The penetration of gallium nitride-on-silicon (GaN-on-Si) wafers into the light-emitting diode (LED) market is forecast to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 69 percent from 2013 to 2020, by which time they will account for 40 percent of all GaN LEDs manufactured, according to a new report from IHS Inc.

In 2013, 95 percent of GaN LEDs will be manufactured on sapphire wafers, while only 1 percent will be manufactured on silicon wafers. The growth in the manufacturing of GaN-on-Si LEDs between 2013 and 2020 will take market share from both sapphire and silicon carbide wafers.

The figure below shows the GaN-on-Si LED market share outlook in terms of revenue for the packaged LED market.

“Manufacturing large ingots made from sapphire is difficult, whereas silicon wafers are available from 8 inches up to 12 inches and are generally cheaper and more abundant,” said Dkins Cho, senior analyst for lighting and LEDs at IHS. “There is a large pre-existing industry for silicon-based manufacturing that is leveraged to create economies of scale and reduce the cost of an LED.”

Repurposing manufacturing facilities to accommodate the shift toward GaN-on-Si LEDs is generally accepted to require minimal investment. Companies that previously manufactured CMOS semiconductors already own legacy 8-inch CMOS fabrication units that can be converted for LED production with a small modification. These companies already have in-house expertise and technology associated with silicon-based processes.

“Many of the CMOS semiconductor manufacturers already have excellent inspection tools, unlike traditional LED companies,” Cho said. “This could help increase their process yield through in-situ monitoring. However, it is unlikely the repurposing will happen overnight; instead we forecast a shift during the coming years.”

Dow Corning introduced new Dow Corning MS-2002 Moldable White Reflector Silicone at Strategies in Light Europe 2013. This highly reflective white material extends the excellent photo-thermal stability and high-moldability that typifies Dow Corning’s award-winning optical-grade Moldable Silicone family to the reflective elements of LED lamp and luminaire applications. Dow Corning MS-2002 Moldable White Reflector Silicone targets reflectivity as high as 98 percent to help further boost light output from LED devices, improve overall energy efficiency and prolong device reliability.

“Dow Corning is committed to driving new innovations in current and next-generation LED lighting designs and expanding opportunities for solid-state sources to compete with traditional illumination sources in more demanding high-intensity lighting applications,” said Hugo da Silva, global industry director, LED Lighting at Dow Corning. “Our advanced new Dow Corning MS-2002 Silicone extends the design, processing and performance benefits of our Moldable Silicone portfolio beyond transparent LED lens elements to include the reflective elements of LED lamp and luminaire applications.”

Like other products in Dow Corning’s line of high-performance LED silicones, its advanced new Dow Corning MS-2002 Silicone delivers mechanical, thermal and optical stability at temperatures exceeding 150° C. That means, unlike epoxies, polycarbonate, acrylic and other conventional LED materials, Dow Corning MS-2002 Moldable White Reflector Silicone retains superb color, reflectance and mechanical performance over the lifetime of an LED lamp or luminaire without yellowing or physical degradation. As the market demands LED sources to deliver more intense light from comparatively smaller package sizes, these qualities are highly desirable for reflective LED materials.

The easy processability and high moldability of Dow Corning MS-2002 Moldable White Reflector Silicone also greatly expands design latitudes for LED lamp and luminaire applications. With its high reflectivity and bright white color, this new high-performance silicone product does not require the additional mixture of liquid silicone rubber or color pigmentation. Its extreme thermal and optical stability enables development of parts with direct contact with LED dies without air gaps between the die and optics, avoiding design limits common with organic LED materials.

Dow Corning MS-2002 Moldable White Reflector Silicone also exhibits excellent feature reproduction, which allows mold undercuts or co-molding with Dow Corning transparent materials. It is a high viscosity, high 84 Shore A hardness, fast-curing material able to produce fine details and deliver good resistance to environmental aging.

Dow Corning MS-2002 Silicone, as well as other products from Dow Corning’s portfolio of solutions for LED lamps and luminaires, are being featured at the company’s booth (Booth B25) at Strategies in Light Europe.

The new Z5-M1 series from Seoul Semiconductor has been optimized to deliver maximum efficacy and luminous flux with an industry standard 3535 surface mount package. The new Z5-M1 combines high light output, reliability, and color uniformity to deliver up to 132 lumens per watt at 350mA, (85°C junction temperature, 80 CRI minimum) in warm white (3000K). In cool white (6000K), the Z5-M1 delivers up to 150 lumens per watt at 350mA (85°C junction temperature, 70 CRI minimum). The Z5-M1 series is available in the full Correlated Color Temperature (CCT) range of 2600K – 7000K and two CRI options to provide lamp and luminaire manufacturers with maximum flexibility.

The advancements made in chip architecture and phosphor technology are the key ingredients to the performance enhancement of the new Z5-M1 series. The improved efficacy helps lighting manufacturers use fewer LEDs in their system designs which translate to lower system costs. The Z5-M1 can be operated from 150mA to 1.5A making them suitable for a wide range of general illumination applications from street and area lighting to replacement lamps to high output flashlights. This new product also features excellent color uniformity over angle based on a new phosphor coating technology which enables high quality directional light sources. J.B Choi, President of the Lighting Division for Seoul Semiconductor, said: “The efficacy enhancements in the new Z5-M1 series not only ensure a reduction in luminaire development costs incurred by our customers, but also enable the best possible color over angle homogeneity with the new phosphor coating technology.”

Seoul Semiconductor manufacturers and packages a wide selection of light emitting diodes (LEDs) for the automotive, general illumination lighting, appliance, signage and back lighting markets. The company is the world’s fifth largest LED supplier, holding more than 10,000 patents globally, while offering a wide range of LED technology and production capacity in areas such as “nPola”, deep UV LEDs, “Acrich”, the world’s first commercially produced AC LED, and “Acrich MJT – Multi-Junction Technology” a proprietary family of high-voltage LEDs.

SemiLEDs Corporation today announced the introduction and release of the 10-Watt M63 RGBW integrated 6363 LED. The 4-channel M63 RGBW delivers over 410 total lumens of combined red, green, blue and white light output. The compact 6.3mm x 6.3mm dimensions enable the M63 RGBW to fit in a wide range of color-changing applications, including entertainment (stage lights, backdrops and spotlighting), large scale displays, and color-adjustable luminaires for building facade, wall washing or specialized interior luminaires.

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“The M63 RGBW demonstrates a new level of LED product integration from SemiLEDs,” commented Dr. Ilkan Cokgor, Executive VP of Sales and Marketing for SemiLEDs. “By combining three colors, plus an independent phosphor-coated white emitter, onto a single LED package, our customers will be able to better optimize the optical and thermal properties of their design, while minimizing the manufacturing complexities of their luminaires or large scale displays. This integrated approach is enabled by our well-validated and robust metal vertical LED product portfolio, which can be reliably driven harder to deliver higher than average lumen density and increase the lumens per dollar,” Dr. Cokgor added.

The integrated package is the first to bring together SemiLEDs vertical, white chip, and ceramic packaging technologies. Measuring just 6.3mm on a side (39.7 square mm/.06 square inch), the compact multi-color LED opens the door to arrays with cumulative lumen-densities in excess of 6000 lumens per square inch. Beyond just the size and potential for high-lumen densities, the square footprint also greatly simplifies color mixing and integration with secondary optics, including narrow beam spotlights which benefit from the symmetry and depend upon minimized source sizes. When compared to a strictly RGB source, the addition of discrete white to the color changing LED architecture enables a broader spectrum and more natural white palette to be projected. The white source in the M63 RGB delivers 100 lumens per watt at a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 6300K to 8000K. By its nature, an RGBW LED should include a cool-white source to compliment the additive nature of the colors in the integrated device.

“Every current technology trend is towards higher integration, both to reduce component count and simplify the final design, and that carries with it a ripple effect that continues into process engineering and manufacturing,” continued Dr. Cokgor. “As a result of its broad technology offering, SemiLEDs is in a somewhat unique position to reliably deliver these higher levels of integration, as reflected in our new M63 RGBW. High quality LED manufacturers will continue to differentiate and add value to the industry by driving increasing integration at both the component and subsystem level,” he concluded.

The lighting control systems marketplace has been in a state of transition in recent years. Changing energy efficiency codes, new construction project increases, wireless technology benefits, increases in LED lighting adoption and conservation initiatives have been the key factors driving the growth of the lighting control systems market in the US. The total United States lighting controls market is estimated to be well over $1 billion by the end of 2013. This figure includes lighting controls, devices, systems and gears. The market is expected to show a considerable growth through the forecast period. The systems market is expected to grow at a much faster rate.

Title 24 in California is at the forefront of establishing a national standard. By January 2014, this change in code will require automatic daylight harvesting controls be added to many commercial buildings. Additionally, occupancy sensing functionality will also be mandated for many applications. This change in code is the most significant driver in the market, as end-users tend not to adopt control technology improvement unless mandated.

Due to the increasing complexity of lighting control system specification, design, sales and installation, value-chain participants have had to adapt to the changing market dynamics. This circumstance has led to a number of end-users looking at alternative sales channels and other value-chain participants adjusting their business model appropriately. One such example is a change in the electrical distribution model. In recent years, many electrical distributors have established sales channels through energy audit teams, specifically targeting the retrofit marketplace. Some of these distributors include Graybar, Gexpro, Rexel, Facility Solutions Group (FSG), Crescent (CESCO), among others.

“The market is very much in a state of transition,” states principal analyst Anthony Miller. “I expect a great deal of consolidation and a change in the structure of how manufacturers sell to and support their customer base.”

Project specification can be influenced by a variety of different value-chain stakeholders. Lighting specification can occur by architects, lighting designers, electrical engineers, manufacturers, sales representatives, lighting agents or value added resellers (VARs).

The key participants in the distributed lighting control systems market include Acuity, Lutron, WattStopper, Encelium, Enlighted, Daintree, Redwood Systems, Digital Lumens, among others.

Quantum Electro Opto Systems Sdn. Bhd. (QEOS), a leading innovator in LED technology, announced today that it is entering the LED lighting and LED lighting systems business.  QEOS had previously commercialized its Tilted Charge Dynamics (TCD) device technology to produce the world’s fastest LED, which also featured lower cost, smaller size, and importantly, extremely low total power usage; thus providing a highly “Green Energy” product for the communications industry.  The company is now leveraging its R&D capability in materials and device design, optical lens technology and packaging, to bring forth new “Smart+” LED Lighting Systems, combining eco-friendly green technology with digitally-driven and Internet-enabled smart lighting.

Dr. Gabriel Walter, CEO of QEOS, said, “Through the use of advanced designs and packaging we can drive down cost and energy usage, while creating new uses of intelligent LED Lighting Systems.  It is our honor to enter the LED lighting systems market to create new innovations in applications on the 85th birthday of Nick Holonyak, Jr., a founder of QEOS and the inventor of the LED.  Product development for this market is a natural extension of our R&D.”

The worldwide LED lighting markets are expected to achieve significant growth as buildings, communities and governments convert to more cost effective systems. New QEOS Smart+ LED Lighting Systems continue the innovation by delivering better energy efficiency, lower heat emission, lower cost, lower environmental impact, and lower-maintenance systems; while leveraging digital control and Internet-enabled device integration and access.

Dr. Raymond Chin, Chairman of QEOS, said, “We foresee LED lighting systems rapidly becoming more integrated into the fabric of the Internet, and there is substantial room to create advanced products. At QEOS innovation is part of our DNA.   We also see integration between our Advanced Video Surveillance Security business and our new Smart+ LED Lighting Systems business,” he said. “Lighting Systems and Video Surveillance Security are complimentary to each other, and when integrated together can result in much better solutions for customers.”

Quantum Electro Opto Systems Sdn Bhd. is located in Melaka, Malaysia with operations in Cupertino, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. Its founders and management include Dr. Gabriel Walter and Dr. Raymond Chin, who are former students of Professor Holonyak; and also Professor Milton Feng, a co-inventor of the Transistor Laser.  QEOS has over 50 patents granted and pending