Intematix Inc., a materials and phosphor specialist based in Moraga, California, has signed a royalty-bearing licensing agreement related to white LED technology with Advanced Optoelectronic Technology, Inc. (AOT), an LED manufacturer based in Hsinchu, Taiwan.
AOT will manufacture white LEDs using patented-protected phosphor materials developed by Intematix. In most white LEDs, white light is produced by mixing blue light from the LED chip with yellow light emitted by the phosphor downconversion material.
Several companies, notably Nichia and Osram, hold patents relating to the use of specific downconversion phosphors such as YAG. Osram has licensed its technology to three of AOT's Taiwanese competitors - Harvatek, Lite-On and Everlight - while Nichia has a licensing agreement with Opto Tech.
This agreement follows a 14 month development effort at Intematix resulting in an entire family of patent-backed phosphors, developed using the company's proprietary tools and processes that allow the ultra-rapid discovery of next generation nano, bulk and thin film materials. Intematix has also announced production availability of the first members of its phosphor family, designated White Lightning Y450(TM) and White Lightning Y460(TM).
"Multiple top-tier customers on three continents have confirmed the industry leading performance of our merchant phosphors and further customer announcements from across the globe will follow," claims Ruediger Stroh, CEO at Intematix. "We believe Intematix will be a significant contributor to arestructured supply chain based on wide availability of phosphors and higher performance chips from merchant suppliers who have no conflicts of interest."
"We will provide non-infringing white-lighting solutions to all of our customers, and we believe Intematix will be one of our key partners," said Dr S.H. Chan, CEO of AOT. "We respect the rightful intellectual properties of other companies. Given that, we believe that Intematix' technologies and phosphor offer a clear path to providing non-infringing white-light LED products."
Intematix says that initial development was carried out for the Y450, which absorbs at wavelengths of 450 nm and below. Responding to customers, Intematix within two months developed Y460, which operates ideally with the 460nm chips.
"Our knowledge of phosphors, LED design and materials discovery allows us to rapidly share information with our customers and co-innovate for uniquely maximized performance," says Yi-Qun Li, co-founder of Intematix and the VP of Engineering.
