The newly-launched 50mW deep UV LEDs from Nikkiso America are ready to be shipped. (Nikkiso America/LEDinside)

Nikkiso America announces general availability of 50mW deep UV LEDs, utilizing the firm’s well-established manufacturing process technology. The VPS173 series UV LED product range delivers approximately 1.7 times the power level of the previous generation, with demonstrated operating lifetimes in excess of 10,000 hours at 350mA drive current. Initial 50mW deep UV LED availability will include 285nm components in a surface mount device (SMD) configuration, with pending releases of products from 265nm to 300 nm.

Dennis Martin, president and CEO of Nikkiso America, states, “UV LED technology is advancing rapidly, with extraordinary progress reported annually in optical output power, efficiency and cost. Whether the application involves curing, medical, germicidal or analytical instrumentation, deep UV LED technology offers compelling advantages over lamp-based solutions and further enables new applications.”

The new UV LED devices, which are Mercury-free, offer a compact and rugged alternative to lamps, offer consistent power over time, wavelength control, faster start-up times and long operating lifetimes. “LED replacement of lamp technology is inevitable,” according to Martin, “and is therefore a very important consideration for system designers and their product roadmaps.”

Nikkiso’s proprietary AlGaN semiconductor technology was developed by 2014 Nobel Prize winning Professors Akasaki and Amano and enables the world’s highest performance and efficiency in the UV-B and UV-C portions of the spectrum. Production facilities are located in Japan’s Ishikawa Prefecture and include epitaxy, wafer fab and packaging.