July 30, 2012 — Plessey Semiconductors is installing a multi-million-pound (£) high-brightness light-emitting diode (HB-LED) production line at its Plymouth, UK facility.
The semiconductor product maker took delivery of a CRIUS II-XL reactor in a 7 x 6” wafer configuration from AIXTRON for the line, which will make Plessey’s MaGIC (MAnufactured on Gan ICs) gallium nitride (GaN) technology on 6” wafers. Also read: Plessey acquires CamGaN for GaN-on-Si LED technology
Plessey’s GaN-on-Si technology uses a 2.5µm GaN layer, as compared to 6-8µm layers in other GaN-on-Si approaches, said Neil Harper, Plessey’s HBLED product line director. The thinner GaN layer means less deposition time, which allows multiple production cycles in the reactor in 24 hours.
The 6” silicon wafers offer up to 80% cost reduction from silicon carbide (SiC) or sapphire LED substrates. The current design enables more than 14,000 LEDS (1mm2 1W) per wafer. Plessey’s roadmap is to move to 8” substrates for even greater cost savings.
Efficiencies in the new technology will enable outputs in excess of 150 lumens per watt to be achieved. Typical MAGIC HB LEDs are yielding at 95%. The first samples of a blue LED are characterized by peak emission at 460nm with typical current of 350mA. The technology extends to other emission wavelengths: cyan at 500nm and green at 530nm with amber and white output enabled by phosphor conversion. White output will initially achieve 80 lumens/watt with 450mW output from 1W input, which will be available later this year, and 150 lumens/watt devices are planned for June 2013 with the support of British and European partners.
Plessey intends to integrate its MaGIC HBLED products with its EPIC sensor technology to provide smart lighting solutions for even greater energy savings and carbon footprint reductions.
Plessey Semiconductors develops and manufactures semiconductor products used in sensing, measurement and control applications. Learn more at http://www.plesseysemiconductors.com/products/magic.