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2012 SSL Summit Series keeps its focus to Smarter, Better Lighting

Launched in 2008, the SSL Summit has tweaked its mission to facilitate a future of better lighting. October's New York City meet really hit the target, and we're picking up the pace for LA/Long Beach April 3-4, 2012. The Summit brings together key lighting influencers with industry thought leaders, pioneers, and innovators from the across the solid state lighting eco-system to engage their visions of the future of lighting.

Quality is the gate, the future is the focus... Showcase participants and sponsors are vetted to separate the wheat from the chaff... Look into the series information at www.SSLsummit.com for the details. Sponsorships and showcase positions are available now, and event registration will open in early January.

Strategy Analytics Predicts LED Market Explosion Will be Hampered by Materials Shortage
LIGHTimes News Staff

May 18, 2010...Strategy Analytics predicts that the fast-growing market for high-brightness LEDs in LCD TVs will be restricted by a shortage of key semiconductor materials in the second half of 2010. This prediction is the focus of the company's report “Materials Shortage to Restrict Rampant LED Market.” Strategy Analytics (SA) points out that demand has soared with the rapid penetration of LED backlighting modules in LCD TVs. This has also lead to a soaring demand for capital equipment, especially metal-organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactors used to make gallium nitride (GaN) LEDs.

SA says that a similar trend is now evident in the supply of consumables, specifically the metal-organic material trimethylgallium (TMG) and sapphire wafers. SA contends that demand for TMG already exceeds the available supply; therefore manufacturers need to absorb a 20% price increase in the near term. The company also predicts that a shortage of sapphire wafers, upon which most blue and white LEDs are produced, is also likely in the second half of 2010. “Concerns have previously been raised over the ability of MOCVD equipment vendors to meet rapidly increasing demand,” noted Asif Anwar, director of the GaAs and Compound Semiconductor Service at Strategy Analytics. “The concern for short supply of materials will create a bottleneck for LED market growth over the short term.”

The Strategy Analytics contends that Taiwanese LED manufacturers in particular need to adjust to the new reality of the supply chain. Historically, they have bargained for the price of these key materials. However, according to the SA's assertion, the balance of power in the LED industry has changed, with competitors backed by huge corporations, such as Samsung and LG, much better positioned to absorb higher material costs and to guarantee their supply in a constrained market.

Steven Entwistle, VP of the Strategy Analytics Strategic Technologies Practice, added, “Capacity expansions already in progress should relieve these constraints by mid-2011. Until then, the average selling price of high-brightness LEDs based on gallium nitride should hold up well.”

May 18, 2010...Applied Materials is expected to enter MOCVD market as a new MOCVD equipment supplier as the company responds to soaring demand from consumers and OEMs for LED backlit TVs. Applied Materials may in fact be looking to produce an HPVE and MOCVD combined system. The company has produced HPVE systems for some time. However in the company's first government contract, in late January Applied was awarded $3.9 million from the DOE through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to reduce the costs of LED manufacturing by improving manufacturing equipment and processes. A portion of this money, some estimate $2.4 million, will go towards producing a more cost effective MOCVD system for producing LEDs.

C.J. Muse, an analyst with Barclays Capital, in a report and an EETimes article stated, "We believe, based on research on DOE’s LED related projects that AMAT may have gotten $2.4 million from the taxpayer in connection with development of an MOCVD solution over the next eight quarters through end of 2011, though we think that the final manufacturing is likely to be done in Singapore/ Taiwan.'' Muse added, ''On a larger scale, our checks suggest that Applied is working on a multichamber epi tool on the Centura platform, with one HVPE chamber and two MOCVD chambers, and with in-situ cleaning to speed up the cycle time,'' Muse said, ''It likely will use lamp heating for better temperature control for defining sharp interfaces and will be targeting a 2X improvement in uniformity, 50 percent reduction in cycle time, and a 50 percent improvement in quantum efficiency. The takeaway here is that the tool and the approach is still far from proven--but we will likely start to hear more on this front with the market focused on whether or not TSMC will actually place orders for the tool in the next 3-6 month timeframe,''

Atlantic City Casino Claims 'World's Largest Outdoor Video Display' with Covered 500 Ft. Tower
LIGHTimes News Staff

May 18, 2010...Harrah’s Resort Atlantic City is likely the largest outdoor video display. All four exterior walls of the 500 foot-tall tower are equipped with LEDs that combine to make a an enormous dynamic video display created by Specialized Productions Inc (SPI). SPI specializes in digital signage content creation, primarily for the casino and gaming industry, and in designing entire digital signage and audio/visual systems.

"You see it for miles," said Mike Tully, vice president of Specialized Productions Inc. (SPI), the company that designs most of the digital signage content for the Harrah’s building. "It’s almost like the old days when you used to have those searchlights in the sky and people would know ‘Hey, something interesting’s happening over there,’ but this is more dynamic."

The building’s LED system is run through a C-nario digital signage playback platform, Tully says, which converts the huge initial image files from SPI into six smaller light panel shows for the four exterior walls of the building. The building itself becomes a digital signage installation promoting upcoming events at Harrah’s. It reportedly can be seen from as far away as the Atlantic City Expressway a mile or two away, according to Todd Rickenbach, national sales manager for SPI. Such extreme visibility is further proof, he says, that the possibilities of digital signage are effectively endless. LIGHTimes SecondPage members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

Judge Rules on Motions in Rothschild Vrs. Cree Patent Lawsuit; Lawsuit to Go to Jury
LIGHTimes News Staff

May 14, 2010...Gertrude Neumark Rothschild previously filed a patent lawsuit against Cree Inc. in the United States District court in District D of Massachusetts. Rothschild alleged that Cree violated its '618 Patent and '499 Patent. The '618 Patent is entitled "Process for Doping Crystals of Wide Band Gap Semiconductors". The '499 Patent is entitled "Wide Band Gap Semiconductors Having Low Bipolar Resistivity and Method of Formation".

Cree has been one of the only major LED product companies that has not settled with Rothschild about these fundamental LED patents. Cree filed a motion to dismiss for lack of standing based on the argument that Rothschild conceived of the invention while employed at Philips Lumileds Lighting Company L.L.C., making Philips the rightful owner of the patent. In a motion to dismiss, the court may look outside the pleadings to determine if jurisdictional facts exist.

Philips however previously settled with Rothschild. Under the terms of the settlement Philips agreed to abandoned and relinquished any claim to right, title, interest in or ownership of the [patents-in-suit]." For this reason Cree's motion to dismiss was denied. Cree's motion for summary judgement of patent invalidity was also denied. Rothschild made several motions for partial summary judgement about various assertions and claims of the patents. All of these were denied. William G. Young, the district judge in the case in Massachusetts ordered the case to go before a jury.

In 20 of the 21 processes discussed in Cree's motion for summary judgement the Judge ruled that the GaN layer was epitaxially grown and therefore not a substrate. The key issue in the case may come down to whether the AlGaN layer falls within the definition of substrate. If the AlGaN Layer is ruled to be a substrate then Cree would likely be found to infringe Rothschild's patent. If not, there Cree would not be found to infringe Rothchild's patent. There is no word yet on when the jury trial will commence.

NNCrystal US Corporation Agrees to Supply Quantum Dot Materials for Acuity Brands Lighting
LIGHTimes News Staff

May 13, 2010...NNCrystal US Corporation of Fayetteville, Arkansas, a maker of colloidal nanocrystal (quantum dot) materials that act as a light coverter, (Ref: Coverage) will soon be supplying them to Acuity Brands Lighting, Inc. for Acuity's LED lighting products. The companies announced Tuesday that they have signed a supply agreement.

"We are excited to secure Acuity Brands Lighting as an early customer of our Qshift technologies in their products. Their focus on delivering highly energy-efficient and innovative lighting solutions serves as key validation of our technology and its game-changing ability," said Dr. Suresh Sunderrajan, President of NNCrystal US Corporation.

Cree Increases Maximum Drive Current for XLamp MX-6 Lighting-Class PLCC LED to 1A
LIGHTimes News Staff

May 13, 2010...Cree has raised the maximum forward drive current for its XLamp MX-6 LEDs to 1 amp. Obviously, a result, the LEDs are drastically brighter, 160 percent brighter, according to Cree. At 1 A of current, XLamp MX-6 LEDs provide up to 300 lumens in cool white (6500 K) and 245 lumens in warm white (3000 K). "By qualifying our XLamp MX-6 LEDs at higher drive currents we are giving customers additional design flexibility," said Paul Thieken, Cree director of marketing, LED Components. Such increases in drive current usually require a trade-off of increased brightness for decreased efficacy and/or lifetime. There has been no word yet from the company on the specifics of the trade-off.

Cree also announced the relaunching of the Raye fixture, which is now based on Cree MX-6 LEDs. "The MX-6 LED has dramatically reduced the power consumption for this cove and wall slot fixture, giving us superior luminaire efficacy. Raye is now a great retrofit option for existing fluorescent cove lighting applications because it delivers the same luminous intensity at 25 percent less power," commented Ann Reo, founder and general manager of IO Lighting which makes the Raye fixture.

Ghirardelli Square Sign Lighting Upgraded with CAO Group’s Dynasty S14 LED Lamps
LIGHTimes News Staff

May 11, 2010...The Ghirardelli Square sign at 900 North Point St. in San Francisco got a lighting upgrade with Dynasty S14 LED lamps from The CAO Group of Salt Lake City, Utah. The 46 year old Ghirardelli sign, which sits 100 feet in the air, features over 1,300 Dynasty S14 lamps. Another 900 Dynasty S14 lamps were installed throughout the Ghirardelli Square property, significantly reducing the energy, and maintenance costs.

The Dynasty S14 LED lamps reportedly only consuming 1.7 watts of electricity per lamp compared to 10-15 watt incandescent lamps used to light the sign previously... LIGHTimes SecondPage members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

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Commentary & Perspective...

LED Lighting Looking Better at Lightfair
Tom Griffiths - Publisher

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