Business briefs
17 Jun 2002
Including news from Nichia, Rohm, Carl Zeiss, Gartner, Textron Systems and more.
Nichia of Japan claims to have developed a surface-mount white LED with luminous intensity 50% higher than similar models. The increased brightness is said to result from a more efficient conversion of electricity to emitted white light, making the LED suitable for backlighting of full-color liquid-crystal displays.
The US-based
Humphrey Division of Carl Zeiss Ophthalmic Systems has won
FDA approval to market its retinal imaging system, the OCT3. Humphrey says that the instrument is the first diagnostic medical device to use optical coherence tomography and gives real-time cross-sectional images, suitable for detecting glaucoma and retinal disease.
LED developer
Rohm of Japan is to donate USD 2.5 million to the
Solid State Lighting and Display Center (SSLDC) at the
University of California in Santa Barbara, which is headed by blue LED pioneer Shuji Nakamura. The SSLDC expects to receive donations from six other corporate partners, including
Cree, and will use the cash to develop high-brightness gallium-nitride-based white LEDs.
US-based market analyst
Gartner, says that the beleaguered worldwide optical transmission industry will recover by 2003. Projected revenues are forecast to reach USD 32.6 billion in 2002 and then grow to USD 36 billion by the end of 2003.
The
Russian Federal Nuclear Center (RFNC) has purchased their country's first metal-organic chemical vapor deposition reactor from
Aixtron of Germany. The RFNC will use the reactor to ramp-up volume production of nitride-based ultra-high brightness blue light-emitting diodes.
Textron Systems, US, a supplier of components for use in the defense and aerospace industries, has licensed its infrared sensor technology to fellow US firm
SensArray Infrared. The move allows Textron to focus on the military market while gaining commercial customers and applications through SensArray.
Oriol, a US-based manufacturer of gallium-nitride-based LEDs, has launched a family of high-brightness blue-emitting devices. Called Gigabright, the LEDs emit between 445 and 475 nm and are said to be suitable for advanced solid-state lighting applications.
