OFweek Semiconductor Lighting Network February 8, 2012 News, Plessey, one of the few remaining semiconductor manufacturers in the United Kingdom, is preparing to start production of high-brightness LEDs. Manufacturing will use a much-needed study at the University of Cambridge. Technology of concern.
Plessey owns a 6-inch fab in Plymouth, England, and recently acquired CamGaN, a Cambridge company spin-off company. Through this transaction, Plessey has acquired the intellectual property rights of CamGaN's GaN-on-silicon LED epiwafer manufacturing, and three of CamGaN's employees will begin work for Plessey.
Derek Rye, Marketing Manager of Plessey, said that in the past 18 months, Plessey has been working with the Cambridge team and Professor Colin Humphreys, who is working on the silicon GaN technology at Cambridge University, will continue to serve as an advisor.
At this stage, it is uncertain what kind of products Plessey will introduce in this highly competitive high-brightness LED market. Rye believes that processed silicon, die and LED devices are all possible. It is now certain that Plessey intends to purchase a large number of Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) reactors for large-scale production of epitaxial wafers at its own factory.
Plessey plans to produce a silicon-based GaN LED with a white light efficiency of 150 lm/W by the end of this year, and its performance will be comparable to that of a traditional sapphire substrate or silicon carbide substrate LED.
Plessey is by no means the first company to produce silicon-based GaN LEDs. China's Jingneng Optoelectronics is the first company to achieve commercial production of silicon-on-silicon nitride LED inverting chips. Last month, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors also said that it has made some key progress through long-term cooperation with Azzurro Semiconductor. , will be able to start selling silicon-based LEDs within two years.
The competition in the field of silicon-based LEDs will become increasingly fierce. At the recent Photonics West Conference, Alois Krost of the University of Magdeburg, Germany, said that the giants Philips and Samsung have also developed silicon-based LED business through their respective LED subsidiaries.
Derek Rye pointed out that the main advantage of this silicon-based gallium nitride LED technology studied at Cambridge University is the adoption of a thinner semiconductor layer that can solve the lattice between the silicon substrate and the active gallium nitride layer in the chip structure. Mismatch problem.
Osram and Azzurro have solved this lattice mismatch by using relatively thick buffers, such as multilayer aluminum nitride, and the Cambridge research team was able to use a thinner semiconductor layer to produce high-quality LEDs. Will reduce the total production cost.
Plessey chief engineer John Ellis said that, to date, the biggest technical challenge facing the commercialization of high-brightness LEDs grown on large-size silicon substrates is the lattice mismatch between GaN and silicon substrates. Plessey's new GaN-on-Si process overcomes this challenge, and Plessey's expertise and cost savings through the use of 6-inch automated processing equipment will ensure Plessey's leading position in high-brightness LED lighting products.
Some people in the LED industry believe that the transfer to the silicon substrate is a necessary technological evolution for the manufacture of low-cost, high-volume, high-performance lighting applications. But not everyone agrees with this view.
Advances in volume production of sapphire and SiC-based LEDs have led to significant cost reductions. Leading LED manufacturers such as Samsung, Cree, Osram Opto Semiconductors, and Philips Lumileds are also shifting production to 6-inch wafer fabrication.
In addition, in recent years, some well-funded Korean and Chinese manufacturers have also begun to enter the LED market, the introduction of white LED luminous tube, resulting in an overall decline in the average price of LED. 2011 was an extremely difficult year for Western LED manufacturers, and their profit margins have dropped significantly.
Even so, replacing traditional light bulbs with LED lights still has high costs. Professor Humphreys of Cambridge University stated: "The current cost of LED bulbs is 40 pounds, but we hope to reduce the cost by five times by growing LEDs on silicon substrates."
In fact, the cost of LED replacement lamps has also dropped rapidly, which means that Plessey will need to face an equally rapid cost change. Market research firm IMS Research reported in its October 2011 report that the average global retail price of a 60W incandescent LED replacement lamp is US$36, but its price is more than US$70 in Germany and less than 20 in Taiwan. Dollars.
In addition, the current substrate technology also has room for improvement and can further significantly reduce costs. Lumileds R&D manager at the Photonics West Conference stated that he hopes that white light efficiency can be doubled in the next two years, and that LED replacement lamps can be sold for as little as $5 with lower costs.
GT Advanced Technologies, a supplier of sapphire material manufacturing equipment, believes that the real competition between sapphire substrate and silicon substrate in LED production will occur when the LED industry shifts to 8-inch wafer fabrication, while GT is in the aspect of large-scale sapphire substrates. It is going well.
Plessey owns a 6-inch fab in Plymouth, England, and recently acquired CamGaN, a Cambridge company spin-off company. Through this transaction, Plessey has acquired the intellectual property rights of CamGaN's GaN-on-silicon LED epiwafer manufacturing, and three of CamGaN's employees will begin work for Plessey.
Derek Rye, Marketing Manager of Plessey, said that in the past 18 months, Plessey has been working with the Cambridge team and Professor Colin Humphreys, who is working on the silicon GaN technology at Cambridge University, will continue to serve as an advisor.
At this stage, it is uncertain what kind of products Plessey will introduce in this highly competitive high-brightness LED market. Rye believes that processed silicon, die and LED devices are all possible. It is now certain that Plessey intends to purchase a large number of Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition (MOCVD) reactors for large-scale production of epitaxial wafers at its own factory.
Plessey plans to produce a silicon-based GaN LED with a white light efficiency of 150 lm/W by the end of this year, and its performance will be comparable to that of a traditional sapphire substrate or silicon carbide substrate LED.
Plessey is by no means the first company to produce silicon-based GaN LEDs. China's Jingneng Optoelectronics is the first company to achieve commercial production of silicon-on-silicon nitride LED inverting chips. Last month, OSRAM Opto Semiconductors also said that it has made some key progress through long-term cooperation with Azzurro Semiconductor. , will be able to start selling silicon-based LEDs within two years.
The competition in the field of silicon-based LEDs will become increasingly fierce. At the recent Photonics West Conference, Alois Krost of the University of Magdeburg, Germany, said that the giants Philips and Samsung have also developed silicon-based LED business through their respective LED subsidiaries.
Derek Rye pointed out that the main advantage of this silicon-based gallium nitride LED technology studied at Cambridge University is the adoption of a thinner semiconductor layer that can solve the lattice between the silicon substrate and the active gallium nitride layer in the chip structure. Mismatch problem.
Osram and Azzurro have solved this lattice mismatch by using relatively thick buffers, such as multilayer aluminum nitride, and the Cambridge research team was able to use a thinner semiconductor layer to produce high-quality LEDs. Will reduce the total production cost.
Plessey chief engineer John Ellis said that, to date, the biggest technical challenge facing the commercialization of high-brightness LEDs grown on large-size silicon substrates is the lattice mismatch between GaN and silicon substrates. Plessey's new GaN-on-Si process overcomes this challenge, and Plessey's expertise and cost savings through the use of 6-inch automated processing equipment will ensure Plessey's leading position in high-brightness LED lighting products.
Some people in the LED industry believe that the transfer to the silicon substrate is a necessary technological evolution for the manufacture of low-cost, high-volume, high-performance lighting applications. But not everyone agrees with this view.
Advances in volume production of sapphire and SiC-based LEDs have led to significant cost reductions. Leading LED manufacturers such as Samsung, Cree, Osram Opto Semiconductors, and Philips Lumileds are also shifting production to 6-inch wafer fabrication.
In addition, in recent years, some well-funded Korean and Chinese manufacturers have also begun to enter the LED market, the introduction of white LED luminous tube, resulting in an overall decline in the average price of LED. 2011 was an extremely difficult year for Western LED manufacturers, and their profit margins have dropped significantly.
Even so, replacing traditional light bulbs with LED lights still has high costs. Professor Humphreys of Cambridge University stated: "The current cost of LED bulbs is 40 pounds, but we hope to reduce the cost by five times by growing LEDs on silicon substrates."
In fact, the cost of LED replacement lamps has also dropped rapidly, which means that Plessey will need to face an equally rapid cost change. Market research firm IMS Research reported in its October 2011 report that the average global retail price of a 60W incandescent LED replacement lamp is US$36, but its price is more than US$70 in Germany and less than 20 in Taiwan. Dollars.
In addition, the current substrate technology also has room for improvement and can further significantly reduce costs. Lumileds R&D manager at the Photonics West Conference stated that he hopes that white light efficiency can be doubled in the next two years, and that LED replacement lamps can be sold for as little as $5 with lower costs.
GT Advanced Technologies, a supplier of sapphire material manufacturing equipment, believes that the real competition between sapphire substrate and silicon substrate in LED production will occur when the LED industry shifts to 8-inch wafer fabrication, while GT is in the aspect of large-scale sapphire substrates. It is going well.
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