Category Archives: LED Packaging and Testing

Transphorm Inc., a designer and manufacturer of highest reliability (JEDEC and AEC-Q101 qualified) 650V gallium nitride (GaN) semiconductors, announced it received a $15 million investment from Yaskawa Electric Corporation. This news comes only a few weeks after Yaskawa revealed its integrated Σ-7 F servo motor relies on Transphorm’s high-voltage (HV) GaN to deliver unprecedented performance and power density. Transphorm intends to allocate the funds to various areas of its GaN product development.

“We’ve seen the benefits of working with gallium nitride from the R&D phases through to the application development phases of our products, such as photovoltaic converters and the integrated Σ-7 F servo motor,” said Yukio Tsutsui, General Manager of Corporate R&D Center from Yaskawa. “We look ahead to further developments from Transphorm and its cutting-edge technology.”

The integrated Σ-7 F products resulting from the companies’ co-development serves one of the core target markets that can benefit most from HV GaN: servo motors. The technology is also an optimal solution for automotive systems, data center and industrial power supplies, renewable energy and other broad industrial applications.

“Transphorm has consistently prioritized the quality and reliability of our GaN platform,” said Dr. Umesh Mishra, Chairman, CTO and co-founder of Transphorm. “That focus leads to strong customer relationships with visionaries such as Yaskawa and companies that not only innovate, but also influence market growth by demonstrating GaN’s real-world impact. Receiving Yaskawa’s recent support illustrates the rising confidence in GaN while underscoring its reliability.”

The stacked color sensor


November 16, 2017

The human eye has three different types of sensory cells for the perception of colour: cells that are respectively sensitive to red, green and blue alternate in the eye and combine their information to create an overall colored image. Image sensors, for example in mobile phone cameras, work in a similar way: blue, green and red sensors alternate in a mosaic-like pattern. Intelligent software algorithms calculate a high-resolution colour image from the individual colour pixels.

However, the principle also has some inherent limitations: as each individual pixel can only absorb a small part of the light spectrum that hits it, a large part of the light is lost. In addition, the sensors have basically reached the limits of miniaturization, and unwanted image disturbances can occur; these are known as color moiré effects and have to be laboriously removed from the finished image.

Transparent only for certain colors

Researchers have therefore been working for a number of years on the idea of stacking the three sensors instead of placing them next to each other. Of course, this requires that the sensors on top let through the light frequencies that they do not absorb to the sensors underneath. At the end of the 1990s, this type of sensor was successfully produced for the first time. It consisted of three stacked silicon layers, each of which absorbed only one colour.

This actually resulted in a commercially available image sensor. However, this was not successful on the market because the absorption spectra of the different layers were not distinct enough, so part of the green and red light was absorbed by the blue-sensitive layer. The colors therefore blurred and the light sensitivity was thus lower than for ordinary light sensors. In addition, the production of the absorbing silicon layers required a complex and expensive manufacturing process.

Empa researchers have now succeeded in developing a sensor prototype that circumvents these problems. It consists of three different types of perovskites – a semiconducting material that has become increasingly important during the last few years, for example in the development of new solar cells, due to its outstanding electrical properties and good optical absorption capacity. Depending on the composition of these perovskites, they can, for example, absorb part of the light spectrum, but remain transparent for the rest of the spectrum. The researchers in Maksym Kovalenko’s group at Empa and ETH Zurich used this principle to create a color sensor with a size of just one pixel. The researchers were able to reproduce both simple one-dimensional and more realistic two-dimensional images with an extremely high color fidelity.

Accurate recognition of colors

The advantages of this new approach are clear: the absorption spectra are clearly differentiated and the colour recognition is thus much more precise than with silicon. In addition, the absorption coefficients, especially for the light components with higher wavelengths (green and red), are considerably higher in the perovskites than in silicon. As a result, the layers can be made significantly smaller, which in turn allows smaller pixel sizes. This is not crucial in the case of ordinary camera sensors; however, for other analysis technologies, such as spectroscopy, this could permit significantly higher spatial resolution. The perovskites can also be produced using a comparatively cheap process.

However, more work is still needed in order to further develop this prototype into a commercially usable image sensor. Key areas include the miniaturisation of pixels and the development of methods for producing an entire matrix of such pixels in one step. According to Kovalenko, this should be possible with existing technologies.

Perovskites are such a promising material in research that the prestigious journal Science has published a special edition about them. It includes a review article by the Empa/ETH research group led by Maksym Kovalenko about the current state of research and potential uses of lead halide perovskites nanocrystals.

These have properties that make them a promising candidate for the development of semiconductor nanocrystals for various optoelectronic applications such as television screens, LEDs and solar cells: they are inexpensive to manufacture, have a high tolerance to defects and can be tuned precisely to emit light in a specific colour spectrum.

Seoul Semiconductor has developed an ultra-compact LED driver series with a power density 5X higher than conventional LED drivers. Based on Seoul Semiconductor’s patented Acrich technology, the MicroDriver Series delivers more than 24W of output power with a power density of 20W/cubic inch cubic inch, compared to existing drivers at 3-5W/cubic inch. Measuring just 1.5″ x 1.1″ x 0.8″ (38mm x 28mm x 20.5mm), the MicroDriver is 80% smaller than conventional LED drivers, giving lighting designers the ability to develop ultra-thin and novel luminaires with flicker-free operation.

“The new MicroDriver Series LED drivers will have a significant impact on external converters, enabling lighting design engineers to dramatically reduce the size, weight and volume of their luminaires,” explained Keith Hopwood, executive vice-president at Seoul Semiconductor. “This breakthrough in size reduction for the MicroDriver Series is the result of the company’s continuing investment in Acrich high voltage LED technology, delivering benefits for customers in smaller size, increased efficiency and lower costs.”

The MicroDriver Series LED drivers are ideal for lighting designs such as wall sconces, vanity lights, downlights, and flush-mounted lighting fixture applications. The MicroDriver Series’ smaller size facilitates the conversion of these applications to LED light sources, which was not previously possible due to bulky conventional LED drivers, making halogen lamp replacement possible without the need for a large volume recess for the driver, or a reduction in light output.

The MicroDriver Series LED drivers are ideal for luminaire designs up to 2,400 lumens, and their compact size enables integration of the lighting control circuitry with the external converter. This gives lighting designers the capability to mount more light sources on the board or reduce the total size of the fixture and mounting plate.

The resulting decrease in the LED drivers’ physical size has significant business implications for the lighting industry, giving lighting designers the ability to shrink the size of light fixtures by as much as 20%, which reduces shipping and storage costs. Because conventional LED drivers are both heavy and bulky, they are typically shipped via sea freight from manufacturers in Asia to European and North American fixture companies, with transit times up to six weeks. The MicroDriver Series LED drivers are small and lightweight enough to make airfreight practical and economical, reducing lead time and streamlining the overall supply chain.

The MicroDriver Series is rated to IP66, and is available in 10 models, rated for 8 – 24W in 120V or 230V versions, for LED assemblies from 900-2400 lumens. The drivers are CE recognized, provide flicker-free operation for phase-cut dimmers, and are compliant to California Title 24, enabling lighting designers to meet the most challenging design requirements, including low flicker, high power factor, Class B EMI and 2.5kV surge.

Seoul Semiconductor exhibited its new SunLike Series LEDs, the world’s first LED to produce light that closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight, at the recent Professional Lighting Design Conference (PLDC), held in Paris, France from Nov. 1 – 4. The new LED technology, first unveiled in Frankfurt, Germany in June of this year, is generating interest from many global lighting companies, who are developing new lighting products using SunLike Series LEDs.

New products from leading lighting designers powered by Seoul Semiconductor’s SunLike LED technology were on display at PLDC 2017, which attracted more than 2000 attendees. A number of these companies signaled their intention to launch these new SunLike-powered lighting products in the market.

The director of Seoul Semiconductor’s Lighting Divison, Mr. Yo Cho, was invited as a keynote speaker at the PLDC’s opening event, where he presented SunLike Series LED technology. “Because the SunLike Series LEDs are designed to deliver light that closely matches sunlight’s natural spectrum, they provide an optimized light source that maximizes the benefits of natural light,” said Mr. Cho. “Thus, the colors and texture of objects can be viewed more accurately, as they would be seen under natural sunlight.”

According to Dr. Kibum Nam, head of Seoul Semiconductor R&D Center and Chief Technology Officer, “SunLike Series LEDs have the potential to drive a revolution in lighting – overcoming the limits of artificial light sources by implementing light closer to the natural spectrum of sunlight. Seoul will open a new era of natural spectrum lighting with the launch of more SunLike LED technology.”

SunLike Series natural spectrum LEDs may also play a key role in minimizing the negative effects of artificial lighting. While conventional LED technology produces light with a pronounced blue “spike” in its spectral output, SunLike LEDs implement a more uniform spectrum that more closely matches natural sunlight, lowering this blue light spike. Some recent research indicates that this blue light spike may produce negative effects when viewed for prolonged periods of time during night-time hours, potentially interfering with natural human biorhythms. By employing new light sources powered by SunLike Series LEDs, lighting designers will be able to deliver a healthier light experience.

Interest in the link between light sources and human health is higher than ever before, as evidenced by the winners of this year’s Nobel Prize in Physiology, Professor Jeffrey C. Hall, University of Maine; Professor Michael Morris Rosbach, Brandeis University; and Professor Michael Young, Rockefeller University. These researchers are credited with seminal discoveries about the cellular mechanisms for circadian biology.

Researchers have developed a technique that allows users to collect 100 times more spectrographic information per day from microfluidic devices, as compared to the previous industry standard. The novel technology has already led to a new discovery: the speed of mixing ingredients for quantum dots used in LEDs changes the color of light they emit – even when all other variables are identical.

Researchers have discovered that the speed of mixing ingredients for quantum dots used in LEDs changes the color of light they emit -- even when all other variables are identical. Credit: Milad Abolhasani

Researchers have discovered that the speed of mixing ingredients for quantum dots used in LEDs changes the color of light they emit — even when all other variables are identical. Credit: Milad Abolhasani

“Semiconductor nanocrystals are important structures used in a variety of applications, ranging from LED displays to solar cells. But producing nanocrystalline structures using chemical synthesis is tricky, because what works well on a small scale can’t be directly scaled up – the physics don’t work,” says Milad Abolhasani, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of a paper on the work.

“This challenge has led to an interest in continuous nanomanufacturing approaches that rely on precisely controlled microfluidic-based synthesis,” Abolhasani says. “But testing all of the relevant variables to find the best combination for manufacturing a given structure takes an extremely long time due to the limitations of the existing monitoring technologies – so we decided to build a completely new platform.”

Currently, microfluidic monitoring technologies are fixed in place, and monitor either absorption or fluorescence. Fluorescence data tells you what the crystal’s emission bandgap is – or what color of light it emits – which is important for LED applications. Absorption data tells you the crystal’s size and concentration, which is relevant for all applications, as well as its absorption bandgap – which is important for solar cell applications.

To monitor both fluorescence and absorption you’d need two separate monitoring points. And, being fixed in place, people would speed up or slow down the flow rate in the microfluidic channel to control the reaction time of the chemical synthesis: the faster the flow rate, the less reaction time a sample has before it hits the monitoring point. Working around the clock, this approach would allow a lab to collect about 300 data samples in 24 hours.

Abolhasani and his team developed an automated microfluidic technology called NanoRobo, in which a spectrographic monitoring module that collects both fluorescent and absorption data can move along the microfluidic channel, collecting data along the way. The system is capable of collecting 30,000 data samples in 24 hours – expediting the discovery, screening, and optimization of colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals, such as perovskite quantum dots, by two orders of magnitude. Video of the automated system can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBQoSDdn_Uk.

And, because of the translational capability of the novel monitoring module, the system can study reaction time by moving along the microfluidic channel, rather than changing the flow rate – which, the researchers discovered, makes a big difference.

Because NanoRobo allowed researchers to monitor reaction time and flow rate as separate variables for the first time, Abolhasani was the first to note that the velocity of the samples in the microfluidic channel affected the size and emission color of the resulting nanocrystals. Even if all the ingredients were the same, and all of the other conditions were identical, samples that moved – and mixed – at a faster rate produced smaller nanocrystals. And that affects the color of light those crystals emit.

“This is just one more way to tune the emission wavelength of perovskite nanocrystals for use in LED devices,” Abolhasani says.

NC State has filed a provisional patent covering NanoRobo and is open to exploring potential market applications for the technology.

Pixelligent Technologies, the inventor of PixClear high-index nanocomposites for the OLED display, HD display, and solid state lighting markets, announced today it has named Alain Harrus, Ph.D. and Gene Banucci, Ph.D. to the Pixelligent Board of Directors.

“Alain and Gene are joining the Pixelligent team at a critical time in our development as we are emerging from years of product development and application engineering, to widespread adoption of our nanocomposites across all of our target markets. The combined vast experience which Alain Harrus brings on the OLED and semiconductor equipment front, and that Gene Banucci brings from having built one of the most successful advanced materials companies, is an incredibly valuable addition to the Pixelligent team and we are honored to have them,” commented Craig Bandes, CEO of Pixelligent Technologies.

Alain Harrus is currently the CEO of Kateeva, a manufacturer of a deposition equipment platform utilizing ink jet printing, with its initial focus on mass production of OLED displays. Kateeva’s innovations are helping to accelerate the adoption of OLED and other advanced display technologies. Prior to Kateeva, Alain was a Partner at Crosslink Capital, a San Francisco-based venture capital company where he led the firm’s semiconductor and energy technology investment activities. Before Crosslink he was the CTO at Novellus Systems—now part of Lam Research. “I’m excited to be joining the Pixelligent Board as the Company is entering its inflection point and emerging as a leading provider of high-efficiency materials to the OLED and HD display markets,” said Alain Harrus. Pixelligent and Kateeva have been partnering to optimize advanced display process solutions for the OLED for the past 12 months.

Gene Banucci is the former founding CEO of ATMI.  Gene served as CEO of ATMI from 1986-2004 and remained on the Board until the company was sold for $1.1B in 2014. Under his leadership the company completed an IPO and he grew the company to $245 million in revenues when he retired.  Since retiring as CEO, he has served on over 10 Boards across numerous industries.  “I have known and worked with executives at Pixelligent and have been following the Company’s progress for the last few years.  I am impressed with the balanced approach that Pixelligent has executed on both the market-leading materials they have developed as well as their proprietary mass production manufacturing platform.  I look forward to working with the team to help firmly establish Pixelligent as a leading advanced materials supplier to the OLED and Solid State Lighting markets,” said Gene Banucci.

“These are exciting times for Pixelligent and we expect 2018 to be a record year in terms of revenues and commercial wins across all of our core OLED display, OLED lighting, HD Display, and LED lighting markets,” said Bandes.

Veeco Instruments Inc. (Nasdaq: VECO) announced today the completion of a strategic initiative with ALLOS Semiconductors (ALLOS) to demonstrate 200mm GaN-on-Si wafers for Blue/Green micro-LED production. Veeco teamed up with ALLOS to transfer their proprietary epitaxy technology onto the Propel Single-Wafer MOCVD System to enable micro-LED production on existing silicon production lines.

“With the Propel reactor, we have an MOCVD technology that is capable of high yielding GaN Epitaxy that meets all the requirements for processing micro-LED devices in 200 millimeter silicon production lines,” said Burkhard Slischka, CEO of ALLOS Semiconductors. “Within one month we established our technology on Propel and have achieved crack-free, meltback-free wafers with less than 30 micrometers bow, high crystal quality, superior thickness uniformity and wavelength uniformity of less than one nanometer.  Together with Veeco, ALLOS is looking forward to making this technology more widely available to the micro-LED ecosystem.”

Micro-LED display technology consists of <30×30 square micron red, green, blue (RGB) inorganic LEDs that are transferred to the display backplane to form sub-pixels. Direct emission from these high efficiency LEDs offers lower power consumption compared with OLED and LCD while providing superior brightness and contrast for mobile displays, TV and wearables. The manufacturing of micro-LEDs requires high quality, uniform epitaxial wafers to meet the display yield and cost targets.

“In contrast to competing MOCVD platforms, Propel offers leading-edge uniformity and simultaneously achieves excellent film quality as a result of the wide process window afforded by Veeco’s TurboDisc® technology,” said Peo Hansson, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and General Manager of Veeco MOCVD Operations. “Combining Veeco’s leading MOCVD expertise with ALLOS’ GaN-on-Silicon epi-wafer technology enables our customers to develop micro-LEDs cost effectively for new applications in new markets.”

More than a dozen product categories in optoelectronics, sensors and actuators, and discretes semiconductors (O-S-D) are on track to set record-high annual sales this year, according to a new update of IC Insights’ 2017 O-S-D Report—A Market Analysis and Forecast for Optoelectronics, Sensors/Actuators, and Discrete Semiconductors.  Driven by the expansion of the Internet of Things (IoT), increasing levels of intelligent embedded controls, and some inventory replenishment in commodity discretes, the diverse O-S-D marketplace is having a banner year with combined sales across all three semiconductor segments expected to grow 10.5% in 2017 to a record-high $75.0 billion, says the O-S-D Report update.

In 2017, above average sales growth rates are being achieved in all but one major O-S-D product category—lamp devices, which are now expected to be flat in 2017 because of continued price erosion in light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for solid-state lighting applications.  Figure 1 compares annual growth rates in five major O-S-D product categories, based on the updated 2017 sales projection.

Figure 1

Figure 1

For the first time since 2014, all three O-S-D market segments are on pace to see sales growth in 2017. Moreover, 2017 is expected to be the first year since 2011 when all three O-S-D market segments set record-high annual sales volumes, according to IC Insights’ update.

The 2017 double-digit percent increase will be the highest growth rate for combined O-S-D sales since the strong 2010 recovery from the 2009 semiconductor downturn that coincided with the 2008-2009 financial crisis and global economic recession.  Total O-S-D revenues are now forecast to reach a ninth consecutive annual record high level of $80.5 billion in 2018, which will be a 7.4% increase from 2017 sales, says the O-S-D Report update.

After a rare decline of 3.6% in 2016, optoelectronics is recovering this year with sales now projected to grow 8.1% in 2017 to an all-time high of $36.7 billion, thanks to strong double-digit sales increases in CMOS image sensors (+22%), light sensors (+19%), optical-network laser transmitters (+15%), and infrared devices (+14%).

Meanwhile, record-high revenues for sensors and actuators are being fueled by the expansion of IoT and new automated controls in a wide range of systems—including more self-driving features in cars. Sensors/actuator sales are now expected to climb 17.5% in 2017 to $13.9 billion, marking the strongest growth year for this market segment since 2010.  Sales of sensors and actuators made with microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) technology are forecast to rise by 18.5% in 2017 to a record-high $11.6 billion.  The O-S-D Report update shows all-time high sales being reached in 2017 with strong double-digit growth in actuators (+20%), pressure sensor, including MEMS microphone chips (+18%), and acceleration/yaw sensors (+17%).

Even the commodity-filled discretes market is thriving in 2017 with worldwide sales projected to rise 10.3% to $24.1 billion, which will finally surpass the current peak of $23.4 billion set in 2011.  Sales of power transistors, which account for more than half of the discretes market segment, are forecast to grow 9.0% in 2017 to a record-high $14.0 billion, according to the new O-S-D Report update.

“The GaN market promises an imminent growth”, announced Dr. Ana Villamor, Technology & Market Analyst from Yole Développement (Yole). “2015 and 2016 have been undoubtedly exciting years for the GaN power business. We project the explosion of the market with 84% CAGR between 2017 and 2022. The market value will so reach US$ 450 million at the end of the period.” What makes the power GaN technology so promising?

The “More than Moore” market research and strategy consulting company Yole pursued its investigations based on numerous exchanges with power GaN companies and thanks to its participation to leading conferences. Yole announces this month the Power GaN 2017: Epitaxy, Devices, Applications, and Technology Trends report. Things are going on the right way: the power GaN supply chain prepares for production and 2017 has been showing significant investments that confirm the added-value of power GaN technology and its strong potential in numerous applications. The new Power GaN analysis conveys Yole’s understanding of GaN implementation and details the different market segments, the related drivers, metrics and technical roadmaps.

In 2016 the power GaN market reached US$ 12 million: it is still a small market compared to the impressive US$ 30 billion silicon power semiconductor market. However its expected growth in the short term is showing the enormous potential of the power GaN technology based on its suitability for high performance and high frequency solutions.

“LiDAR, wireless power and envelope tracking are high-end low/medium voltage applications, and GaN is the only existing technology able to meet their requirements,” explained Ana Villamor from Yole. “Beginning of the year, Velodyne Lidar opened a ‘megafactory’ to ramp up the latest 3D sensor for LiDAR manufacturing and this October they already announced a fourfold production increase.”
Other major companies, like Apple and Starbucks, started offering wireless charging solutions. Moreover, since 2016, EPC has been working with Taiwan’s JJPlus Corporation to accelerate the wireless charging market’s growth. The power supply segment is still the biggest application for GaN. The data center market is adopting GaN solutions with a phenomenal speed, driving a 114% CAGR for power supplies through to 2022. Existing solutions from Texas Instruments and EPC for data centers, consisting of a DC/DC converter and point of load supply that steps down the voltage from 48 V to 1.2 V in a single chip, will propel the market. AC/DC power adapters for laptops or smartphones can be also implemented with GaN power IC solutions, which further reduces the size and cost of the system.

Therefore the consumer market is expected to grow during coming years and Yole’s analysts envisage two different scenarios, depending on the acceptance in key markets like AC/DC adapters for laptops and cellphones.

GaN needs to hurry to gain adoption in the EV/HEV market because SiC MOSFETs are already replacing silicon IGBTs in the main inverters. However, a future market for the 48 V battery’s DC/DC converter is still possible for GaN due to its high-speed switching capability. Some main players, as Transphorm, have already obtained qualification for automotive, and this would help to finally ramp-up GaN production for EV/HEV.

In parallel, the GaN power devices supply chain is acting to support market growth. Therefore it is close to being settle for the power GaN market and deals during 2017 show confidence that GaN will be a successful market. “First of all, there have been big investments from the main foundries to increase their capacity to handle mass production”, asserted Zhen Zong, Technology & Market Analyst at Yole Développement. And he added: “Navitas just announced the partnership with TSMC and Amkor to ramp production capacity. Moreover, BMW i Ventures has just invested in GaN Systems. The Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs is also interested in using GaN for clean and green technologies, also in collaboration with GaN Systems.”

GaN manufacturers clearly continue developing new products and provide samples to customers, as is the case with EPC and its wireless charging line. For example, during 2017, Panasonic announced the mass production of its 650 V products and Exagan successfully produced its first high voltage devices on 8-inch wafers. Other players are in the final phase of R&D or qualification for their GaN products to be launched in 2018. In both cases, manufacturers and clients are pushing to use GaN HEMTs in emerging technologies.

Seoul Semiconductor, a developer of LED products and technology recently introduced its Horticultural Series LEDs in COB, mid-power, and high-power packages, making Seoul the only LED manufacturer to provide lighting designers with the complete spectrum of light used for growing plants – spanning the spectrum from ultraviolet (UV-C) to far-red. The new product family also includes Seoul’s SunLike Series natural spectrum LEDs, which produce light that closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight.

Seoul Semiconductor introduced the new Horticultural Series LEDs at the 2017 Horticultural Lighting Conference in Denver, CO, on October 17. One of the invited speakers for the conference will be Dr. Peter Barber, product marketing manager for Seoul VioSys, on “The Myriad Ways That UV LEDs Will Impact Society Through Horticultural Lighting.”

Delivering a full spectrum of possibilities for horticultural applications
While many conventional LED manufacturers have developed horticultural-optimized LEDs in the visible light spectrum from violet (~390nm) to red (~700nm) wavelengths, the new Horticultural Series LEDs from Seoul Semiconductor extend this spectrum to include multiple ultraviolet bands (UV-A, UV-B & UV-C), as well as into far-red bands (~700nm to 800nm). The extension of this new LED product series beyond the ends of the visible spectrum provides horticultural lighting designers with the capability to develop the widest range of light sources beneficial for growing and propagating different types of vegetables and plants in indoor settings.

Also playing a critical role in the new Horticultural Series LED family is Seoul Semiconductor’s recently-introduced SunLike LED technology, the first LED to closely match the spectrum of natural sunlight, providing a light source more like natural light than conventional “white light” LEDs, providing lighting designers with a wider range of options as they develop horticultural-specific lighting systems.

“By extending the spectrum of LEDs to include both ultraviolet and far-red light sources, Seoul Semiconductor provides horticultural lighting designers an entirely new spectrum of possibilities in developing lighting systems for specific plant growth and propagation,” explained Mark McClear, Vice President, Americas, of Seoul Semiconductor. “Our Horticultural Series LEDs include high-power, mid-power and COB devices, enabling the design of a wide range of lighting fixtures – from high-bay and directional lights to rack-mounted fixtures for vertical farming systems – all from a single LED manufacturer.”

SunLike Series Chip-on-Board (COB) LEDs
For lighting fixtures designed to produce light that closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight, Seoul offers a range of standard COB LED modules ranging from 6W to 25W.

High Power Horticultural Series LEDs include UV, white, and color devices
For high-bay and other lighting fixtures, Seoul’s Horticultural Series LEDs include the following options:
Ultraviolet
UV-C – Producing dominant wavelength of 275nm, these un-lensed UV LEDs can be used for sterilization.
UV-B – Producing dominant wavelength between 280 – 310nm, these un-lensed UV LEDs are rated at 10mW with a photosynthetic photon flux (PPF) value of 0.25µmols/s.
UV-A – Producing dominant wavelength between 360 – 400nm, these lensed UV LEDs are rated at 636mW with a PPF value of 2.2µmols/s.
Deep Blue – Featuring a dominant wavelength of 449 – 461nm, these deep blue dome-lensed LEDs are rated at 650mW with a PPF of 2.6µmols/s.
Deep Red – With a dominant wavelength of 646 – 665nm, these visible red LEDs are rated at 345mW with a PPF of 2.32µmols/s.
Far-Red – Producing a dominant wavelength of ~730nm (peak), these near-infrared LEDs are rated at 260mW with a PPF of 1.64µmols/s.
White – These high-power white LEDs feature a light output of 168lm with a PPF of 2.4µmols/s.

Mid Power Horticultural Series LEDs include SunLike natural spectrum LEDs & color devices
For vertical rack systems and other close-up lighting fixtures, Seoul’s Horticultural Series LEDs include the following mid-power options in standard 3030 packages:
SunLike 5000K – With a color temperature ranging from 2700K – 5000K, these LEDs produce light that closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight, and feature a light output of 22.3lm with a PPF of 0.38µmols/s.
Deep Blue – Featuring a dominant wavelength of 449 – 461nm, these blue mid-power LEDs are rated at 155mW with a PPF of 0.62µmols/s.
Deep-Red – With a dominant wavelength of 646 – 665nm, these visible red LEDs have a PPF of 0.43µmols/s, and a light output of 77lm/mW.
Far-Red – Producing a dominant wavelength of ~730nm (peak), these near-infrared mid-power LEDs are rated at 50mW with a PPF of 0.38µmols/s.