News: LEDs
11 February 2022
CrayoNano and SemiLEDs to co-develop nanowire UV-C LED chips
CrayoNano AS of Trondheim, Norway – which develops and manufactures semiconductor components based on patented and proprietary nanomaterials technology – and LED chip and component maker SemiLEDs Corp of Hsinchu, Taiwan have signed an agreement to jointly develop next-generation UV-C LEDs for the disinfection market.
CrayoNano has validated and selected a strategic partner to accelerate the industrialization of its UV-C LED technology. SemiLEDs is a manufacturer of UV LEDs with what is described as industry-proven experience and capabilities for faster ramp-up to high-volume manufacturing of LEDs.
“Following our agile business model and the increasing market demand, we must fast-track our development. SemiLEDs has over 15 years of industry expertise in chip processing and industrialization of UV LEDs,” says CrayoNano’s CEO Jo Uthus. “Their experience, capabilities and resources are complementary for the engineering of CrayoNano’s ground-breaking nanowire and hybrid material technology and enabling our development of new products based on it.”
The collaboration aims to alleviate capacity and supply chain constraints that continue to choke global supply. The partnership will add to CrayoNano’s resources and capacities in Trondheim and de-risk the supply chain dependency, aiding market entry, it is reckoned.
“Current UV-C LED products using conventional sapphire-based substrate are inefficient and high cost; the need for significant improvements in efficiency and performance is required for mass-market adoption of UV-C LED for disinfection market,” says SemiLEDs’ CEO, president & chairman Trung Doan. “One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures growth on graphene has shown unique characteristics for optoelectronic devices; CrayoNano’s nanowire and hybrid material technology is second to none, a real disruptor in this space,” he comments. “SemiLEDs will contribute with engineering support and our unique patented know-how of chip processing, to bring the evolutions of CrayoNano UV-C chip products faster to the market and verify opportunities of further products.”
The firms will jointly develop products based on CrayoNano’s nanowire and hybrid material technology and SemiLEDs’ unique LED process technology and process know-how to accelerate CrayoNano’s mid-to long-term UV-C product roadmap. CrayoNano will own the products developed under the agreement, and innovations and R&D will remain in Trondheim.
