics' Chromacore� technology and is compatible with its IntelliWhite� family of power/data supplies and controllers, as well as third-party controllers. It provides consistent white light and adjustable color temperature ranging from 3000K to 6500K. Applications include stage and studio lighting, architectural, and accent lighting. [ Press release ]
June 15, 2005	Para Light introduced a waterproof light tube with RGB enhanced-power LEDs. The new LLVM-000xx series LED light tubes measure 80 mm in diameter and are available in lengths of 1 m (20 LEDs, 80 lm) and 0.5 m (10 LEDs, 40 lm). The devices are suitable for applications such as architectural and emergency lighting. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
June 15, 2005	Fujisaki Electric (Japan) plans to introduce a foldable LED display, Lumine Cloth, in September, according to reports in LIGHTimes and Nikkei Net. The product is a conductive foldable resin to which LEDs can be attached to make any pattern. Applications include advertising, emergency signs, insect repellent lighting, or plant growth promoters. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
June 15, 2005	Shenzhen, China, started work on the country's largest LED base, which is expected to have an output value of 100 billion yuan (US$12 billion) in five years. The 3-square-kilometer facility is located at the Guangming Hi-Tech Park in Bao'an District, and will have an initial investment of 3 billion yuan and 20 billion yuan in three to five years. [ News item from Shenzhen Daily at ChinaView.cn ]
June 2005	LED manufacturing using larger substrates was discussed in a feature article in Compound Semiconductor Magazine. According to the article, "Manufacturers are wary over push for larger substrates" by Richard Stevenson, companies such as Honeywell as moving toward 100 mm sapphire substrates in order to reduce production costs, while executives at Arima say they see no advantage to the larger size. [ Feature article at Compound Semiconductor Magazine ]
June 14, 2005	Applied NanoWorks received funding from New York State Energy Research & Development Agency (NYSERDA) for a $250,000 project aimed at improving the brightness of the company's line of non-toxic nano-phosphors for the white LED and general lighting markets. [ Press release ]
June 14, 2005	LED backlights will not likely be adopted in large-sized LCDs until 2007 when the price gap between LEDs and CCFLs decreases, according to information from Lite-On Technology reported at Globalsources.com. White LEDs for large-sized panel backlight modules are now twice the price of CCFLs, according to the article. Lite-On began making LEDs for LCD panel backlights this year, with products for 15-in LCD panels still in the design-in stage. [ News item at Globalsources.com ]
June 13, 2005	Lighting options for India are discussed in an editorial in the Economic Times, "Can we switch over to CFL lighting?" The article notes the LED lamps could play an important role in remote, rural areas where there is no reliable source of electricity. The editorial also notes that India needs to conduct more LED R&D and move toward manufacturing its own LEDs, as they now must be imported. [ Editorial in the Economic Times (India)]
June 9, 2005	NeoPac introduced its 300-lm E4400 NeoBulb Light Engine at LED Lighting Taiwan in Taipei. The E4400 has a proprietary package that features high-efficiency thermal management and can be integrated into the B4400 lamp. [ Article in LEDs Magazine ]
June 9, 2005	Glide Design (Brooklyn) showed its LED-based TwistTogether Lamp at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York. The lamp is made up of a series of colorful resin-acrylic blocks that lock together and twist, forming shelving, wall-mounted LED lighting and chandeliers, or stand-alone lamps. [ Article in The Dallas Morning News (registration required) ]
June 9, 2005	Formation of the Next Generation Lighting Initiative (NGLI), a public-private partnership to develop advanced solid-state lighting devices, is authorized in the bipartisan energy bill which passed the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee in May. The bill is expected to move to the Senate floor later in June for debate and a vote. The committee approval may be a sign that the bill, which has been in the works for several years, is more likely to pass this time. [ Article in LEDs Magazine, Energy Bill, Title IX - Research & Development - see Section 912, p. 6 ]
June 9, 2005	Cree released two new LED chips: the MegaBright� 290 Gen 2 and the RazerThin� 230. The MegaBright 290 Gen 2, a high brightness chip, is 30% brighter and uses 8% less power than the chip it replaces. This new chip is suitable for digital camera, camera phone flash, and LCD backlighting applications. The new RazerThin 230, a low power chip, uses approximately 8% less energy than the previous generation device and is intended for keypad backlighting applications. [ Press release ]
June 8, 2005	Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute marked the opening of the Center for Future Energy Systems, a New York State Center for Advanced Technology. The new $20 million research center, in partnership with Cornell University and Brookhaven National Laboratory, seeks to meet the energy challenges of the 21st century by focusing on innovation in and commercialization of energy conservation and renewable energy systems, including "smart lighting." [ Press release ]
June 8, 2005	Nichia resolved intellectual property disputes with U.S. distributors JM Group and ASP and Korean LED manufacturer Luxpia. The dispute with JM Group had been filed in a federal court, but no lawsuit with ASP had been filed. Nichia announced that the parties agreed to pursue a "good business relationship," with no further details. Nichia had filed suit against Luxpia in June 2004. As part of the settlement, Luxpia put apology ads in two of the major industrial papers in Korea (The Electronic Times and Maeil Business Newspaper) and Nichia withdrew its patent infringement claims. [ Press release 1, 2 ]
June 8, 2005	Blue 2005 included presentations on trends in phosphor technology by Dr. Christopher J. Summers, CEO of Phosphortech, who spoke on non-proprietary phosphor solutions for white LEDs, and by Dr. Yi-Qun Li, director of research and development at Intematix, who discussed Intematix's technology and method for rapid phosphor discovery. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
June 7, 2005	Radiant Imaging and Nichia have formed a partnership intended to support designers of LED-based lighting systems for applications such as signage, display backlights, automotive and aviation instrument panels, and traffic lights. Radiant Imaging supplies imaging systems for light and color measurement, and as part of the partnership, will fully characterize the output of certain Nichia InGaN LEDs by generating Radiant Source Models of the products. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
June 7, 2005	Color Kinetics was issued a U.S. patent relating to the use of intelligent solid-state lighting systems as a means for indicating information about a package. U.S. patent 6,897,624, "Packaged information systems," covers an intelligent solid-state lighting system that may be mounted on a package to relate information such as date, temperature, shock, or more. [ Press release ]
June 6, 2005	DOE has signed an Exceptional Circumstances Determination for inventions arising under the Solid State Lighting program. [ Memorandum ]
June 6, 2005	Citizen Electronics (Japan) has developed a white LED with a luminous efficacy of 70 lm/W, 1.4 times as high as the company's existing product, and a luminous flux of 245 lm. The CL-L100 series runs on 3.5 W and is available in a rectangular package, 4 mm x 40 mm x 0.75 mm, which can be arranged in modules designed to replace cold cathode fluorescent lamps (CCFL), surface light emitting devices such as electro-luminescent panels, and bulbs for car headlights. [ Press release ]
June 6, 2005 June 14, 2005	Agilent may sell its semiconductor group, which includes its LED business and its share in Lumileds, according to reports in the Wall Street Journal and LEDs Magazine. The Wall Street Journal reported that investment banking firm Goldman Sachs has been appointed to handle the sale of Agilent's semiconductor products group (SPG). Agilent officials declined to comment. [ Item at CNN Money, News item in LEDs Magazine, see also item in CompoundSemi News ]
June 3, 2005	Lumileds' Luxeon� LED array product for LCD backlights received the Display Material/Component of the Year Silver Award in the 2004 SID/Information Display Magazine competition. The array, consisting of red, green and blue side-emitting Luxeon LEDs, is the first to enable LED-based backlight illumination systems that provide greatly improved color fidelity and other benefits over cold cathode fluorescent lamps, according to the company. [ Press release ]
June 2, 2005	Wu Ling, general secretary of China Solid State Lighting Alliance, spoke at the Blue 2005 event in Hsinchu, Taiwan in May. Ling estimated that lighting applications use 12% of the electricity generated in mainland China, which was 2.187 trillion kWh in 2004. If energy efficiency of LEDs reaches 150 lm/W by 2015 and LED lighting is used for 25% of the country's lighting market need, China can expect to save each year approximately 100 billion kWh, she said. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
June 1, 2005	Researchers from Samsung Research and Development Center and Kookmin University (Korea) have devised a relatively simple method of making arrays of nanoscale LEDs. The researchers made a highly ordered array of millions of nano-scale lamps by forming a template of nanoscale holes and filling it with organic semiconductor materials. Each lamp in the moth-eye array is 220 nanometers in diameter. The researchers' prototypes are made from organic materials, but the method could also be used to make inorganic LEDs, according to the researchers. The work appeared in the March 7, 2005 issue of Optics Express as "Nanohole-Templated Organic Light-Emitting Diodes Fabricated Using Laser-Interfering Lithography: Moth-Eye Lighting." [ News item in Technology Research News, abstract ]
June 1, 2005	Agilent introduced two side-firing, tricolor surface-mount LEDs that permit handset and PDA designers to mix separate red, green and blue light sources in any combination. In the Agilent HSMF-C113 and HSMF-C115 side-firing ChipLED devices, the package is mounted vertically, with the light emitted through a lens on the side rather than the top of the package. The devices are intended primarily for backlighting and status indicators in handheld devices. [ Press release ]
June 2005	The use of LEDs in machine vision was discussed in a feature article, by Nick Trevis of Lambda Photometrics, in LEDs Magazine. Machine vision requires adequate and controllable intensity and that the light is very uniform over the area of interest, since machine vision cameras are not as sensitive as the human eye. LEDs are now used to illuminate the subject in virtually all machine vision applications, according to the author. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
May 30, 2005	Fujikura (Tokyo) has collaborated with the National Institute for Materials Science to develop a new brighter, white LED that uses a special phosphor material, according to articles in Nikkei Business Daily and LIGHTimes. The device uses a blue LED coated with a resin containing a phosphor material, a mixture of silicon, aluminum, oxygen, and nitrogen. Fujikura expects to begin shipping samples of the new LED before the end of the fiscal year. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
May 30, 2005	Korean LED makers are branching out into markets such as light sources for automobiles, LCD backlight units and commercial lighting systems, according to an article in Korea IT News. Companies including Seoul Semiconductor, Lumimicro and Daejin are shifting focus as prices for blue and white LEDs used for mobile phones have fallen due to competition from rivals in Taiwan and China. [ News item in Korea IT News ]
May 27, 2005	The use of white LEDs for illumination is well-suited to developing nations, where access to electricity is scarce or intermittent, according to an article in Science, "The Specter of Fuel-Based Lighting." Evan Mills of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory writes that white LED systems are the most cost-effective solution for off-grid applications, and estimates that solar-powered white LEDs could appear on the market for $25 without need for subsidy. The annual fuel saving for each lantern is on the order of a month's income for the poorest one billion people of the world, who often subsist on less than $1 a day. [ Press release, abstract ]
May 27, 2005	Cree announced that it has significantly increased the brightness of its blue and green LED chip products targeted for the design of energy-saving LED backlighting solutions for larger LCD monitors and televisions. ØFor high power LED-based backlight systems, Cree is now shipping blue XB�900 power LED chips that are 38% brighter, increasing the minimum radiant flux from 65 mW to 90 mW, and green XB900 chips that are 33% brighter, increasing the minimum radiant flux from 30 mW to 40 mW. ØFor backlight systems using smaller chips, Cree has increased the brightness of its green XThin� LED chips from 8 mW to 10 mW, for the top radiant flux bins, to better match the high brightness of the company's blue XT-21� and XT-24� chips. [ Press release ]
May 27, 2005	Taiwan LED makers are eyeing new market segments, such as LEDs for 15- and 17-inch monitor-panel backlighting in order to boost their margins, according to Unity Opto information quoted in DigiTimes. At the same time, competition from China has increased: production of handset-use blue LED chips in China jumped 225% on year in 2004, according to Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA). [ News item in DigiTimes (subscription required)]
May 27, 2005	Several new LED backlight technologies that can sharply reduce power consumption and prices were introduced at the Society for Information Displays conference held May 22 - 27, 2005 in Boston. [ News item at Optics.org, news item at Korea IT News, news item from CompoundSemiconductor.net ] ØOsram demonstrated an 82-inch, door-sized module containing 1120 red, blue and green Golden Dragon LEDs and capable of generating a color gamut that exceeds NTSC requirements by 50%. ØCree announced LED backlight technology that reduces power consumption in LCD monitors and televisions by 60% compared with other LED backlighting and 12% compared with fluorescent solutions. Cree's backlighting is based on its high brightness XThin blue and green LEDs mounted to a thermally conductive substrate. ØSamsung unveiled 40-inch and 46-inch LED backlight units that use a more efficient LED lamp package design. The 46-inch unit uses about 300 W, which is comparable to cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) units and about half the power consumption of a similar Sony LED model. ØPhilips demonstrated a 32-inch LCD panel installed with a hybrid backlight unit combining strong points of LED and CCFL so that it features a color gamut of 105% and costs 60% of LED backlight unit[s].
May 26, 2005	Kyoto University (Japan) physicists have shown that they can manipulate the spontaneous emission of light in photonic crystals, possibly enabling improvements in the performance of LEDs, lasers and solar cells. The research results were reported as "Simultaneous Inhibition and Redistribution of Spontaneous Light Emission in Photonic Crystals," by M. Fujita et al. in Science. [ News item from PhysicsWeb.org, abstract ]
May 26, 2005	RPI researchers E. Fred Schubert and Jong Kyu Kim describe research currently under way to transform lighting into "smart" lighting, with benefits expected in such diverse fields as medicine, transportation, communications, imaging, and agriculture, in a review article, "Solid-State Light Sources Getting Smart," in Science. [ Press release, abstract ]
May 25, 2005	Lighting Science will use Cree XLamp^TM power LEDs as the light source for its Optimized Digital Lighting^TM (ODL^TM) product line. ODL products, which will incorporate Cree's high brightness XLamp 7090 LEDs, are suitable for indoor and outdoor applications. [ Press release ]
May 25, 2005	BivarOpto introduced a 1-W LED module capable of producing up to 60 lm. The new LK Series uses Cree's XLamp technology in a compact surface mount device (SMD) packaged onto an aluminum PCB base, using standard reflow processes to achieve electrical and thermal connections without epoxy. The device is available in wavelengths from 465 nm to 635 nm, and in white to 8000K. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net]
May 23, 2005	The US International Trade Commission (ITC) has dismissed Osram's complaint against Dominant Semiconductors, according to the Malay Mail Online. Osram filed the complaint with the ITC in June 2004, claiming that Dominant was infringing patents relating to white LEDs and to the design of electrical connections for high-power LEDs. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
May 23, 2005	Nichia will likely become a shareholder of Opto Tech (Hsinchu, Taiwan), according to Digitimes. More details may be announced at Opto Tech's annual shareholders meeting on June 10. Nichia and Opto Tech in August 2004 formed an alliance through which Opto Tech would produce and sell Nichia's patented blue InGaN LEDs to Taiwan, China, and South Korea. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
May 23, 2005	The CIE midterm meeting (May 12-17, 2005, Leon, Spain) included presentations on emerging LED applications; measurement and calibration methods; and color rendering of white LED sources. CIE Division 2's existing technical committee progressed the subject of optical measurement of LED clusters, and Division 1 began to draw up the terms of reference for conspicuity models of flashing lights. [ News item in LEDs Magazine]
May 22, 2005	Highlights of the BLUE 2005 conference were published in LIGHTimes and DigiTimes. The conference (May 16-18, 2005 in Hsinchu, Taiwan) included discussion of IP issues, financial markets, national solid-state lighting programs and emerging technologies and applications. [ News item in LIGHTimes, news item in DigiTimes (subscription required)]
May 20, 2005	QLT introduced a 35 - 50 lm/W power LED module that can be used in standard halogen AR111 fixtures. The device is available in versions up to 7 x 3W and in 16 shades of white from 3,000 to 8,000�K. The module is suitable for general lighting or accent lighting. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
May 19, 2005	Cree licensed its white LED patent, U.S. Patent No. 6,600,175, to several strategic chip customers, including Stanley Electric, Rohm, and Cotco. The licenses provide rights to manufacture and sell white LEDs that incorporate Cree's high performance LED chips. The company also announced it is now in discussions with other potential partners. [ Press release, news item in LEDs Magazine ]
May 17, 2005	Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed the first completely inorganic, multi-color LEDs based on colloidal quantum dots encapsulated in a GaN semiconductor. The work represents a new "hybrid" approach, using a novel type of color-selectable nanoemitters, colloidal quantum dots, and making use of emerging GaN manufacturing technologies. Daniel Koleske of Sandia National Laboratories provided the GaN substrates used for the LED structures. Research results were published as "Multicolor Light-Emitting Diodes Based on Semiconductor Nanocrystals Encapsulated in GaN Charge Injection Layers," by A. H. Mueller et al., in Nano Letters. [LANL press release, news item from CompoundSemiconductor.net, abstract ]
May 17, 2005	Permlight introduced a line of LED-based luminaires for the new home construction market. All products in the EnbrytenLED line are designed to fit existing new construction electrical configurations and run on line voltage (90 to 240 V AC). The EnbrytenLED line is also the first set of LED luminaires to be fully compliant with California Energy Commission Title 24 energy codes and the EPA's Energy Star 4.0 standard scheduled for release this fall. The luminaires are available in standard efficacy (25-35 lm/W) or high efficacy (40-55 lm/W) versions. [ Press release ]
May 17, 2005	Osram introduced Ostar Lighting LED, which produces more than 200 lm at 700 milliamps. The 3 x 1 cm device is Osram's brightest semiconductor light source to date and is intended for general lighting applications. The device uses thin-film technology and color conversion based on the chip coating method, meaning the yellow converter is not in the encapsulation material but directly on the blue chip, producing a pure white which remains constant from all viewing angles. [ Press release ]
May 17, 2005	Carmanah launched the second generation of its i-STOP� solar-powered LED-illuminated transit stop. The redesign includes brighter illumination with new, higher-intensity LEDs and LED-illuminated activation buttons. The original i-STOP� is in use by more than 80 transit agencies. [ Press release at CNW Group ]
May 16, 2005	Dowa Mining Company (Japan) will begin mass producing GaN epi in 2007, according to a NikkeiNet Interactive article. Dowa plans to work with the Nagoya Institute of Technology to develop wafers made by layering GaN onto a sapphire substrate using technology developed by NGK Insulators, and expects sales of 10 billion yen in 2008. [ News item in CompoundSemi News ]
Event	The Albuquerque Regional Meeting of the National Academy of Engineering is set for May 19, 2005, hosted by Sandia National Laboratories and the School of Engineering, University of New Mexico. The meeting includes a public symposium on "Solid State Lighting: The Next Revolution in Lighting." [ Meeting information, agenda ]
May 10, 2005	Color Kinetics was awarded two U.S. 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, and 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. [ Press release]
May 10, 2005	Cyberlux introduced its Aeon line of LED-based interior lighting. The products are designed for installation in closets, cabinet interiors and under cabinets to illuminate kitchen and bathroom counters. The Aeon emits a warm white (3,500 K) light, while the Aeon Plus and Aeon Pro (the Pro produces up to 55 lm/W) are available in two warm colors, 3,000 K and 5,000 K. [ Press release ]
May 9, 2005	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. [ News item in JoongAng Daily ]
May 9, 2005	The Photonics Cluster (UK) has created a "Solid State Lighting and Novel Light Devices" Special Interest Group (SIG), to help direct the activities of the cluster for the benefit of the LED community. The SIG is to include a voluntary steering committee of eight representative individuals or organizations in the field. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
May 5, 2005	Fraen has supplied a LED-based lighting system to illuminate Leonardo Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa" in the Louvre Museum, Paris, in a way that replicates daylight without the harmful effects of UV light and IR radiation. The installation uses various colors of Luxeon I and Luxeon III LEDs from Lumileds to achieve a precise color rendering. [ Press release ]
May 2, 2005	Japan's traditional focus on teamwork over individual talent may be changing, partly as a result of lawsuits such as the one brought by Shuji Nakamura against his former employer, Nichia, according to an article from the New York Times. Many companies have introduced performance-based pay systems, but they have not been considered successful, according to the article. [ New York Times article carried at the International Herald Tribune (2 pages)]
May 2, 2005	TIR Systems was granted U.S. Patent 6,882,111, "Strip Lighting System Incorporating Light Emitting Devices." The patent covers the enabling technology and overall system architecture of TIR's LightMark� product for the corporate identity market and its ColorTrace� product for the architectural lighting market. [ Press release ]
May 2, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
May 2, 2005	Intematix announced a license-based agreement with ITSWELL Co. (Cheongwon Chungbuk, Korea), which will use the Intematix white-LED phosphor for its blue spectrum LED applications. [ Press release ]
May 2005	*LEDs Magazine* published a series of informative feature articles titled "Fact or Fiction - the truth about LEDs." The series includes an article on metrics by Kevin Dowling of Color Kinetics; an article on LED heat production by Tim Whitaker; and more. [ Feature articles in LEDs Magazine ]
May 2005	A report on the second China International Forum on Solid-State Lighting, held in Xiamen in April, was published in LEDs Magazine. Bob Steele of Strategies Unlimited reported that China is clearly emerging as a major market as well as a major supplier of solid-state lighting. The LED industry in China now generates more than $1 billion in revenue and employs more than 40,000 people, and the country is focusing on improving its technology and establishing a strong industrial base. China's national and local solid-state lighting programs are discussed. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
April 29, 2005	MaxLite, in collaboration with Toshiba, has developed a series of LED lightbulbs that feature a constant color temperature of 2700 K and that can be installed in standard 120 V sockets. The R20, candle and globe bulbs each contain four white LEDs co-developed with, and manufactured by, Toshiba's Japanese manufacturing partner. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
April 28, 2005	China may overtake Taiwan in design and manufacturing capability for LEDs within five years, according to Sam Ling of Power Opto. Competition from Chinese LED packaging companies, which receive government support, may cause decreased revenues in Taiwan, where prices are already declining. China's LED shipments grew 20% last year to 24 billion units and this year are expected to grow another 25% to 30 million units, according to a Topology Research report. [ News item in EETimes Asia, news item in DigiTimes (subscription required) ]
April 27, 2005	Shenzhen Lanke Electronics introduced high-power LEDs with a luminous flux of more than 5 lm (red, yellow or blue), 15 lm (green) or 25 lm (white). The devices are rated at 0.3 A to 0.35 A and voltage of 2 V to 3 V (red and yellow) or 3 V to 4 V (white, blue and green). The devices are suitable for use in traffic lights, torch lamps, motor lights, signals, lightings and illuminations, according to the company. [ Press release ]
April 26, 2005	DOE published a report on the solid-state lighting workshop held Feb. 3 and 4, 2005, in San Diego. The report, prepared by Navigant Consulting, includes an outline of the structure of the DOE SSL Research and Development Portfolio, as presented at the workshop; summaries of workshop presentations; summaries of the breakout session discussions; results of the updates and prioritization of the SSL R&D agenda; and upcoming activities for the SSL R&D program. [ Workshop report ]
April 22, 2005	LED Specialists was awarded a contract by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for the development of solid-state light engines for outdoor lighting applications, to enable outdoor lighting manufacturers to adapt their conventional fixture product lines to SSL technology more quickly and economically. [ Article at Lighting.com ]
April 22, 2005	Color Kinetics was granted a summary judgment by the 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. [ Press release ]
April 2005	*LEDs Magazine* published an article titled "Implementing LED flash in camera phones," discussing the thermal, optical, mechanical and electrical criteria to be considered in designing LEDs for this application. The article was written by Yeoh Boon Keng, Ko Choon Guan, and Shereen Lim of Agilent Technologies. [ Feature article ]
March 18, 2005 March 25, 2005 April 6, 2005	CAO Group released the LuxemLamp�, an MR-16 high-intensity LED lamp designed to replace incandescent bulbs. The devices combine InGaAlP and SiC/GaN LEDs with a standard MR-16 bi-pin base. CAO also released Pixel and Piranha Luxem�CHANNEL channel lettering illumination systems, and LuxemLED� backlighting illumination system. [Press release 1, 2, 3 ]
EVENT	The American Vacuum Society is holding the Science of Semiconductor White Light Topical Conference (part of the AVS 52nd International Symposium and Exhibition), October 30 to November 4, 2005, in Boston. Call for papers: Abstracts are due by April 27, 2005 (mail/fax) or May 4, 2005 (email/web). Submissions are especially welcome in the areas of fundamental understanding of growth; inorganic green light generation; physics of light generation and non-radiative recombination processes; limitations and improvements of current manufacturing technology; in-situ diagnostics to monitor process control; and heat removal technology. [ Conference information, topical conference call for papers ]
April 20, 2005	Toshiba Electronics Europe launched a series of miniature, high current, surface mount LEDs with high levels of luminous intensity. The TLxH1106 InGaAlP HB-LEDs are available in red, orange, yellow and green, have maximum forward current ratings of 70 mA, and can operate at temperatures from -40 to +100C. Currents of 50 mA are possible to temperatures as high as +85C. The devices are suitable for indication and backlighting in automotive systems, message boards, gaming equipment, and more. [ News item at ElectronicsTalk.com ]
April 19, 2005	Vishay Intertechnology released exceptionally bright TLMx100x AllnGaP ultra-miniature SMD LEDs in red, soft orange, and yellow. The new devices measure 1.6 mm by 0.8 mm by 0.6 mm, the smallest size yet for this type of device, and feature luminous intensity of up to 7.5 mcd. Applications include backlight keypads, indicator and backlighting for audio and video equipment, and more. [ Press release ]
April 19, 2005	Nichia has developed a white light source with a luminance of near 10,000,000 cd/m2, using GaN semiconductor laser diodes. This luminance is almost equivalent to that of high-end halogen lamp products and conventional high-intensity discharge lamps, and an order of magnitude greater than that of a white LED. A white light beam of 50 lm can be emitted from a 1.25-mm-diameter head. Nichia plans to start sample shipments in the second half of 2005 as a replacement for halogen lamps and HID lamps. [ News item from Nikkei BP at Tech-On.com ]
April 18, 2005	Para Light introduced the LLEA-0001 series of in-ground lighting modules featuring enhanced-power LEDs. The modules each include 20 150-mA E-power LEDs with an integrated heat-sink design and a total flux of 100 lm. The series includes 32 different models, available in amber, red, green, blue, blue-green and RGB. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
April 18, 2005	Reports from the 16th annual Lightfair International in New York City were published in LIGHTimes and LEDs Magazine. The show was attended by more than 20,000 people and "LEDs were all the buzz," according to LIGHTimes. A number of LED-related products received New Product Showcase Awards at the event, including the BL-4000 RGB+ from Lamina Ceramics, the Millennio streetlight from Hess America, the Long-Throw Projecting Light Engine and the SpectraMix product from Dialight, the Squadro LED from Xenon Light, the iW MR from Color Kinetics, and the ecoXT MR16 from e3LED. [ News item at LIGHTimes; news item at LEDs Magazine, new product awards page ]
April 18, 2005	Goldeneye Inc. 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 an 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 ]
April 17, 2005	Intematix has licensed its white LED phosphor technologies to LumiMicro (Suwon Gyunggi-do, Korea). LumiMicro manufactures power LEDs for applications including LCD backlighting, camera flashes, and emerging architectural solutions, and will use the Intematix phosphor in its core and emerging businesses. [ Press release ]
April 15, 2005	Osram Sylvania announced the DRAGON family of hi-flux LED modules. The DRAGONtape� and DRAGONpuck� LED modules will be available in three color temperatures for white light: 4700K, 5400K and 6500K. Each provides a color rendering index (CRI) greater than 80. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
April 15, 2005	GELcore introduced a new high-power white LED with high color rendering, low lamp-to-lamp variability and precise color temperature choice. Constructed using near-UV chips and multiple proprietary phosphors, the High-Power White LED from GELcore provides lighting fixture companies and OEMs with expanded color temperature options (3000K, 3500K, 4100K, 5000K or 6500K), a wide range of color-rendering indices (70 up to 95 CRI), and LED package scalability (1-W, 4-W, 8-W and more). [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
April 14, 2005	Koninklijke Philips (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, 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 ]
April 14, 2005	Lighting Research Center researchers have developed a method based on scattered photon extraction (SPE) to get significantly more light from white LEDs without requiring more energy. A research group led by Nadarajah Narendran developed a method to extract photons that are normally diverted back towards the LED by moving the phosphor away from the semiconductor and shaping the LED lens geometry. These changes allow the photons that would typically be absorbed inside the LED to escape as visible light. Prototypes of the new SPE LED technology achieved a luminous efficacy of more than 80 lm/W. [ Press release, article abstract at physica status solidi (a)]
April 13, 2005	Osram launched a compact, high-power Ostar LED that offers more than 120 lm in a small, 30 mm by 10 mm footprint. The device is available in red (120 lm), green (160 lm), and blue (36 lm) and a RGB version that offers 120 lm when tuned in white. Each Ostar LED contains four high-power, thin-film InGaAlP or InGaN chips and can be used in both general and mobile illumination applications. [ News item at Three-Fives.com ]
April 13, 2005	Lumileds introduced new color-matched white Luxeon Lamps that use advanced binning algorithms applied during manufacturing to ensure color uniformity within each fixture as well as from luminaire to luminaire. Each lamp consists of multiple white Luxeon delivering correlated color temperatures of 3200K (warm white), 4100K (commercial white) or 5500K (cool white) and producing 500 to 1200 lm. [ Press release ]
April 12, 2005	TIR Systems introduced its universal platform for solid state lighting, LEXEL�, and demonstrated several light fixtures that provide 1000 lm, equivalent to a 75-W incandescent lamp. According to the company, The LEXEL� is a fully integrated, seamless SSL source that provides precise color temperature control and dimming using a closed-circuit feedback system and can be used cost effectively for general lighting purposes. [ Press release ]
April 12, 2005	Lumileds increased the light output performance of its Luxeon I emitters for all InGaN colors (white, blue, cyan, green and royal blue). Typical performance of Luxeon I white emitters improved from 31 lm to 45 lm. Other colors improved similarly, without increases to the package or chip size. [ Press release ]
April 12, 2005	Lamina Ceramics launched an advanced multi-color line of bright, high-output LED light engines. The BL-4000 light engine is a disk-like array containing 4 to 6 individual LEDs, depending on color, and is about as bright as a 20-watt light bulb. The product was honored for technical innovation and was judged the Best New LED Product at Lightfair International 2005. [ Press release ]
April 12, 2005	Color Kinetics has designed Cree's high brightness XLamp� 7090 LED series into a number of next generation architectural and entertainment lighting products. [ Press release ]
April 12, 2005	Agilent Technologies announced the "industry's smallest CMOS color sensor" at 5 x 5 x 1 mm. The color sensor can detect the presence of a certain color and identify its exact coordinate across the full color spectrum. The sensor can be used in controlling the color point of red, green and blue LED backlighting in LCD displays. [ Press release ]
April 11, 2005	Visteon announced what it says is the industry's first road-worthy application of LED front lighting in GM's Cadillac STS SAE 100 Technology Integration Vehicle. [ Press release ]
April 11, 2005	Osram will provide its high-brightness Golden DragonTM 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 ]
April 11, 2005	OptiLED introduced a new product in the company's Modular Optical Array (MOA) Series, the MOA H-7. The LED system comprises seven individual hexagonal, interlinked High Intensity Vorticular Array (HIVE) modules, each of which consists of three high-powered LEDs, one in each primary color (RGB). The device is suitable for indoor, outdoor, or underwater applications, including interior accents, flood lighting, landscape effects, and theatrical and stage productions. [ Press release ]
April 11, 2005	Hella will introduce a headlamp prototype that uses a white LED system for high beam, low beam, vehicle sidemarkers and daytime running lights (DRLs). Hella's LED headlamp prototype achieves about 1,000 lumens luminous flux in the low beam, and matches the light output of a xenon headlamp. The system is expected to be in production by 2008. [ Press release ]
April 8, 2005	Nichia has 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. Sharper Image denied the claims. [ Press release, news item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
April 8, 2005	Cotco TPG green series LEDs combine InGaN materials with a SiC substrate in a geometrically enhanced epi-down chip structure design to maximize light extraction efficiency. The vertically structured LED chips are about 115 microns high, require a low forward voltage, and provide luminous intensities of up to 46,100 mcd. [ Press release at Thomasnet.com, product information ]
April 6, 2005	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 ]
April 6, 2005	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. [ News item in LIGHTimes ]
April 5, 2005	Nichia expects its LED sales to increase 30% by 2009, 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%. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
April 5, 2005	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 ]
April 4, 2005	TIR Systems has been granted its first patent for general lighting applications, U.S. Patent 6,871,983, "Solid state continuous sealed clean room light fixture." The patent covers the use of TIR proprietary LED-based lighting technology for grid ceilings used in general illumination. TIR has more than 40 other patent applications pending. [ Press release ]
April 4, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
April 2, 2005	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. [ Commentary ]
April 2005	The costs and benefits of LEDs for automotive applications are discussed in the feature article, "Automotive LED take-up hinges on cost reduction," by Eric Mounier of Yole D�veloppement, in *Compound Semiconductor* magazine. [ Feature article ]
April 2005	The benefits of migration-enhanced MOCVD in AlGaN device fabrication are discussed in an article in *Compound Semiconductor* magazine by Remis Gaska of Sensor Electronic Technology. Reduced screw dislocation density and faster deposition than conventional MOCVD are two of the benefits of the technique, which can produce relatively efficient deep-ultraviolet LEDs and improved transistor performance, according to the article. [ Feature article ]
April 2005	The Korean government's solid-sate lighting program is featured in an article in *Compound Semiconductor*, "Oil-free Korea prioritizes solid-state lighting project." The article notes that a region known as "LED Valley" will receive investments of $100 million between 2005 and 2008 toward high-brightness LED development. [ Feature article ]
March 31, 2005	(These links are not maintained) Super Vision has signed two more licensees to its Variable Color Lighting System patent and its Laidman technology portfolio. The two licensees are James Thomas Engineering, Inc. of Knoxville, Tenn., and Worcester, UK, and Xilver, B.V. of Gronsveld, The Netherlands. [ Press release ]
March 31, 2005	Lumileds announced new Luxeon III LEDs that emit 110 lm (amber), 140 lm (red) and 190 lm (red-orange), triple the performance of previous Luxeon products. The devices are especially important for rear automotive lighting applications, since a single LED will be able to power stop lamps, rear combination lamps and rear fog lamps. Other applications include aviation, manufacturing and "architainment." [Press release 1, press release 2 ]
March 31, 2005	Edison Opto announced its Edi-Power series of ultra HB-LEDs, available in 5-W to 40-W sizes with monochrome or RGB output. The 1200-lm output of the 40-W Edi-Power is suitable for general illumination, and its small size makes it compatible with many lighting applications. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
March 31, 2005	Color Kinetics introduced eight new products in its OEM line, including additional Digital Light Engines, new power/data modules, and proprietary chips that the company is making available to third parties for the first time. [ Press release ]
March 29, 2005	UniCAD has released a new version of its CAD package, UniMCO Version 4.0, specifically for designing LED, OLED, RCLED, VCSEL, and optical coating devices. [ News item at Optics.org ]
March 17, 2005	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 ]
March 2005	Toshiba introduced the Technorainbow bendable 6-mm LED video screen, which can curve both convex and concave. [ Press release ]
March 29, 2005	MRS Spring Meeting News: Alex Zunger (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) discussed doping strategies and rules for difficult-to-dope semiconductors. His talk included discussion of the spontaneous formation of traps, use of multivalent dopants, and cluster doping. [2005 MRS Spring Meeting, News & Highlights, March 29 - scroll to Symposium E]
March 29, 2005	My-tronic has issued an extensive press release, titled "LEDs' Real Advantages," that details the state of solid state lighting technology. Aimed at consumers, the release addresses issues of cost, lifetime, color, and more. [ Press release ]
March 29, 2005	Super Vision founder Brett Kingstone has published a book, The Real War Against America (ISBN 0-9755199-2-1, Specialty Publishing), describing his company's intellectual property battle with Chinese competitors. [ Press release ]
March 29, 2005	Strategies Unlimited predicts the total market for GaN devices to more than double to reach $7.2 billion by 2009, driven by GaN-based laser diodes and electronic devices which are now in the early stages of market growth. The company has published a fourth edition of its report, "Gallium Nitride 2005 -- Technology Status, Applications, and Market Forecasts." [ Press release, report information ]
March 29, 2005	Nichia will begin selling LEDs for use in personal computers and car navigation systems at the end of 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 ]
March 29, 2005	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 ]
March 29, 2005	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." [ Press release ]
March 28, 2005	Permlight and ElectraLED have reached a settlement in the patent infringement lawsuit filed on February 11, 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 ]
March 28, 2005	Toshiba announced two bright white LEDs for general lighting, ornamental lighting and LCD backlighting. The TL10W02-D produces 60 lumens at about 2 W (500mA), achieved by improved mounting technology for the LED chip and use of a low thermal resistance package with improved heat release characteristics. The company will ship samples in July and start mass-production in October. The 30-lumen TL10W01-D will start sample shipments in June and go into mass-production in July. [ Press release ]
March 28, 2005	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 ]
March 28, 2005	Harvatek introduced two new HarvaLED LEDs for backlighting and illumination applications. The HarvaLED HT-PX76 and HT-PX78 series includes 1-, 2.5- and 3.5-W devices that produce 30 to 100 lm. The HT-P176TW and HT-P178TW are 1-W, white LED devices that deliver a typical output of 30 lm at 0.35 A. HT-P276TW and HT-P278TW are 2.5-W LEDs that deliver 60 lm at 0.70 A. HT-P376TW and HT-P378TW are 3.5-W LEDs that deliver 100 lm at 1.05 A. Both HT-PX76 and HT-PX78 surface-mountable packages feature an integrated thermal management design. [ Press release ]
March 28, 2005	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. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
March 25, 2005	The Industrial and Economics Knowledge Center (IEK) of the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) predicts that Taiwan's LED production value will grow only 16% on year to about NT$46.96 billion in 2005, compared to 23% growth last year, according to DigiTimes. The production value of Taiwan's LED industry grew at an annual rate of 40-42% from 2001-2003, when the industry began producing GaN LEDs, but complications with the production of white LEDs, such as intellectual property issues, have slowed growth. [ News item at DigiTimes ]
March 24, 2005	*ZDNet.com* published an overview article on LEDs as backlights in LCD televisions, titled "Display tech aims for a brighter future." The article quotes market analyst Jed Dorsheimer of Adams Harkness, who expects it will be three to four years before LEDs are used in popular television sizes, such as 42-inch sets, in the sub-$2,000 range. [ Feature article ]
March 24, 2005	LED lighting was featured in a winning entry in a design contest for a student lounge at Swarthmore College. Student Joey Roth proposed LED lighting for mailboxes both to alert students to new mail and to create a "visually striking wall of randomly illuminated boxes, reminiscent of an apartment building at night." [ News item in the Phoenix student newspaper, design information ]
March 24, 2005	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). [Press release 1, 2 ]
March 23, 2005	The Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 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. [ Press release ]
March 23, 2005	Several recent U.S. LED-related patent applications were listed in *LEDs Magazine. The applications cover "Driver circuit for LED vehicle lamp" (Osram Sylvania); "Universal light emitting illumination device and method" (Technology Assessment Group); "Light emission control circuit uniformly and non-uniformly controlling a plurality of light-emitting elements"; and "LED lamp" (Matsushita Electric Industrial). [ News item at LEDs Magazine* ]
March 23, 2005	Color Kinetics was awarded its third patent relating to intelligent pool and spa lights. U.S. patent number 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 ]
March 22, 2005	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 ]
March 22, 2005	Lumileds and Future Electronics joined to form 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. [ Press release ]
March 21, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
March 21, 2005	*Electronics Weekly* published an overview of LEDs for automotive headlights, titled "Full beam ahead for LED headlights." The article discusses mounting, beam angle, thermal management and color issues. [ Feature Article ]
March 18, 2005	University of Tokyo researchers have developed an LED made of strained GaSb quantum dots embedded in silicon that emits infrared light with an external quantum efficiency of up to 0.3%. Susumu Fukatsu and colleagues made the device via molecular beam epitaxy. The research was reported as "A Si-based quantum-dot light-emitting diode" in the March 7, 2005, issue of Applied Physics Letters. [ News item at Optics.org, abstract ]
March 17, 2005	Evident introduced a line of quantum dots integrated into a series of common resins and polymer matrix materials. EviComposites� are made of EviDot� quantum dots engineered into a series of forms designed to be easy to use, to speed the development of new materials and new products by making quantum dot nanomaterials more applicable to common manufacturing processes. [ Press release ]
March 17, 2005 March 14, 2005	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, China manufacturing facility by about 15% (100 positions), for an anticipated annual payroll and related expense savings of about $300,000. [ Press release 1, 2 ]
March 16, 2005	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. [ News item in the Korea Times ]
March 15, 2005	Young Electronics Group introduced a line of white LEDs based on a proprietary non-YAG phosphor with the "brightest blue chip" available to produce more than 11cd in a 5-mm LED and 140 L in a 5-W LED, according to a company spokesperson. The LEDs are intended for indoor architectural lighting, decorative lighting, torch lighting, photoflash, traffic signaling and other general applications. [ News item at ElectronicsTalk.com ]
March 15, 2005	Permlight and Osram introduced a new LED-based system for stopping movie piracy. Permlight's Enbryten Piracy line uses Osram's recently introduced thin film infrared power LED technology to transmit an invisible signal into movie audiences to wash out any silicon CCD-based digital camcorders. [ Press release ]
March 14, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
March 14, 2005	Toyoda Gosei and TridonicAtco, the lighting components and control gear division of the Zumtobel Group (Austria), have formed a joint venture to advance the development of high-power white LEDs. The joint venture will make high-power LED packages and components for the general lighting market, with a focus on color temperature, tolerance, homogeneous white light and color rendering. [ Press release ]
March 11, 2005 FUNDING OPPORTUNITY	EPA posted a request for initial proposals for Market-Based Approaches to Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions through Energy Efficiency in Homes and Buildings. Initial proposals are due April 25, 2005; final proposals will be due May 27, 2005. Proposals may address a number of concerns, one of which is "improving energy performance in the residential market through increased use of high-efficiency products" and another is "delivering improved energy performance to existing commercial buildings through technology or practice." More information is available in the synopsis and RFIP.
March 10, 2005	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 ]
March 10, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
March 2005	Agilent's market strategy is discussed in a feature article at Compound Semiconductor magazine. The article 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 ]
Event	Blue 2005, the 3rd International Industry Review for LED Technologies Driving the Solid State Lighting Revolution, is set for May 16 to 18, 2005, in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Key speakers will include George Mueller of Color Kinetics, H.S. Chung, formerly of Samsung/SEMCO, Patricia A. Martone with Fish & Neave IP Group of Ropes & Gray LLP, and Dr. Robert Steele of Strategies Unlimited. The program will also include updates from key Taiwanese producers such as Epistar, Cotco, OptoTech, ForEpi and others. [ Conference information, editorial at LIGHTimes ]
March 10, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
March 10, 2005	Taiwan industry: White LEDs from the Taiwan industry are expected to account for 20% of worldwide production value this year, up from 1% in 2004. [ Excerpted item at DigiTimes ]
March 9, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
March 8, 2005	National Chiao Tung University, in a five-year effort led by Professor Shing-chung Wang, has successfully developed a surface light emitting (VCSEL) blue ray laser from GaN. This is the first such development of this type in Taiwan, and "it also puts Taiwan ahead of leading edge laboratories in the United States and Japan in such research, and propels Taiwan's blue ray laser research to a world-class standard." Compared to other approaches, they claim that their technology is unique in facilitating the mass production of DVD discs and "enables a wide range of applications. In addition to largely raising the amount of information that can be stored on a DVD, if the technology is applied in a monitor, the brightness will be better than that of an LED." It is hoped that the technology will be transferred to local manufacturers after two to three years. [ Item at III-Vs Review, item from DigiTimes ]
March 8, 2005	The Keystone Group has developed FlareAlert�, a battery-operated, LED-based safety flare visible for miles from both the ground and the air. The device uses 12 high-output LEDs, and is now available in red, with blue, green, yellow and white versions to be available later this year. [ Press release ]
March 7, 2005	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. [ Press release ]
March 7, 2005	Toshiba has developed a fluorescent substance for white LEDs that can be used in conjunction with blue LEDs to create a white light that is close to natural sunlight, according to a report from Asia Pulse and LIGHTimes. Products containing the new material, which emits 1.7 times the brightness of conventional white LEDs, could be available in two to three years, according to the reports. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
March 7, 2005	Kyma Technologies has expanded its GaN substrate product line to include both conductive and semi-insulating (SI) GaN substrates, ranging in size and shape from 10 mm x 10 mm squares to 3-in. diameter rounds, all with dislocation densities below 10 7 cm-2 (some as low as mid 10 5 cm-2) and with improved surfaces. The company is also developing 4-in. diameter SI GaN for use in microelectronic device applications. [ Press release ]
March 4, 2005	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 at ATIP.org ]
March 4, 2005	National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) announced that its researchers are working on a Solid State Radiance Calibration Source: "� compact sources can be used for both initial characterizations and for periodic measurements to determine that the SSE [size-of-source effect] has not changed. This invention describes the design, construction, and characterization of a unique LED-based radiance source. Different diffuser materials are assessed for spatial and angular uniformity." [ FBO special notice, Reference-Number-SN0305 ]
March 3, 2005	Japanese lighting manufacturer Ryoukou has created an artificial cherry tree lit by 7,600 white LEDs. The Attachment Tree weighs half a ton, stands 6 meters tall, and has a branch span of 5 meters. [ News item at Engadget.com ]
March 3, 2005	LED lighting from Color Kinetics and Main Light Industries will be used in a number of concert tours this summer. Main Light's Soft-LED�, an intelligent LED-based drapery that combines Color Kinetics' solid-state lighting technology and control systems with Main Light's expertise in stage lighting, is lightweight and easy to install, and reduces the cost typically associated with large-scale video and lighting backdrops. [ Press release ]
March 3, 2005	The Higher Education Funding Council is to grant research funds of about �16m to the University of Bath (UK), representing a 20% increase, which will support continued research in a number of areas, including investigation of "new forms of LED lighting." [ BBC News item ]
March 1, 2005	Soitec announced that it has generated, in collaboration with its Picogiga division, 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. Picogiga says commercialization is not expected until 2006 or 2007. [ Press release, news item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
March 1, 2005	OnScreen Technologies launched the RediAd� product line of bright LED signs for retail point-of-purchase advertising. The first product, called "The Living Window," displays a bright three- to six-line text message through a 15 to 30-square-foot, lightweight, see-through sign that can be placed in any window without blocking the view in or out. Wireless control means amber alert and other emergency messaging can be shown when necessary. [ Press release ]
March 1, 2005	Clarity Lighting has installed three light walls in the Executive Briefing Centre at Microsoft UK in Reading. The Microdex walls, which measure 3.2 x 2.7 m, 4.8 x 2.7 m, and 4.1 x 2.7 m, use 1-W Luxeon linear RGB multiLEDS. The walls are intended to allow Microsoft to take advantage of the positive mood enhancing properties evoked by colored lighting, and to maximize the ambience and aesthetics of the new, contemporary-styled briefing facility. [ Press release ]
March 2005	LED backlighting of LCD televisions was the topic of the cover story, "LED Backlights Boost LCD TV Color," in the March 2005 issue of Nikkei Electronics Asia. Sony may see the new technology as its "next Trinitron," while Toyoda Gosei and Showa Denko are hoping to compete with Lumileds in this market, according to the article. [ Article at Nikkei Electronics Asia ]
March 2005	Compound Semiconductor Magazine has published an article on the IP legal battle between Nichia and Shuji Nakamura, "Nichia marches on, Nakamura licks wounds and pays lawyers," in its March 2005 issue. [ Article at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
February 28, 2005	(These links are not maintained) Furukawa (Japan) will begin making 2-in. 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 in sales per year, and will target next-generation DVD applications. [ News brief at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
February 28, 2005	Agilent and Lumileds introduced the first three products in the new Envisium mid-power LED family. The Envisium Power PLCC-4 (plastic leaded chip carrier) surface-mount LEDs are intended for automotive exterior lighting, and other applications including mood lighting and highlighting, garden lighting, and illuminated signs and signals. The devices are available in red, red-orange and amber and produce up to 1580 mcd luminous intensity and 4300 mlm total flux at 50 mA. [ Agilent press release ]
February 28, 2005	BivarOpto introduced a Right Angle SMT LED indicator capable of replacing traditional PCB through-hole LED assembly displays. The device measures 2.4 x 3.2 mm, features InGaN performance characteristics, and is packaged with a lens centerline 1.4 mm from PCB surfaces for optimal light emission. It features peak wavelengths of 470 to 660 nm, axial intensity from 140 to 160 mcd at 20 mA, and a forward voltage and current rated at 4.0 Vf at 20mA. [ Press release ]
February 25, 2005	A feature article in the Baltimore Sun, "LEDs might light up our lives," discusses LEDs as replacements for incandescent light bulbs. The overview article quotes Fred Schubert of RPI and Jeff Tsao of Sandia National Laboratories. [ Feature article in the Baltimore Sun (registration required) ]
February 25, 2005	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. ASSIST is an LED industry group organized by RPI's LRC. [ Press release, publication ]
February 24, 2005	ABI Research has published a new study, "LEDs and Laser Diodes," which analyzes major LED and laser diode markets, technologies, and players, and reviews external factors that may affect the growth of the LED industry. According to the study, by 2010 the global LED market may consist of two segments: a highly commoditized market in simple, inexpensive LEDs for mass-produced goods, and another sector dealing in high-end, high-tech innovations. [ Press release, report information ]
February 22, 2005	Lighthouse Technologies introduced the P12-Enhanced Resolution (ER) indoor/outdoor LED panel, which uses advanced digital processing to enhance resolution to include more detailed information on a smaller screen. The P12-ER has a 12.5 mm dot pitch resolution, allowing more images, graphics and text to be displayed on 25 mm panels. The P12-ER is the first LED panel to combine the benefits of Lighthouse's M4 color uniformity, 14-bit grayscale, and resolution-enhancing technology, and is intended for advertising and stadium applications that require mid-size screens with high resolution for longer viewing distances. [ Press release ]
February 21, 2005	John Adinolfi of Leotek reported on the large municipal market for LEDs in applications other than traffic signals, according to an article at LIGHTimes. Adinolfi told attendees at the recent Strategies in Light conference that for every 1,000 people in the U.S., there are 140 non-highway, road low-light lamps, totaling an estimated $14.8 billion for the 50 W LED market alone. For street name signs, the retrofit market is $144 million and the new install market is about $2 billion, he said. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
February 2005	An overview of China's national initiative for solid-state lighting was published in LEDs Magazine, based on a presentation by Ling Wu, director of the China Solid-State Lighting Program Office at the Strategies in Light conference. The program has already received 140 RMB ($17 million) from central government, and 15 research institutions and more than 50 enterprises are involved. Major investment in SSL is expected when China's 11th 5-year plan is unveiled in July 2005. China's solid-state lighting roadmap is set to be unveiled at the China SSL Forum in Xiamen, April 12 to 15, 2005. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
February 2005	Forge Europa will distribute Cree's Xlamp� LEDs under a new agreement with Cree granting Forge Europa exclusive distribution rights in a number of territories. [ Press release ]
February 2005	2nd Annual DOE Solid State Lighting Workshop (Feb. 3-4 in San Diego): Highlights of the workshop, attended by more than 170 representatives from industry, research institutions, universities and national labs, are described in an article available on the NETL website. The workshop provided an interactive forum for shaping and prioritizing DOE's SSL research and development activities. Participants reviewed, discussed, and prioritized more than 65 R&D tasks and subtasks within the DOE SSL R&D agenda. Presentations made at the workshop are available online, as well as reference documents, which include the 2005 project portfolio (full list of workshop materials ). The complete workshop report will be posted in March. [ Workshop highlights ]
February 2005	DOE signed a memorandum of agreement with the Next Generation Lighting Industry Alliance on February 2 to establish a partnership that will help support the development and commercialization of SSL technology. [ Information on agreement, memorandum of agreement, NEMA press release (2/18/2005)]
February 2005	The Boston Ballet's use of LED lighting in its holiday production of the Nutcracker is discussed in an article in Laser Focus World. The ballet chose the lighting system, which included products from Color Kinetics and Osram, in part to save floor space in the smaller theater it used this year. [ Article in Laser Focus World ]
February 22, 2005	Custom Interconnect Ltd has developed novel LED arrays, called CoolLED, from 300x300�m bare UV LED die on a metallized ceramic substrate. The device features a looser pitch than most arrays, as well as cup-shaped reflectors around the die, thus increasing light output by 80 percent and decreasing heat. [ News item in Electronics Weekly ]
February 22, 2005	Osram introduced the PointLED, with a 2 mm diameter and luminous efficacy of 38 lm/W. At 0.775 mm high, the device can be sunk completely in the printed circuit board. The white LED has a typical brightness of 800 mcd at a beam angle of 120�. [ Press release ]
February 21, 2005	Cotco was featured in an article on LED technology in the Chinese business newspaper, The Standard. The article discusses the small company's strategy for taking on competitors such as Philips and the growing markets for LEDs. [ Article in The Standard ]
February 18, 2005	My-Tronic (Germany) introduced a new RGB LED product line called Chara, which includes the Chara LED Lightball (see product description ). The new line is compatible with My-Tronic's DecoLED systems and with DMX 512. [ Press release ]
February 17, 2005	Researchers at the University of Cambridge have developed a controversial theory to explain how InGaN LEDs emit light. Professor Colin Humphreys says observations made by the Cambridge materials science team, which specializes in electron microscopy, suggest the indium clusters previously thought to be responsible for light emission are actually an artifact of the microscopy used by other researchers and not inherent in the heterostructures. In addition, the Cambridge materials science department has set up a 15-member team to investigate why green LEDs are significantly less efficient. [ Article at ElectronicsWeekly.com ]
February 16, 2005	Lighting Science Group Corp and Giuliani Capital Advisors have created a joint venture intended to accelerate the deployment of Lighting Science's patent-pending Optimized Digital Lighting� (ODL) technology under the company's Energy Saving Sharing Program, which enables organizations to use ODL products without any upfront capital expenditures and to share the energy savings with the joint venture. The joint venture will finance and deploy the ODL technology in lighting applications owned and operated by municipalities, public utility corporations, universities, large malls, parking lots and other organizations with significant lighting requirements. [ Press release ]
February 16, 2005	OptiLED introduced its S11 LED pseudo-filament lamp, a product intended to replace incandescent S11 glass light bulbs. The S11, which consumes less than 0.5 W, is suitable for marquees, retail, hospitality, staging and residential lighting and is available in red, green, blue, amber and white. [ Press release ]
February 16, 2005	South Epitaxy (Taiwan) may acquire Epitech via a stock swap, according to DigiTimes. Epitech's main shareholders include United Microelectronics Corporation (UMC), which is also a major shareholder of LED-packaging firm Harvatek, and the acquisition will allow the UMC Group to establish a complete supply chain for its LED investment. [ News item in DigiTimes ]
February 15, 2005	The Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles is one of the few bridges in the world to be illuminated by LEDs and, according to developers, the first such bridge installation in the world to combine LEDs with a solar PV system. The bridge is now lit by 160 solar-powered, LED light fixtures. [ Article in RenewableEnergyAccess.com News, Vincent Thomas Bridge Lighting website, LEDtronics page ]
February 15, 2005	CameraBright announced two new LED-based models in its CameraBright!� X1 lighting accessory product line. The CameraBright! X1-ER Extended Range provides cooler color temperatures (6,000 K), a slender light beam, brightness of 72 cd, and a range of up to 20 ft. The CameraBright! X1-W Warm White light provides a warmer temperature light (3,000 K), a broader light beam, brightness of 25 cd and a range of up to 10 ft. [ Press release ]
February 14, 2005	Osram will provide technology for new LED warning signals from Nova Electronics. The new Nova SLWIC3 contains 56 wide-angle, high-intensity OSRAM Power TOPLED�s in a novel split-array arrangement and represents an innovation in emergency warning light design due to the thin packaging, high light output and surface-mount capability. [ Press release ]
February 14, 2005	February 14, 2005 A teenage inventor has developed the "Glo-Glove," a glove fitted with 13 LEDs whose beams can be directed using the hands and fingers. Ethan Fowler, 14, of Manchester, England, won the regional heat of the Audi Innovation Award and will compete against 23 others for the national title. [ News item in Manchester Online ]
February 11, 2005	Reports on the Strategies in Light event, held February 7 to 9, 2005, in California, were published in LIGHTimes and LEDs Magazine. [Articles in LIGHTimes- item 1, item 2, item 3; article in LEDs Magazine ] Highlights include: � Alan Thompson of LIGHTimes says he sees a "perfect storm" brewing for the HB-LED market, brought on by overcapacity and heavy reliance on cell phone sales. � Tony van de Ven of Lighthouse Technologies said that using video screens for billboard advertising is now financially feasible, and that the technical challenges of creating large LED screens have largely been overcome. � Sidney Chu of Cotco discussed issues with traditional backlighting using CCFL, EEFL, or FFL, including heat stress, color deterioration, non-uniform brightness due to curvature on large screens, and environmental issues, and explained how these problems can be overcome with RGB LED arrays. � R�diger M�ller of Osram discussed growth in miniature projection systems, flat-panel display backlights, automotive headlights and general lighting, applications which require improved color uniformity, increased surface brightness and reduced cost. � Jason Posselt of Lumileds said cost targets of less than 1 cent per lumen are achievable within the next five years. Lumileds also announced a redesign of its Luxeon high-power LED product ( see February 9 headline, below ). � Chris James of Cree showed a timeline graph detailing Cree's progress in the "lumens per wafer" metric for white LEDs. Cree representatives also acknowledged that although production of its 100 lm/W source is not imminent ( see February 8 item, below ), the company expects production white LEDs of 50 lm/W this year. � Shuji Muguruma of Nichia outlined the company's application focus, which covers four main areas: lighting, displays, automotive and mobile, with a different product set for each and said his company has a 5 W package producing 200 lumens on its product roadmap for lighting. � Bill Kennedy of Toyoda Gosei presented a new power SMD LED, due to enter production in April 2005, which includes a 1 x 1 mm chip, the phosphor, and a package measuring 3.4 mm x 2.8 mm x 1.2 mm deep that provides "superior" heat dissipation. � Representatives from Taiwan and Korea said they are committed to IP protection, but IP concerns were repeated throughout the conference.
February 11, 2005	Shenzhen Mason Technology released 5mm LEDs with brightness ranging from 40 mcd to 0.4 cd. Rated at 1.9 V to 2.5 V, the LEDs have a rated forward current of 20mA, viewing angle of 120� and a lifespan of 80,000h, and are available in a variety of colors. [ Press release (registration required) ]
February 11, 2005	Permlight has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against ElectraLED, alleging that ElectraLED's "FLEX" LED system infringes Permlight's patents, including U.S. Patent No. 6,712,486, "Mounting Arrangement for Light Emitting Diodes" and U.S. Patent No. 6,846,093, "Modular Mounting Arrangement and Method for Light Emitting Diodes." [ Press release ]
February 10, 2005	PerkinElmer has acquired Elcos AG, a leading European designer and manufacturer of custom LED solutions for biomedical and industrial applications. The transaction combines Elcos' visible LED technology platform and strong customer and application base with PerkinElmer's global sales, application and support organization, and will provide significantly greater growth opportunities for the Elcos technology, according to the company. [ Press release ]
February 10, 2005	OnScreen Technologies' RediAlert� Rapid Dispatch Emergency Sign� will be featured in editorials in three national trade-specific publications, Law Enforcement Product News, Police and Security News and Fire/EMS Product News. The RediAlert product line includes highly visible, portable LED signs that can be powered and transported by any vehicle, set up by one person in a few minutes, and controlled remotely from a variety of encrypted wireless technologies. [ Press release 1, Press release 2, product information ]
February 9, 2005	Lumileds announced the upcoming expansion of its high power Luxeon line with emitters that offer 65 lumens in white at 350mA, 185�C allowable junction temperature, and a JEDEC moisture sensitivity level of 2a. The company also says that the product line will feature "the world's best light output with performance in white of 65 to 130 lumens." Designed to simplify the process of incorporating Luxeon light sources into lighting assemblies and end-user products, these new emitters represent a complete redesign of the Luxeon package, according to the company. The new products will be available this summer in white and in seven colors. [ Press release ]
February 9, 2005	Lumileds announced it will issue an advisory to the solid-state lighting industry regarding its intellectual property pertaining to the manufacture and assembly of mirror substrate LEDs. The action comes in response to reports that certain die manufacturers and LED packagers are violating Lumileds' patents, according to the company. [ Press release ]
February 9, 2005	Kopin has formed a joint venture company with strategic and financial investors, called Ko-Brite Corp., to establish GaN materials growth capabilities in Taiwan and LED die production capabilities in China. Kopin expects to cease all LED manufacturing activities by the end of March 2005 and to complete the transfer of its LED operations to Ko-Brite by July 1, 2005. [ Press release, news item in LIGHTimes ]
February 9, 2005	Cree and Nichia have entered into a patent cross-license agreement relating to white LED technology, complementing a patent cross-license arrangement between the companies announced in November 2002. According to a statement from Cree, "Nichia has developed pioneering technology in the field of LED-based white lighting and this agreement gives Cree access to this important technology. At the same time, the agreement recognizes the strength of Cree's intellectual property and reinforces both companies' leadership in solid-state lighting." Neither company disclosed detailed terms of the agreement. [ Nichia press release, Cree press release ]
February 8, 2005	Mitsubishi announced its PocketProjector�, one of the world's smallest LED projectors. Weighing 14 ounces and fitting into a coat pocket, the projector is lighted by three Lumileds� LEDs and intended for use with a notebook computer, portable DVD player, or gaming console. It will be available in July 2005. [ Press release ]
February 8, 2005	Pro-Lite is now distributing Labsphere's SLMS-0400 Series Spectral Lamp Measurement Systems and HLMS-200P Handheld Light Measurement System. The products enable users to easily determine the optical properties of small light sources such as LEDs, miniature lamps and laser diodes. [ Press release, news item at Physicsweb.org ]
February 8, 2005	Berlin's Transmediale international media art festival opened with Sky Ear, a project involving helium-filled balloons equipped with ultra-bright LEDs that changed color and intensity as they interacted with electromagnetic waves from television broadcasts, police radios and other wireless communication devices. [ Article in DW-World ]
February 7, 2005	TIR Systems' Light Pipe system will provide general illumination for the Departure and Arrival levels of Chicago O'Hare International Airport's Terminal 2. TIR has also been chosen to replace an existing conventional lighting system in the Cobo Hall Tunnel in downtown Detroit. The two contracts total $2.9 million. [ Press release ]
February 3, 2005	Researchers at Konan University in Kobe, Japan, have developed a simple chemical method for tuning the color of semiconductor nanocrystals. The method, developed by Kensuke Akamatsu and colleagues, involves a chemical treatment using 1-decanethiol that gradually blueshifts the emission from nanoparticles of cadmium telluride without affecting the particle size. This research is published as "Band gap engineering of CdTe nanocrystals through chemical surface modification," in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. [ News item in Nature, abstract ]
February 8, 2005	Strategies Unlimited's Bob Steele has forecast that the HB-LED market will nearly double by 2009, to about $7 billion. Steele also reported that the market grew 37% to $3.7 billion in 2004, and that white LEDs for backlighting of full-color displays saw 75% market growth in 2004. The report was made at the Strategies in Light conference. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net ]
February 8, 2005	Cree announced its most recent breakthrough: 100 lm/W and 50% wall-plug efficiency from standard 5 mm LEDs and maximum luminous flux of 60 lm from its 7090 series white XLamp power LEDs operating at 350 mA. The announcement was made at the Strategies in Light conference. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
February 8, 2005	Lamina Ceramics claims to have set another world's record with its ultra-high lumen LED array, branded Aterion� White. The 28,000 lumen solid-state device uses 1,120 LEDs, is 5" square, and powered by 1,400 watts. It produces a CRI of 80. The array radiates no heat in its light beam and features instant-on, instant re-strike and fully dimmable capabilities. [ Press release ]
Funding Opportunity	DOD has released the 2005 STTR solicitation. One MDA topic is "Wide Bandgap Material and Device Development" (MDA05-T016), which has this objective - "develop wide bandgap (SiC and GaN) semiconductor devices for efficient, reliable, high power electrical generation, control, conversion, and distribution systems for ground, airborne and space applications." DOD will begin accepting proposals beginning March 15, 2005 with the deadline for all proposals being April 15, 2005. [ See also program solicitation ]
Event	Photonics Cluster (UK), in association with LEDS Magazine, will present a two-day event focusing on the technology and applications of high brightness light-emitting diodes, "LEDs - Lighting the Way Forward". The seminar is set for April 20-21, 2005 in Birmingham, UK. [ Event information ]
Event	LightFair International, the world's largest annual architectural and commercial lighting trade show, conference and institute, is set for April 10 to 14 in New York City. The program includes several workshops and seminars on LEDs: "LED Technology", "LEDs with Architectural Applications: Wallwashing," and "LEDs�Innovation, Application, and Product Evolution." [ Event brochure, summary press release (Oct. 2004)]
February 7, 2005	Dubilier introduced a series of low-cost LEDs in red, yellow, orange, and green, in 3mm and 5mm diameters, with radial leads. The line includes surface-mount chip LEDs in industry standard 0603 and 0805 sizes and high brightness units providing up to 8,000 Mcd light. [ News item at EETimes Asia (registration required), product information ]
February 3, 2005	Carmanah received an additional $615,000 order for solar-powered lighting from the U.S. Marine Corps. The USMC will use more than 1,000 units of Carmanah's Model A601 and A702 airfield lights for taxiway edge, helipad edge, runway edge and obstruction lighting at its second largest air base in the Middle East. [ Press release ]
February 2, 2005	iLight Technologies was profiled in an article in the Chicago Sun Times. iLight has taken on the $2 billion neon lighting business with its LED-based Plexineon product. The firm is reportedly growing at a rate of 60% per year. In a related article, Nick Holonyak (University of Illinois), called the "father of the LED", was interviewed. [ Articles ]
February 2, 2005	III-N Technology (Manhattan, Kan.) has developed single-chip power AC-LED lamps that need no power conversion and can be plugged directly into standard power outlets or lamp sockets. Hongxing Jiang, who founded III-N Technology with his fellow Kansas State University professor Jingyu Lin, made the announcement at the recent Photonics West conference. [ News item in LEDS Magazine ] (See also Seoul Semi item, below )
February 2, 2005	BivarOpto introduced an ultra-thin surface-mount RGB device featuring individual addressable die for exact color mixing and matching, suitable for backlit keypads and LCDs used in handheld and mobile appliance applications. The tri-chip RGB design comprises one AlGaInP and two InGaN/SIC chip dies, with peak wavelengths of 635, 520 and 465 nm. [ News item in LEDs Magazine ]
February 1, 2005	Shenzhen Lanke Electronics Co. Ltd (China), a manufacturer of LEDs and LED products, was profiled by Global Sources Electronic Components. The company has a monthly capacity of 70 million LED lamps and 10 million SMD LEDs, and plans to significantly increase exports this year. [ Article ]
February 1, 2005	Permlight and Chloride Systems have jointly developed an emergency LED lighting system based on its patented floor, path of egress, and thermal management technology. Using Permlight's LED Light Engine technology, Chloride Systems, a division of the Genlyte Group, developed a complete emergency lighting systems package that includes LED luminaires, battery back-up, and power outage detection circuitry. [ Press release ]
February 1, 2005	Taiwan's optoelectronics industry production value is expected to rise 34% year-on-year to US$47.17 billion in 2005, due to increased global demand for optical display and optical storage products, according to the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI). [ News item from ShibuiNews ]
February 1, 2005	Harvatek (Taiwan) plans to open sales, marketing and product development offices in both the Americas and Europe under the banner of Harvatek International. [ News item at Compound Semiconductor ]
February 1, 2005	Carmanah announced two new and technically enhanced LED edge-lit roadway signs, the Model R409 Edge-Lit LED Street-Name Sign and the Model R450 Edge-Lit LED Traffic Sign. [ Press release ]
February 2005	Frederick M. ("Fritz") Morgan, vice president of engineering at Color Kinetics, was featured in a special report on "Dream Jobs 2005" in *IEEE Spectrum Online*. [Article - " Fritz Morgan: LEDs into Gold" ]
January 31, 2005	(These links are not maintained) Tri-O-Light (the Netherlands) introduced its LED Mini Flood Light, a waterproof spot suitable for lighting objects or for indoor or outdoor decorative lighting purposes. The spotlight uses Luxeon high power LEDs and is equipped with a 45-degree lens. [To get to product information, click on "products" sidebar link, then on "LED Mini Flood Light" link. Product sheet (pdf) is here. ]
January 31, 2005	TIR Systems announced the completion of two projects in Tianjin and Shanghai in mainland China. TIR supplied products from its Destiny series to illuminate the 52-meter high Full Moon Tower at Galaxy Park, a leisure park in Tianjin, and supplied its Light Pipe product as a key feature in the exterior lighting of the Azia Center in Shanghai. [ Press release ]
January 31, 2005	RPC Photonics was awarded a $200,000 grant from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to improve the efficiency, visibility and performance of LED signage. The grant is to extend RPC's patented Engineered Diffuser� technology into a film designed to shape and control light. The Lighting Research Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is collaborating on the project. [ News item at LEDs Magazine ]
January 31, 2005	OptiLED's Linear Optical Array LED lamps light Jacksonville's Main Street Bridge as part of the city's beautification effort in anticipation of the Super Bowl in Florida. Spanning 1,680 feet over the St. Johns River, the bridge, which was completed in 1939, carries traffic traveling on Route 1. [ Press release ]
January 31, 2005	LEDtronics introduced the Series SLL003 Ultra Slim Shoebox LED Cluster Light Module, a low-profile fixture (1.5" high) that weighs only 14 lbs. The module features 400 incandescent white 5mm LEDs mounted on a PCB, and consumes 20 W, emits 656 cd and 700 lumens, and has a color temperature of 3000K - 3500K. Optional LED colors are red, green, orange, yellow, cool white and blue. [ Press release, data sheet ]
January 31, 2005	Harvatek has received orders for LEDs amounting to NT$40-50 million in sales, including orders for 300,000 white LEDs "for consumer electronics" products this month and another 200,000 for next month, according to DigiTimes and LIGHTimes. [ News item at LIGHTimes, news item at Digitimes ]
January 29, 2005	Texas A&M University-Commerce is involved in a research project to establish empirical de facto standards for brightness in sign enclosures based on LED lighting and power technologies. OptoEngineering of Tulsa made a donation to the department for the purchase of light measuring equipment. [ Article in North Texas e-News ]
January 29, 2005	Optek Music Systems has developed a guitar with LEDs in its fretboard to help players learn where to put their fingers to produce desired notes, chords or songs. The invention was featured in Modern Guitars magazine. [ News article ]
January 28, 2005	Climate Change Central and Natural Resources Canada are offering a cash rebate to Alberta, Canada's multi-residential building sector to replace incandescent or fluorescent-lit exit signs with LED signs. The new program, running until April 30, 2005, gives a $25 rebate for each of the first 100 signs replaced in a building and $15 for every sign thereafter, to a maximum of 1000 signs. [ News item from GreenBiz.com, resource page from Energy Solutions Alberta ]
January 28, 2005	Seoul Semiconductor introduced a LED that runs on AC without an AC-DC converter and can be used in existing lighting systems without modification. The device was developed using technology described in a base structure patent owned by Nitride Semiconductor and invented by Dr. Sakai of Japan's Tokushima University. [ Press release, news item in LEDs Magazine]
January 27, 2005	Para Light introduced a line of high-power LED lamps for signage and automotive applications that can handle forward current up to 70 mA. The new L-5T3XX series lamps are available in blue, yellow and orange. [ News item at ThomasNet IndustrialNewsRoom ]
January 27, 2005	South Korea's LED industry grew by 61% in 2004, and is starting to compete with Taiwan in various markets for packaged LEDs, according to data from Yano Research Institute and Taiwan's Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA) as reported in LEDs Magazine. South Korea's LED industry reached $708 million in 2004, while the value of Taiwan's LED packaging industry was $1.08 billion in 2004, according to the report. In addition, DigiTimes reported that South Korea-based LED makers are eyeing the high-luminance LED sector for lighting equipment, by switching their focus from production to packaging and testing, according to sources at Taiwan LED chipmakers. [ Article at LEDs Magazine, news item at DigiTimes ]
January 27, 2005	LEDs were featured in a segment of All Things Considered on National Public Radio. Reporter David Malakoff noted that although LEDs will likely replace incandescent bulbs, the industry still needs to address not only issues of price but also of quality: one of the sample LEDs sent to NPR didn't work, he said. [ Audio program at NPR ]
January 26, 2005	Permlight was awarded a new patent (U.S. Patent 6,846,093) for its thermal management techniques to increase brightness in LED systems without adversely affecting lifetime. The patent, titled "Modular mounting arrangement and method for light emitting diodes" is Permlight's seventh for thermal management. [ Press release ]
January 26, 2005	Arima Optoelectronics (Taiwan) is talking with Samsung Electronics and a Japanese vendor about possible cooperation in the mid-range and high-end LED sector, company president TJ Wang told DigiTimes. The company wants to compete in high-luminance white LEDs, used in backlight modules and lighting, this year, according to the report. [ News item at DigiTimes ]
January 25, 2005	Waldmann Lighting Company introduced a line of waterproof, high-output LED industrial lighting products. The luminaires are suited for various machine applications including: metalworking, food processing, pharmaceuticals, and woodworking. The compact 1.14 x 3.7-inch ABLL-1 LED features an aluminum housing, which is protected from water-based fluids and metalworking coolants by a corrosion-resistant coating. [ Press release ]
January 25, 2005	StockerYale's COBRA� 500 LED Line Illuminator was awarded the 2004 Photonics Circle of Excellence Award by Photonics Spectra Magazine. The product was the first in a family of new products based on StockerYale's chip-on-board reflective array (COBRA�) method for LED module fabrication, a technique that represents a significant improvement in both thermal and optical performance, according to the company. [ Press release ]
January 25, 2005	OptoLum, says the solid-state lighting industry needs to settle on using lighting industry metrics and standards, and emphasize a total cost of ownership metric, according to an editorial at *LIGHTimes. [ Editorial at LIGHTimes* ]
January 25, 2005	An Agilent executive said he expects RGB LED backlighting to take 10% of the LCD-TV market within two years, according to DigiTimes. The company also expects LED backlighting to gradually replace cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) lighting altogether, said Lee Soo Ghee, VP and general manager of Agilent's Optoelectronic Products Division. [ News item in DigiTimes ]
January 23, 2005	Kentucky could become the second state (after Delaware) to replace all of its incandescent lights in traffic signals with LEDS. The Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has announced a contract with Siemens Building Technologies Inc. to replace the lighting at more than 2,500 intersections across the state. GELcore LED modules will be used. [ News item at the Lexington Herald, news item at the News-Enterprise, Kentucky Transportation press release dated 12-21-04 ]
January 2005	In the article, "Pulling LED products into the market," Eddie Effron of Permlight discussed the challenges to acceptance of LEDs in lighting markets. Understanding the requirements of the lighting design community and assuaging specifiers' concerns about predictability, reliability and stability are some of the challenges Effron addressed. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
January 2005	Osram Opto Semiconductors' extensive LED portfolio for general lighting was featured in a company profile article in LEDs Magazine. The profile describes many of Osram's products and covers topics such as luminescence conversion and thin-film LEDs. [ Feature article in LEDs Magazine ]
Updated R&D Agenda	DOE requested that participants in the upcoming 2nd Annual DOE Solid-State Lighting Program Planning Workshop (San Diego, February 3-4, 2005) complete an assignment prior to the Workshop. The Department has now prepared an updated version of its Solid-State Lighting R&D agenda based on comments from many stakeholders and researchers from industry, academia, and the National Labs.
Event	LRC will hold its next LED Lighting Institute April 27 to 29, 2005. The program includes sessions on LED basics, lighting design, fixture development, hands-on sessions, and more. [ Program information ]
Event	The 2005 CLEO/QELS conference is to include a plenary talk by Shuji Nakamura (UCSB) on future prospects for solid-state lighting, an invited talk by Jeff Tsao (Sandia National Laboratories) on "Solid-state lighting: lamps, chips and materials for tomorrow", an invited talk by Jingyu Lin (Kansas State Univ.) on "III-Nitride Ultraviolet Micro- and Nano-Photonics", a short course on Solid-State Lighting by Ghassan Jabbour (Arizona State Univ.) and Fred Schubert (RPI), and a tutorial session on high power LED packaging by Robert Karlicek. The conference is set for May 22 to 27 in Baltimore. [ Plenary speakers, invited speakers, short courses, tutorials ]
January 24, 2005	Epistar has sued Formosa Epitaxy for patent infringement related to its indium-tin oxide technology. [ News item in DigiTimes ]
January 11-21, 2005	Shuji Nakamura and Nichia have agreed to an $8.1 million settlement of the lawsuit Nakamura brought against his former employer. Nakamura was dissatisfied with the award, which was significantly less than the nearly $200 million settlement a lower court had ordered. Nakamura filed suit in 2001 after Nichia patented the blue LED he invented while employed there. [ Article in the New York Times [requires subscription]; news item at CompoundSemiconductor.com, article in Asahi Shimbun, news item1 and item2 in Science [requires subscription] ]
January 20, 2005	Taiwan's photonics industry's output increased by 36% in 2004, to $27.3 billion, according to a report from the Photonics Industry and Technology Development Association. The industry's output accounted for 14% of the world's total in 2004, and is expected to continue to increase. [ News item at Photonics.com ]
January 19, 2005	Philips Design has collaborated with the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre at the Royal College of Art (UK) to develop public seating that glows, dims, flashes and changes color. 'Glowing Places' consists of transparent seating units embedded with LED strips and sensors which measure the presence of people over time, and is intended to stimulate social interactions in public spaces. [ Press release at EETimes, article at Philips.com ]
January 18, 2005	Sandia National Laboratories has set up an online database, called Intellectual Property Available for Licensing (iPAL�), to highlight opportunities to license the lab's intellectual property, including some in the areas of optoelectronics and solid-state lighting. [ Press release, database ]
January 18, 2005	Nichia announced that (unnamed) U.S. distributors have agreed to stop marketing certain white LED products, manufactured in Asian countries, which Nichia believes infringe on its U.S. patents. [ Press release ]
January 17, 2005	GELcore introduced a 1-W Tetra� Power White LED lighting system as an alternative to white neon tubes or fluorescent lamps for signage. The product is available with two or three LEDs per foot, uses 2.4 W or 3.6 W per foot, and is packaged in reel form so it can be cut to any length. [ Press release ]
January 16, 2005	Lumileds' recent financial growth (sales of $280M in FY04, representing 43% growth) was the subject of The McDonald Report in LIGHTimes. [ Commentary, report on Lumileds' financial performance at CompoundSemi News, Dec 23, 2004 ]
January 14, 2005	Strathclyde Univ. (UK) and Optoelectronics Research Centre (Tampere Univ. of Technology, Finland) researchers have fabricated a high-power VECSEL which directly emits red wavelengths at room temperature. The GaInP/AlGaInP/GaAs VECSEL emits continuous wave and produces a maximum output power of 390 mW at 674 nm with an M2 of 1.05. Power scaling to 1W or more is possible in the near future, the team believes. The device was tunable by 10 nm around 674 nm. This research is published as "High power CW red VECSEL with linearly polarized TEM00 output beam" (JE Hastie, et al), Optics Express, v.13, n.1, p.77-81 (January 10, 2004). [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net, paper in Optics Express ]
January 13, 2005	OptoLum was awarded U.S. Patent 6,831,303, its third in the area of thermal management. Some implications of this and related patents on the development of LEDs for general illumination are discussed in an article at LIGHTimes. [ News item at LIGHTimes ]
January 12, 2005	The LRC's latest newsletter features articles on automotive headlamps; lighting in healthcare facilities; biological effects of light; and more. [ Newsletter ]
January 12, 2005	Semiconductor Technology Research released a new software tool, HEpiGaNS, for modeling of GaN crystal growth by HVPE. The tool is intended to provide information about heat and mass transfer in the reactor, including information on the distribution of temperature, species fractions, mixture velocity, heat fluxes and other parameters, providing information along all boundaries of reactor parts. [ News item at CompoundSemiconductor.net; product information ]
January 12, 2005	Osram announced new white LEDs for small mobile terminals. The Micro SIDELEDs measure 0.8 mm high, compared to the previous version's 1 mm, and feature electrostatic sensitive device (ESD) protection in an on-board diode. The devices are suitable for mobile phones, PDAs and handheld devices requiring bright light from a small device. [ Press release ]
January 11, 2005	Toyoda Gosei has established a new manufacturing subsidiary in San Antonio, Texas. Toyoda Gosei Texas was set up on the property of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, Inc. and is slated to begin production in October 2006. Seventeen other suppliers have built plants on the premises. [ Press release ]
January 11, 2005	Los Alamos National Laboratory is making its semiconductor quantum-dot technology available for commercial licensing. Among the portfolio's content are two novel quantum-dot LED architectures. [ Article at Laser Focus World ]
January 11, 2005	Color Kinetics introduced IntelliWhite� products, a series of first-of-their-kind products, combining "Color Kinetics' digital control expertise with advanced white LEDs to enable both traditional and completely new uses of high-quality white light." The products include innovations such as variable color temperature, producing cool to warm gradients of white light from a single fixture; the ability to dim solid-state devices with standard dimmers; and the ability to dim without altering color temperature. Applications include retail displays, architectural accent lighting, art and exhibit lighting, and hospitality ambience lighting. [ Press release ]
January 10, 2005	An overview of solid-state lighting featuring Lumileds, titled "Goal is for LEDs to light the way" in the Seattle Times, was produced by the Knight Ridder newspapers. [ Item in the Seattle Times ]
January 7, 2005	Sensor Electronic Technology began shipping deep-UV LEDs, emitting at 265-365 nm, and suppliers of testing and sensor equipment have placed the first orders. The AlInGaN-based LEDs are smaller than traditional deep-UV light sources such as mercury or deuterium lamps, and contain fewer toxic chemicals. [ Item at CompoundSemiconductor.com ]
January 6, 2005	Para Light introduced an enhanced-power LED light strip module, LS07G5, made up of individual 35 mA RGB LEDs with an IC controller that enables thousands of different color combinations. The light strip has a viewing angle of 100 degrees, total flux of 20 lumens, input of 5 volts, and operates in a temperature range of -20�C to +80�C. The device is intended as a replacement for incandescent lighting in decorative and emergency lighting applications. [ Press release ]
January 6, 2005	An extensive overview article, "A Thousand Points of Bright: turning up the volume on solid-state lighting", written by Joshua Israelsohn, Technical Editor, appeared in EDN. The article includes a sidebar on "LEDs in the lab". [ Article, html version ]
January 5, 2005	The auction date for the sale of Oriol's white LED patents has been set for February 3, 2005, according to CompoundSemi News and LIGHTimes. [ Article ]
January 5, 2005	*CompoundSemi News'* McDonald Report featured an interview with Bob Steele on what to expect at the upcoming Strategies in Light conference (February 7-9, 2005). The conference program has been posted online. [ Article, conference program ]
January 5, 2005	Agilent announced a LED-based color management system for backlighting LCD flat-panel TVs that delivers colors 25% more brilliant than current fluorescent backlighting, according to the company. [ Press release ]
January 4, 2005	Shenzhen Refond Opt-Ele Co. announced its new series of surface-mount LEDs for mobile phones. The devices in the FH05 series provide 45 lumens brightness, measure 5 mm by 5 mm by 1.53 mm, are made with PPA, or ceramic, and feature a rated current of 150 mA. [ Press release at EE Times Asia (registration required) ]
January 4, 2005	Color Kinetics introduced iColor� Cove QL, a lower-priced version of its previous iColor Cove product. iColor Cove QL is an enhanced, lower-profile, 12" (30.5 cm) unit with the same beam angle (110� x 40�) of its predecessor. Applying Chromasic� technology, it has the capability for self-addressing, which translates to simplified installation, addressing and programming. [ Press release ]
January 2005	Frost & Sullivan published a market study indicating that LEDs will continue to penetrate the North American automotive market, according to an article at LEDs Magazine. According to the study, titled "Analysis of the North American Automotive Lighting Technologies Markets", by 2010 nearly 55% of automobiles are expected to have LED center high-mounted stop lamps, while more than 10% will have LED rear combination lamps (those using LEDs only or LED/incandescent combinations). Forward lighting using white LEDs is not expected to break into the North American market until after 2010. [ Article at LEDs Magazine ]

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The information presented in this section has been developed by Perspectives , a firm that specializes in technical and market intelligence, with assistance from Sandia National Labs.
NOTE: The provision of summaries and mention of specific manufacturers or products does not constitute an endorsement by Sandia National Laboratories or Perspectives; nor is the information presented warranted or guaranteed by either Sandia National Laboratories or Perspectives.

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