On July 27, ams OSRAM held an online forum titled “Light Connects, Sensing Everything” focusing on optical technologies. Featuring four themes, namely Mobile and Wearables, Automotive and Mobility, Industry and Medical, Illumination and Intelligence, the forum demonstrated abundant light-emitting and lighting-sensing products and technologies of ams OSRAM as a global leader in optical solutions.

During the forum, 13 experts introduced ams OSRAM’s optical and sensing products in applications such as AR/VR, smart cabin, smart industry, horticultural lighting and UV sterilization and demonstrated how these devices push various industries towards digitalization, smartification, high energy efficiency, sustainability and other mainstream market trends.

Concerning lighting and intelligent technologies, the manufacturer demonstrated a variety of optical products and solutions for horticultural lighting and UV sterilization, the two thriving LED segments with emerging applications.

ams OSRAM unveils horticultural lighting LEDs and sensors to facilitate agricultural development

Louis Chi, manager of customer technical support at ams OSRAM, said that the company’s products have gained increasing favor with the agricultural sector because of their abilities to help plants and poultry grow faster. Specifically, the demand for LED horticultural lighting products has soared owing to the rise of industrial cannabis cultivation, shortages of food and dramatic population growth in recent years.

As TrendForce reported, the global market value of LED horticultural lighting will jump 6.6% to USD 1.79 billion in 2022 with a 2021-2026 CAGR of 11.5%.

LEDs for horticultural lighting applications are promising. However, compared to general LED products, horticultural lighting LEDs are faced with numerous challenges related to power consumption, optical formulations, reliability and flexibility.

Targeting at applications for different cultivation scenarios as well as different plant life cycles, ams OSRAM announced various horticultural lighting LED product lines including the consumer-grade Duris® S5 and OSCONIQ® P3030 featuring deep blue, deep red and white light products.

As for professional farming, the optical solution provider launched its OSLON® Square and Optimal lineups covering deep blue, deep red, far red, and white light products. The latest product line OSLON® Optimal, for example, boasts first-class radiation efficiency, stability and reliability. The products are also more cost-effective than other existing products. Furthermore, the product line’s abundant color LED options can fulfil requirements for all farming scenarios, giving great flexibility to suppliers of horticultural lighting equipment.

In May 2022, the company unveiled the OSLON® Optimal deep red and far red LEDs and plans to announce the deep blue and white light components in 3Q22.

ams OSRAM also presented the latest multi-functional spectral sensor AS7343 featuring visible light- and IR- integrated 14-channel spectral analysis and XYZ. Installing the sensor in LED luminaires enables reduced power consumption and prolonged LED lifetime as well as parameter collection for horticulture lighting, whereby crop growth and yields can be optimized.

ams OSRAM helps expand UVC LED applications

UV LEDs have a wide application, while deep UV-C LEDs with wavelengths of 200–280nm are mainly applied to sterilization and disinfection, said Fan Jia, marketing manager at ams OSRAM.

UV-C LEDs have slowly replaced conventional mercury-vapor lamps because of their mercury-free nature, various wavelength options, long lifetime and high efficiency. After the COVID-19 outbreak, people have increasingly valued personal and public health issues, boosting relevant UV-C LED applications.

Applications of UV-C LEDs have extended from consumer home appliances to professional markets such as indoor surface disinfection, ventilation, medical and public space sterilization and large-scale water treatment.

According to TrendForce’s analysis, UV-C LED is likely to widen its applications from home appliances to OEM air conditioning, dynamic water sterilization, manufacturing industry facilities and factory automation. The UV-C LED market is forecast to achieve a CAGR of 24% during the 2021-2026 period.

To meet the requirements of diverse UV-C LED applications, ams OSRAM developed the OSLON® UV series; the ceramic-substrate products boast high radiation flux in the spectral range of 273–275nm, long lifetime and high wall-plug efficiency (WPE).

Moreover, the OSLON® UV products per se are excellent sterilizers. According to an experiment carried out by Department of Molecular Medicine at Università di Padova in Italy, the OSLON UV LED can effectively kill COVID-19.

The OSLON® UV family has been applied to toothbrush sterilizers, escalator handrails, medical equipment, utensil sterilizers and dust mite vacuums. The product line can also been seen in surface and air disinfection for public spaces like buses, metros and high-speed rails.

Conclusion

During the forum, ams OSRAM not only showcased optical products for a wide range of applications but illustrated its current targets as well as business roadmap.

The company proposed the goal of becoming the leading optical solution provider worldwide in April this year during the Capital Markets Day event. ams OSRAM will gradually break away from segments such as the conventional driver IC, lighting control system, and conventional lighting luminaire sectors, and turn to focus on developing sensors and optoelectronic components.

ams OSRAM will undoubtedly center on its optical and sensing business with an effort to take the lead in the industry.

(By Irving from LEDinside)