Since Nichia's invention of white LEDs in 1996, the market for high-brightness LEDs has expanded beyond the applications Nichia had ever expected when first launching blue LEDs. As luminous efficiency of LEDs has improved, the number of applications where LEDs can be used has continued to grow, leading to today's mass adoption. Examples include: Automotive Expanded from interior lighting applications such as backlighting the instrument panel (e.g. speedometer) and switches for air conditioners, etc. to exterior applications such as turn indicators, DR...

In February 2023, Nichia started a blog with the 1st post titled "Nichia's contribution to a realization of a mercury-free society" and for nearly a year, Nichia has been introducing examples of LED/LD replacement for mercury lamps in various fields. Maybe it was surprising to readers to find out that mercury lamps are still used in various applications in modern society. This includes fluorescent lamps, high-pressure sodium lamps (HPS) used in street lights and greenhouse lighting, low-pressure mercury lamps used in disinfection applications, high-pressure mercu...

Photolithography for the manufacture of semiconductors and printed circuit boards (PCBs) is another major application for mercury lamps classified under item 4(f) in the exemption list of the RoHS Directive. This is in addition to curing and photolithography for the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), which were described in the previous posts. Photolithography is a lithography process in which a substrate coated with resist is exposed to light or an electron beam to draw a designed circuit. High-pressure mercury short arc lamps have been mainly used as the light ...

What is Human Centric Lighting (HCL)? Asking ten different people within the lighting industry may result in ten different answers. Nichia’s perspective remains that true Human Centric Lighting effects people’s daily lives via many different paths, including methods that help synchronize people’s circadian rhythms, thus improving alertness during the day and sleep at night. The simplest form could be the visual element of color tunable lighting which synchronizes the lighting color with the colors of the sky throughout the day. In addition to the visual elemen...

Photolithography for the manufacture of liquid crystal displays (LCDs), semiconductors, and printed circuit boards (PCBs) is another major application for mercury lamps classified under item 4(f) in the exemption list of the RoHS Directive, in addition to curing, which was described in the previous post. Photolithography is a lithography process in which a substrate coated with resist is exposed to light or an electron beam to draw a designed circuit, and high-pressure mercury short arc lamps are mainly used as its light source. High-pressure mercury short arc lamps contai...

In the final post of the previous blog series “History of Light Sources - Color Rendering Index (CRI)”, entitled “The Pursuit for Quality of Light - Beyond CRI”, Nichia introduced lighting that supports senior citizens by making their lives enriched and more comfortable. The brand-new Clear White color LED is essential to HCL, defined as “lighting that supports a richer and more comfortable life through the effects of light.” In this post, Nichia once again would like to talk about the importance of the light in people's l...

Heat and ultraviolet are used to cure paints such as coatings to protect the surface of car bodies, wooden floors, and plastic containers. Medium-pressure mercury lamps are the primary light source for ultraviolet curing (UV curing). Originally, heat and drying were mainly used to cure paints, but after the invention of the mercury lamp, the development of materials that can be cured with ultraviolet increased over time, and curing with ultraviolet became and remains widely used. Compared to curing with heat, UV curing can be used for heat-sensitive materials and can be done in a...

The lighting that affects human biological rhythms which was mentioned briefly in the previous post is generally referred to as “circadian lighting.” The word “circadian” originating from the Latin words “circa” meaning “approximately” and “diem” meaning “a day.” Many people have experienced feeling refreshed by the morning sun, whereas feeling sleepy in a darkened room. The biological function of adjusting circadian rhythms through exposure to sunlight continues to occur in the human body today, even after milli...

On May 17, 2023, Nichia Corporation (“Nichia”) and CoreStaff Co., Ltd. (“CoreStaff”) settled the patent infringement lawsuit pending before the Tokyo District Court (Case No. Reiwa 5 (Wa) No. 70062) based on Nichia’s Japanese Patent No. 4974310, relating to KSF (PFS) phosphors, in which Nichia had sought an injunction against patent infringement and damages. Out of respect for Nichia's intellectual property rights and other considerations, CoreStaff, promptly and without proceeding with the lawsuit, discontinued handling ...

On May 17, 2023, Nichia Corporation (“Nichia”) and CoreStaff Co., Ltd. (“CoreStaff”) settled the patent infringement lawsuit pending before the Tokyo District Court (Case No. Reiwa 5 (Wa) No. 70062) based on Nichia’s Japanese Patent No. 4974310, relating to KSF (PFS) phosphors, in which Nichia had sought an injunction against patent infringement and damages. Out of respect for Nichia’s intellectual property rights and other considerations, CoreStaff, promptly and without proceeding with the lawsuit, discontinued hand...

Lighting LEDs for senior citizens_Natural and clear white color visibility improves the joy in life due to better sight What is the Clear White color LED? As of 2022, the number of senior citizens aged 65 and over accounts for about 30% of the population in Japan, and this ratio has been increasing every year. This so-called "aging society" is also progressing in other parts of the world, especially in developed countries, and is becoming a global issue. Nichia has been engaged in product development with a desire to enable the growing aging population to hav...

Tokushima, Japan – 17 June 2022: Nichia, the world’s largest LED manufacturer and inventor of high-brightness blue and white LEDs, announces the addition of the Direct Mountable Chip Series (Part Number: NVSWE21A-V1) to the portfolio of HPS color LED developed as a true LED alternative to High Pressure Sodium lamps (“HPS”). In July 2021, Nichia introduced the first HPS color LED, NVSW219F/1800K/Ra70. This has been highly acclaimed as an innovative and a unique product. HPS color LEDs maintain the nostalgi...

LightFair Innovation Award Best of Category – LED/OLED, Chips & Modules awarded to Nichia Tokushima, Japan – 8November 2021: Nichia is again honored and humbled with recent industry recognition and awards for its H6 Series of LEDs, available in the 757 Series, the industry’s leading mid-power 3030 LED, as well as various COB options.  Most recently:   ·       On October 26th, LightFair International unveiled their 2021 LightFair Innovation Awards where Nichia’s H6 Ser...

The new NCSU434B can be deployed to fight the spread of various bacteria and viruses, including the new coronavirus Tokushima, Japan — 21 September 2021: NICHIA, the world’s largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LED, has launched a high radiant flux density UV-C LED that can help target the inactivation and sterilization of various bacteria and viruses, including the new coronavirus.   The 280nm NCSU434B LED has the industry’s highest power conversion efficiency for a 3.5mm x 3.5mm LED, ...

Nichia’s Legendary History Established in 1956 to produce chemicals for the pharmaceutical industry, Nichia quickly evolved to become one of the world’s largest phosphor manufacturers, a leadership position Nichia held into the 2000’s. After significant investment into a technology believed impossible, in 1993 Nichia commercialized the very first high luminous blue LEDs. With these high luminous blue LEDs and its then 30+ years of phosphor expertise and history, Nichia created a revolutionary technology. In September of 1996, Nichia combi...

After completing a successful pilot project, German retailer EDEKA equips its latest store entirely with NICHIA technology Tokushima, Japan – 3 August 2021: LED manufacturer NICHIA is a technology leader in highly efficient human centric lighting and the replication of natural light. Its innovative LED technologies are increasingly being used in retail to push the shopping experience to the next level. The most recent project is an EDEKA store in Wiesbaden-Sonnenberg, Germany, which opened its doors in May and is equipped with a lighting solutio...

Tokushima, Japan – 17 August 2021: NICHIA, the world’s largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LEDs, announces a joint-product development collaboration with Zumtobel, a leading international supplier of holistic lighting solutions, to provide LED lighting with advanced human-centric lighting benefits. The partnership has been a key factor for Zumtobel to develop a new offer to its customers. The recently launched ZUMTOBEL Spectrum is a lighting solution developed for its luminaires which harness proprietary te...

High power with Low CCT, the 219F LED series is an ideal mercury-free lamp replacement   Tokushima, Japan – 6 July 2021: NICHIA, the world’s largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LEDs, announces its 219F series of high-power LEDs, uniquely positioned as a true alternative to High Pressure Sodium lamps (hereinafter abbreviated as HPS). Global efforts to phase-out the use of HPS continue to be met with a resistance to using white LED replacements. Due to this lack of a viable and sustainable al...

H6 LED series raises the bar in lighting quality and overall effectiveness in discerning environments Tokushima, Japan – 15 March 2021: NICHIA, the world’s largest LED manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LEDs, announces its H6 series. Implemented into NICHIA’s 3030 mid-power 757 package to start, the new family of LEDs delivers the highest multi-level boost in color rendition and efficacy whilst maintaining the outstanding lifetime expected from NICHIA. Indeed, the H6 series delivers a color rendering ind...

Tokushima, Japan – 25 January 2021: NICHIA, the world’s largest LED Manufacturer and inventor of the high-brightness blue and white LEDs, announces a new dual function LED that provides both white light and high doses of energy geared for inactivation of various prevalent bacteria. With the continued surge of COVID-19 and the global impact across the globe, there is a heightened awareness to cleanliness in all aspects of life. While this certainly applies to viruses, it also applies to various types of bacteria present in our daily living environments...