TSMC SSL Entered Into a Strategic Relationship to Supply LED Emitter Packages to Cnlight

An LED-making subsidiary of one of the world's largest semiconductor manufacturers has signed a supply agreement with a leading Chinese lighting company.

Based in Hsinchu, Taiwan, TSMC SSL is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., Ltd (TSMC), one of world's largest mainstream semiconductor (i.e. silicon IC) manufacturers. Cnlight, based in Foshan City, Guangdong Province, is an established manufactuer with a well-known brand in China, and owns nearly 200 domestic and overseas patents.

Cnlight will incorporate TSMC SSL's LED emitters into its products, while TSMC will provide Cnlight with full support to develop future innovative lighting products. In addition to general lighting, TSMC SSL and Cnlight say they will evaluate opportunities to cooperate in R&D for horticultural and automotive lighting.

The agreement is TSMC SSL's first official customer collaboration, and also marks the company's first move into China's lighting market.

TSMC SSL says that it expects to be able to leverage its advanced LED technology with Cnlight's brand and channels, as well as benefitting from the Chinese company's capabilities in luminaire R&D and production. The result will be "to expand the presence of both companies in China and the global LED lighting market."

Back in August 2010, TSMC announced an investment of more than $100 million in order to establish LED manufacturing lines at a purpose-built fab in Hsinchu. TSMC SSL says that it has inherited its parent company's expertise in semiconductor manufacturing and rigorous quality-control processes.

Earlier this year, TSMC SSL introduced a range of single- and multi-junction (high voltage) LED emitters. For example, the TS1 series comprises 1W-class, single-die packages with a 3.4 x 3.4-mm footprint. In warm white at 2700K, the output ranges from 74 to 100 lm, at 350 mA and 3.2V, with higher values for cooler CCTs.

Meanwhile, the TMG series operates at a forward voltage of 29V, and dissipates 20W at 700 mA. The footprint is 24 x 17 mm, and the typical luminous flux is 1750 lm at 2700K and 2100 lm at 5000K.