17 November 2010

Verticle launches first hexagonal LED chip

Silicon Valley-based Verticle Inc of Dublin, CA, USA, which designs and manufactures vertical-type LED chips for backlight unit (BLU) and solid-state lighting applications via its production facilities and R&D center in Korea, has announced what it claims is the first hexagonal-shaped LED chip.

The Honeycomb LED Chip is a vertically structured InGaN-based blue LED chip developed especially for high-power applications. CEO Dr Mike (M.C.) Yoo reckons that, compared with conventional square- or rectangular-type LEDs, a hexagonal LED chip yields multiple benefits regarding cost, light output efficiency, and beam profile:

• Since a hexagon is the most closely packed structure within a circular wafer, chip count per wafer is greater, yielding 15% more hexagonal chips than square or rectangular chips of equivalent size.

• A hexagonal chip aids current spreading, resulting in higher light output than conventional chips.

• Light output after packaging is enhanced. The Honeycomb chip produces a beam profile that is much closer to the circular shape of the circular lens used in optic design. In contrast, the beam profile of the typical square or rectangular chip, when combined with a circular lens, is normally distorted.

Although the advantages of a hexagonal chip over conventional chips are widely known, they have not been realized in production up to now, claims Verticle. The main reason is the difficulty in chip separation using conventional scribing or dicing. However, a chemical chip separation technique invented by Verticle makes the chip separation step much easier and quicker than conventional chip separation techniques, it is claimed. The chip singulation technique can chemically etch the street line, to easily produce chips of any shape. Moreover, Verticle says that, with this technique, it can handle multiple wafers in one batch, resulting in chip separation throughputs that are 500 times greater than for conventional chip separation methods.

In addition, a patented copper (Cu) substrate with high thermal and electrical conductivity allows applications that require thermal benefits with light color consistency and better life-time and reliability, the firm adds.

Tags: InGaN Blue LEDs

Visit: www.verticleinc.com