At Photonics Festival in Taiwan 2012 and Display Taiwan 2012, LEDinside found that 40W-60W equivalent LED bulb and LED tube makers adopt mid and small power LED chips in pursuit of better lm/$. One of the highlights at the exhibition was Osram’s release of Duris 5630 LED series, targeting Asian commercial lighting market.

The two exhibitions commenced on June 19-21. Photonics Festival in Taiwan 2012 had 1,525 booths and Display Taiwan 2012 had 473, a total of 2,018 booths and 820 participating companies.

LEDinside Survey

Currently, Everlight, Nichia, Lite-On, Edison, and Kingbright have been striving to make their way into the LED light bulb (40W and 60W equivalent) market. Aside from LED replacement light bulb and tube, PAR light is also a big hit in the American, Asian and European markets. Taiwanese firms Delta and Lextar are still going strong in terms of OEM orders and have been making R&D breakthroughs.

Direct Attach (DA) power chip, using SiC substrate and eutectic technology, has the pn junction placed underneath the chip, which simplifies the manufacturing process and lowers the thermal resistance. It not only remarkably improves the thermal conductivity but also increasesthe lm/area and lm/$. Not only does it not require wire bonding, but it only needs to undergo reflow soldering process due to the already roughened surface.

Cree high-power LED-XB-D and XT-E LED adopt DA chips, which make the products smaller with larger light-emitted area. The products take advantage of SiC’s high thermal conductivity; with 350mA current, the products can reach 136lm/W and 148lm/W, respectively.

Benefiting from lighting market’s growth in 2012, LED companies start developing flip chip. Thus, equipment makers begin to provide equipment for flip chip manufacture. MPI Corporation’s LED flip-chip prober can not only minimize the environmental confounding variables but also be used in chip probing of LED Si substrate. Unlike the old chip probing method, MPI’s prober can perform single chip probing and then categorize and ship based on the probing results, accurately evaluating the yield loss.

COB photometric test equipment was also showcased at the exhibition, which featured automated/semi-automated inlet and outlet valves. The equipment can perform photometric test to eliminate bad chips; it can also use the integrating sphere to test the LED chip after the phosphor powder is applied.

Furthermore, given the shifting weather, capital countries’ agricultural research institutes and national laboratories have started their research on plant lighting. Aside from the vegetables people eat every day, the research also covers plants with high economic value. Everlight, Simon-Tech, SOLIDLITE, NanoBioLight, and VegFab all showcased their latest endeavors in plant lighting.

Opto Taiwan 2012

Opto Taiwan 2012 has entered its 21st year, and this year around 200 companies participated, where academic seminars on optical components, optical communication and related innovations were held, showing the solid foundation of the Taiwanese optical industry.

The biggest attraction of the exhibition was the optical section. Global and Taiwanese big names such as Aixtron, Schott, Edmund Optics, Leybold, Wavelength, Ohara Optical, Nalux, Prolinx, Asia Optical, Zimmerman Scientific, E-PIN Optical Industry, H.P.B., and CALIN all exhibited their latest products and technologies.

LED Lighting Taiwan 2012

Due to the oil and electricity price hike, Taiwanese government plans to replace some 326,000 mercury street lights with LEDs. The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) estimates that the investment in will generate NT$4.481 billion production value. LED Lighting Taiwan 2012 consisted of 250 Taiwanese and global LED firms and 800 booths in total. The exhibitions included LED-related testing equipment, LED components and LED lighting fixtures from Nichia, Cree, Osram, Everlight, Seoul Semiconductor, Lite-On, Delta, Kingbright, Edison, Epistar, Tekcore, and Neo-Neon. Interestingly, self-owned brands in the lighting fixture sector seemed to increase.

One of the highlights at the exhibition is the Plant Factory organized by Taiwanese government’s Council of Agriculture – four companies participated and showcased their technologies that make growing organic vegetables 24/7 a reality. One of the participating company, NanoBioLight, created a pavilion that showcased its plant growth technologies. ArchSolar exhibited its new LED plant factory, and Simon-Tech showcased its new LED plant growth light.

Solar Taiwan 2012

Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association teamed up with Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economic Affairs to promote household solar roofs at Solar Taiwan 2012. At the Solar PV System section, Bureau of Energy, Yunlin County government, Tainan City government, Kaoshiung City government and Pintung City government cooperated to promote the idea of “solar city.”

The 4th Int’l Cross-Strait Photonics Show

Int’l Cross-Strait Photonics Show entered its 4th year. In 2012, Ministry of Commerce Foreign Trade Promotion Center, China, will sign a memorandum of cooperation ( MOU ) with Photonics Industry & Technology Development Association (PIDA) to strengthen the cross-strait LED lighting industry cooperation. Chinese firms LDK, Jiangxi Sinoma, and Phenix Optical exhibited at the exhibition. The exhibition set up Jiangxi Pavilion, Shengzhen Pavilion and Xiamen, where optical firms showcased their new products and seek for cooperative opportunities.