Nov 25 2008
Crystal IS, Inc., the world's leading manufacturer of ultraviolet light emitting diodes (UV LEDs) based on aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate technology, today announced it will receive an $800,000 appropriation from the U.S. Department of Defense to advance development of large AlN crystals for effective deep ultraviolet sources.
“Our unique technology allows us to manufacture UV LEDs with unsurpassed performance at truly commercially viable costs,” said Crystal IS CEO Steven Berger. “This grant serves as yet another validation of using AlN-based UV-LEDs to enable cleaner water and air for consumer, industrial and government customers.”
As part of the program, Crystal IS will partner with the Army Research Laboratory in Adelphi, MD as well as the Electro-Optics Center (EOC) at Penn State University. The program will leverage the recent development of large single-crystal AlN substrates into robust semiconductor sources of deep ultraviolet light as well as other high power, high temperature applications of great importance to the military.
AlN has been demonstrated to be superior for deep UV light-emitting applications. The primary applications of UV-LEDs are as long-lasting, energy efficient, water and air disinfection devices. Crystal IS Inc is developing its deep UV-LEDs at 265nm, the peak germicidal wavelength.