Lattice Power recently declared the commencement of large-scale production of its advanced GaN-based high powered LEDs on silicon substrate. Following this development, the cost of energy-efficient LED light bulbs can be reduced significantly across the globe.
Lattice Power is the first company to carry out volume production of GaN-on-Silicon LED chip and employs products that are similar to advanced chips that depend on traditional sapphire substrates. The 45-mil product will generate 130 lm cool white at operation current of 350 mA, providing an efficiency of 120 lm for each watt. The silicon substrates are being offered in larger diameters at only a portion of sapphire substrates’ price, leading to substantial cost minimization for downstream producers.
The LEDs have been delivered to 20 strategic customers for deployment in both outdoor and indoor lighting applications. The silicon substrate-based LED series of Lattice Power consists of four different chip sizes such as 28mil x 28mil, 35mil x 35mil, 45mil x 45mil, and 55mil x 55mil, with chip power ranging from 0.5 W to 2 W.
Although GaN-on-Silicon technology supported the development of commercial grade LEDs within Europe and in the U.S., Lattice Power is the first company to achieve volume production levels. The company has filed over 200 innovative domestic as well as international patents in this field.
According to industry experts, future LED chips could offer 70% more cost-efficiency in comparison to existing mainstream products when produced on larger diameter silicon substrates. Lattice Poweris working on 150-mm GaN-on-silicon technology and anticipates converting its production to the larger diameter silicon substrates by 2013.