Veeco Instruments Inc. (NASDAQ: VECO) announced that SEMATECH, a global semiconductor consortium that conducts research and development to advance chip manufacturing, has recently achieved a major breakthrough using Veeco’s NEXUS® Low Defect Density Ion Beam Deposition (LDD IBD) System to significantly reduce defects from multi-layer deposition of mask blanks used for extreme ultraviolet lithography (EUVL). Frank Goodwin, Manager of SEMATECH’s Mask Blank Defect Reduction program, stated, “EUVL requires a ...

GREATER Manchester-based MHA Lighting has scooped a top accolade for an innovative lighting product which is helping NHS Trusts fight hospital acquired infection rates. The Atherton-based lighting company fought off tough competition to win the Product Innovation category of the prestigious Retrofit Awards 2012 for its TiLite retrofit luminaire. MHA Lighting impressed the judges with its unique sealed unit design which stops dust, bacteria and dead insects from gathering around warm light fittings and spreading deadly superbugs. The LED’s 60,000...

According to Nexxus Lighting, Inc. , an affiliate of Aston Capital, LLC (the "Investor") has agreed to invest $6 million in the Company through the purchase of convertible preferred stock to provide strategic, operational and financial expertise for  enabling the Company's strategic growth and expansion. Aston Capital, LLC is led by Robert V. LaPenta, a renowned growth investor and leader in the high technology arena.  Mr. LaPenta and Aston's investment philosophy combines sound fundamental operating principles with the ability to ident...

Samsung Venture Investment Corporation (SVIC), the global investment arm of Samsung,has invested in Voltaix, a provider of materials that enhance the performance of semiconductor chips, solar cells, and other electronic devices. However, both of them have remained tight-lipped about the amount invested. Voltaix manufactures electronic chemicals and gases used in semiconductor manufacturing processes at major integrated circuit fabs worldwide. The company also supplies deposition precursors for the production of advanced photovoltaic cells. New Voltaix materials will a...

Seoul Semiconductor’s latest Acrich2, AC LED module, which performs at 100 lm/watt is now available for volume production. And the company says this Acrich2 AC LED module will help the performance of the power grid. Acrich2 provides lighting designers with a high efficacy light source which also has a high power factor, and improved Total Harmonic Distortion (THD) performance. In traditional solid state lighting solutions, additional components and costs are required to provide an offline driver solution with acceptable dimming performance. Seoul Semi say...

Taiwan government considers relaxing restrictions on the fourth-round Chinese investments. It may allow mainland Chinese investments in hotels and sports facilities and remove the investment ceiling forbidding Chinese investors to own controlling stakes in seven key industries, including semiconductor, IC assembly, FPD (flat-panel display) and components, metal-cutting tools, electronic and semiconductor manufacturing equipment, LED, and solar cell. The MOEA began to study the fourth round of liberalization for mainland Chinese investments in July. The highlight of th...

Everlight expects to see promising Q3 prospects in mainland China , with LED lighting projects to peak there. The firm posted US$ 52.56 million in August revenue, a two-year high, with Q3 operations expected to better the second one. An executive pointed out that 8% of corporate revenues in the first half came from LED lighting, with such figure to exceed 10% annually, and rising gross profit margin (GPM) in the second half also relying on LED lighting due mainly to predicted increasing shipments. The company has been ambitiously deploying cross-strait sales ch...

Sooner or later, Nova Scotia will become the first jurisdiction in North America to exclusively use LED roadway lighting. Energy Minister Charlie Parker finalized amendments to the Energy-Efficient Appliances Regulations, Sept. 12, that require all road and highway lighting in Nova Scotia must be converted to LED. The regulations require Nova Scotia Power to complete its conversion by Dec. 31, 2019. Municipalities will have until Dec. 31, 2022, and now have one year to outline the conversion. The regulations are expected to save Nova Scotians about $5...

On Sept. 12 , Toshiba Group has donated and installed LED lighting and a photovoltaic power system to illuminate the Golden Hall at Chuson-ji, a Buddhist temple and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Iwate Prefecture. The lighting will be switched on at a ceremony at the temple on Sept. 22. Lighting engineers from Toshiba Group companies designed and developed non-intrusive fixtures and lighting for the hall. Chuson-ji in Tohoku, and it is the most famous of five sites making up the Hiraizumi World Heritage Site, a complex of temples and gardens. The temple...

Leading UK LED lighting manufacturer Low Energy Designs are pleased to announce the arrival of new Sales Consultant Caitlin Cundell, who will boost their existing team. With a high level of industry experience, she will work with a focus on companies in the South and East of the UK. CEO Alan Parker states, “Caitlin comes from a really strong professional sales background and will be a great addition to our growing business. Her appointment will offer our customers another resource to help identify their needs and offer appropriate solutions.” As one o...

AWARD-winning LED lighting specialist, MHA Lighting welcomes two new starters to strengthen its sales and communication teams.    Jim Williams joins MHA as regional business manager (Northern), bringing with him a very successful track record of over 20 years’ experience in senior sales roles within the lighting industry, with Thorn, Coughtrie and Dialight. MHA also welcomes Anthony Monks, who joins as senior communications executive, whose experience includes roles with Airbus UK, Lancashire County Council’s Brussels Office and A...

SWITCH60, powered by LQD Cooling System, takes home top award at HD Boutique event in Miami SWITCH Lighting™, the first company to launch a family of liquid-cooled LED light bulbs with true incandescent-quality light, today announced that its 60 watt-equivalent bulb, the SWITCH60, was selected as a “Best of Boutique” winner at HD Boutique. HD Boutique is an event sponsored by Hospitality Design magazine that brings together the most influential design professionals and hospitality owners in the industry. SWITCH will be exhi...

The U.S. Department of Energy's Municipal Solid-State Street Lighting Consortium has released a draft Model Specification for Adaptive Control and Remote Monitoring of LED Roadway Luminaires. The draft specification is posted online for public review and comment by Consortium members, manufacturers, and other interested lighting professionals. The estimated 26.5 million streetlights in the U.S. consume as much electricity each year as 1.9 million households, and generate greenhouse gas emissions equal to that produced by 2.6 million cars. Switching these st...

Tesco will start full-scale LED lighting deployment in its Express supermarkets this week, a move the company said will cut 30% energy consumption compared with similar stores. All external signs at the Loughborough store, as well as lighting on the sales floor and in staff areas, feature LEDs. Meanwhile, the store's cold rooms, fridges and freezers are also lit by LEDs. The only part of the store not to feature the cutting-edge technology is the bakery oven, where the company found temperatures are too high for LEDs to function. Emmily Sjölander, environme...

AWARD winning lighting manufacturer, MHA Lighting has been named a finalist in both the Energy Efficiency Initiative of the Year and Innovative Lighting Product of the Year categories, in the prestigious Electrical Industry Awards 2012.   The winners will be announced at a ceremony held on Thursday 25 October 2012, at The Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, London.   This fantastic double marks MHA’s inaugural entry into the industry-acclaimed Electrical Industry Awards.   Now in their platinum year, The Electrical Industry Awar...

Fully Integrated Control Technology Maximizes Efficiency and Savings to Redefine Lighting Category Digital Lumens has secured an additional patent for its distributed LED control technology, which continuously optimizes energy usage and forms the core of the Digital Lumens Intelligent Lighting System™. This breakthrough approach fundamentally redefines lighting to deliver the greatest energy efficiency in the market. The patent further cements Digital Lumens’s market leadership in intelligent industrial lighting. “We’re proud that the P...

Installation of Cree LEDway® Street Lights Expected to Save Nearly $200,000 Yearly in Energy and Maintenance Costs The Town of Oyster Bay, New York is installing LEDway® street lights from Durham-based manufacturer Cree, Inc. (Nasdaq: CREE) as part of a Town-wide upgrade of its high pressure sodium (HPS) lights to energy-efficient LED lighting. To-date, 2,500 Cree® LEDway street lights have been installed out of the 4,000 planned. The Town received a $2 million Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) from the U...

Recently, enterprises from mainland China such as BOE Technology Group and San’an Optoelectronics Co., Ltd. have privately inquired about corporate details of two Taiwanese LED chip makers, namely Formosa Epitaxy Incorporation (FOREPI) and Lextar, indicating an interest to invest in Taiwan’s LED industry after the lifting of maximum investment by Chinese investors. Chinese operators are interested in Taiwan’s LED epitaxy plants for their advanced technologies, according to institutional investors. Insiders say that the parent compan...

Gan-on-Si: Logic and Light on a Chip The research project Low Energy Electronics Systems (LEES) has started its work with a kick-off meeting. The program’s initiator is the renowned Singapore MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Center based in Singapore. The LEES team consists of eminent research and science specialists and is targeting the development of cutting-edge technology to increase energy efficiency and advance high-tech industries that complement microelectronics. Two AIXTRON CRIUS 1x200 mm systems, which the proj...

Osram is equipping the Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, which will host the opening match of the Football World Championships in 2014.   The highlight is the external façade, which will be transformed into the world’s biggest LED stadium panel and will serve as an extra-large screen. “In São Paulo, Osram is once again proving its expertise when it comes to lighting for sports venues. We have not let ourselves be intimidated by FIFA’s strict requirements – on the contrary: our high-tech lighting solutions exceed the speci...

Acuity Brands Lighting OLED Experts Play Influential Role at OLEDs World Summit 2012 Two OLED lighting experts from Acuity Brands Lighting will share their insight at the 2012 OLEDs World Summit in San Francisco, Calif. Sept. 26 – 28, 2012. Peter Ngai, Vice President, Innovation at the Acuity Brands Lighting OLED Lighting Design Center, will provide opening remarks and chair multiple sessions on day two of the summit, which focuses exclusively on OLED lighting.   “In the past, OLED display was a major emphasis a...

Veeco announced that Nantong Tongfang Semiconductor Co., Ltd. has received shipment of Veeco's TurboDisc® K465i™ MOCVD System for research of GaN-on-Si HB LEDs. The system was delivered to Tongfang’s new LED Technology Center in Nantong, China. Professor Liu Gang, General Manager of Nantong Tongfang Semiconductor, stated, “We successfully utilize Veeco’s MOCVD systems in our current production of GaN-on-sapphire based LEDs. It was the logical choice to select Veeco for our new research into GaN-on-Si...

According to Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V., the market scale of LED lighting system to reach US$66.67 Billion by 2020. J.S. Bo, general manager of Philips Taiwan, says LED lighting (not including LED epitaxy and assembly) accounts for 20% of corporate revenues from lighting, and is expected to grow in the second half, during which Philips supplies 10~15% of global LED lighting. Philips’s market share in LED lighting exceeds 20% worldwide, higher than the firm’s 15% share in traditional lighting. Philip’s industrial research sh...

A recent report released by US consultancy, Consumer Reports, has revealed that of the 90% of Americans who have opted for energy efficient light bulbs, 75% are choosing CFLs over their LED counterparts, despite the latter’s superiority in efficiency, life span and light quality. Examples of this kind of purchasing behaviour are particularly relevant to the UK lighting industry – and especially the LED sector - during the current period of overhaul. EU regulations have ushered the incandescent bulbs of the past offstage in a total phase out and it remains t...

LED light bulbs have a slight environmental edge on compact fluorescent bulbs and both trump traditional incandescent bulbs by a wide margin, the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory says in a new report. PNNL, a U.S. Department of Energy lab based in Richland, Wash., compared the environmental footprint of the three bulbs, including mining of raw materials, manufacturing, disposal and electricity use. It's the first public report to examine the impact of LED manufacturing in depth, the lab says. Among the study's conclusions: * Both LEDs and CFL...

Taiwan LED makers Unity Opto, I-Chiun Precision Industry Co., Ltd., Leadlink, Lextar and Formosa Epitaxy seen to have brisk sales in August. Unity Opto, I-Chiun, and Leadlink saw sales hit new highs in July and are estimated to score another high in August in the regularly busy third quarter. According to industry executives, capacity utilization of Taiwan’s LED industry is still on the climb, leading to satisfactory earnings in the first half of 2012 at most of the island’s LED makers. They felt that these manufacturers would be more profit...

Agnitron Technology, Inc. has completed the development of the original state of the art compact MOCVD research and development system, known as Agilis. The small volume reactor system provides an economical choice to universities and research and development organizations looking for high temperature AlGaN, GaN or general III-Nitride growth capabilities. The compact size enables reduced startup costs for R&D work as well as significantly reduced operating costs as precursor consumption is greatly reduced. Agilis is packed full of features typically only foun...

The Sydney based clean-tech innovator BluGlass’s patent US2008272463, "Method and apparatus for growing a group (III) metal nitride film" has now been allowed in the U.S. This patent brings its international patent portfolio up to 16 granted patents in key semiconductor markets including the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea and China. These patents help to provide the company with broad protection of its Remote Plasma Chemical Vapour Deposition (RPCVD) technology and underpin the commercial opportunities for BluGlass in the production of high e...

According to a report published in Electronics For You magazine, a flagship publication of EFY Group, the single factor that puts LED lighting out of the reach of masses today is the high initial cost.   Therefore, the dream of every player in the LED lighting industry today is to create a commercially-feasible LED lamp that is equivalent to a 60W incandescent bulb, saleable at a cost of $5 to $10. The efficiency and light output of LEDs are increasing exponentially, effectively doubling every 36 months, in line with Moore's Law. LED efficiency, colo...

Kyma Technologies has tapped into the market for GaN crystal growth equipment. The firm’s GaN crystal growth system is based on the hydride vapour phase epitaxy (HVPE) growth process which is a proven high growth rate approach for producing high purity crystalline compound semiconductor materials including GaN, GaAs, InP, and CdS. HVPE is the dominant process used today for production of free-standing GaN substrates and recently has been used by Kyma and others to produce high quality GaN on sapphire templates and GaN on silicon templates. HVPE g...