2 December 2010

Crystal IS wins $5m DARPA award to develop germicidal LEDs

Crystal IS Inc of Green Island, NY, USA, which makes ultraviolet light-emitting diodes (UVC LEDs) on aluminum nitride (AlN) substrates, has been awarded $5m by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop efficient LEDs operating at wavelengths below 275nm for use in water sterilization and other applications of interest to the Department of Defense.

“DARPA selected us for this award based upon the performance of our existing 265nm LEDs that leverage our proprietary AlN substrate technology,” says CEO Dr Steven Berger. “With the tremendous help provided by DARPA, we believe we will accelerate the development cycle and bring bright, efficient, and long lifetime UVC LEDs to market sooner,” he adds.

The program will run in parallel with a joint development with Japan’s Asahi Kasei Corp announced in August to create a manufacturing process for large-diameter AlN substrates.

“To make the project as successful as possible we have assembled a group of expert collaborators,” says Crystal IS’ chief technology officer & founder Dr Leo Schowalter. “These include industrial and university partners and a cooperative research agreement with the Army Research Laboratory, administered by Dr Wraback.”

Tags: Crystal IS Germicidal LEDs

Visit: www.crystal-is.com