Luminus, Nichia Produce New White Light LEDs

High-power devices could replace arrays of small LEDs

Charles J. Murray, Senior Technical Editor -- Design News, February 17, 2009

Nichia Corp. and Luminus Devices Inc. have teamed up to create high-power white light LED (light-emitting diode) technology that could enable a host of new applications, ranging from automotive headlamps to medical devices to architectural lighting.

The new technology combines Luminus' large-chip, high-power PhlatLight technology with Nichia's expertise in white light LEDs.

"We went for a fundamentally different paradigm here," says Alexei Erchak, chief technology officer for Luminus Devices, Inc. "We believe there are a lot of lighting applications out there that would benefit from a single large-chip source, rather than a patchwork of little LEDs."

The alliance of the two companies is based on cross-licensing of intellectual property, technology sharing and a manufacturing partnership.

In the past, Luminus has been known for red, green and blue large-chip, high-power LEDs, while Nichia has been notable for its phosphor and epitaxial material technologies. "Up until now, we've only been able to do red, green and blue," Erchak says. "But with Nichia's help, we are now going to be launching our first white LEDs."

The combination of the technologies could create a niche for white, high-power LED applications. The new products will be able to fill that niche because they employ Luminus' PhlatLight technology, which uses chips measuring 12 mm on a side and capable of operating at currents as high as 30 A. In contrast, many of today's conventional LEDs measure about approximately 1 mm² and operate at about 350 mA.

"In a lot of today's applications, there isn't sufficient brightness coming from an array of low-power LEDs," Erchak says. "But there are a lot of applications that could benefit from a single-large-chip source."

Luminus says it is working with a medical equipment manufacturer that will use the high-power, white-light devices in a fiber-coupled endoscopy application. The company has also drawn interest from technicians in the entertainment industry, who want to use the new LEDs to cast thousands of lumens of white light on a stage. Automakers could also employ the technology in headlamps and municipalities could use it for streetlights, Erchak says.

This week, Luminus is expected to introduce two technologies based on the cross-licensing agreement: the CST-90, a chip-on-board package measuring approximately 9 mm on a side and the SST-90, a surface-mount LED package.

Luminus engineers expect the technology to carve out its own set of applications.

"The LED industry is huge and not all LEDs will be replaced by these new large-chip products," Erchak says. "But a lot of new applications are going to be enabled by this technology."