Osram Opto Semiconductors GmbH of Regensburg, Germany says that, to keep pace with constant market growth, it is switching its fabrication of red, orange and yellow light-emitting diodes to 6-inch wafers. The firm is therefore extending the fabrication of all large-wafer LEDs to the indium gallium aluminium phosphide (InGaAlP) material system and hence expanding its production capacity.
The company began switching fabrication of blue LED chips to 6-inch wafers in 2011. Osram Opto claims to have also been the first manufacturer to switch all LED colors worldwide to 4-inch wafers many years ago, and is now continuing this approach with 6-inch wafers.
Picture: The assembly system at Osram Opto transporting a 6-inch wafer; 4-inch wafers can be seen on the left.
The latest switch involves chips for LEDs intended for a wide range of applications. Red and yellow LEDs are used in virtually every sector: as turn indicators, brake lights and interior vehicle lighting in the automotive sector, in displays, for projection, for signage and for color mixing systems in general illumination.
“Demand for light-emitting diodes in red, orange and yellow continues to grow,” says CEO Aldo Kamper. “We are keeping pace with this demand by being the first manufacturer in the world to switch fabrication to 6-inch wafers,” he adds. “The switch will involve all product families and was initiated at the start of the year. The red, yellow and orange chips will be fabricated at the company headquarters in Regensburg. Indium gallium nitride (InGaN) chips for blue, green and white LEDs are also produced there, as well as in Penang, Malaysia.”
Osram Opto says that experience from 6-inch wafer production so far has flowed directly into the current process – as have results from projects funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (the ‘GallEff’ project and the ‘Greight’ project for scaling InGaN wafers). Osram Opto is therefore pursuing its platform strategy and is already looking to the next stage in development as part of its research activities, namely even larger wafer diameters and alternative substrates. Promising projects are already under way in its laboratories and in other more general funded projects, says the firm.
