First SEMI HB-LED standard published

USA: The SEMI HB-LED Standards Committee has approved its first standard, SEMI HB1: Specifications for Sapphire Wafers Intended for Use for Manufacturing High Brightness-Light Emitting Diode Devices.

Developed by the HB-LED Wafer Task Force, SEMI HB1 defines and specifies the physical geometry of 150 mm diameter sapphire wafers used in HB-LED manufacturing. HB1 covers dimensional, wafer preparation, and crystallographic orientation characteristics, as well as the appropriate measurement methods.

The document was approved by the HB-LED Committee during the North America Fall 2012 meetings, recently completed procedural review and will be published in January 2013.

Sapphire wafers are widely used in producing HB-LED devices for multiple applications such as LCD backlights, signage and solid-state lighting.  Improving manufacturing efficiency and reducing cost are critical to enabling high-volume manufacturing, and 150 mm sapphire wafers represent a key inflection point. Five categories of of single-crystal single-side polished sapphire wafers are covered in HB1, including:

* Flatted 100 mm diameter, 650 μm thick, polished c-axis sapphire wafers,
* Flatted 150 mm diameter, 1,000 μm thick, polished c-axis sapphire wafers,
* Flatted 150 mm diameter, 1,300 μm thick, polished c-axis sapphire wafers,
* Notched 150 mm diameter, 1,000 μm thick, polished c-axis sapphire wafers, and
* Notched 150 mm diameter, 1,300 μm thick, polished c-axis sapphire wafers.

As critical semiconductor technologies for energy efficiency, safety and next generation displays, HB-LEDs promise huge opportunities in solid state lighting, display backlighting and other high-brightness applications. Improvements in cost per lumen and lighting quality of high-brightness light emitting diodes (HB-LEDs) parallel those of Moore’s Law, but reaching the full potential of LEDs requires the global LED manufacturing supply chain to collaborate on industry standards to eliminate unnecessary costs, and better enable equipment and process innovation.

With this in mind, key industry stakeholders created the SEMI HB-LED Standards Committee in late 2010. The Committee and Task Forces are comprised of industry leaders in HB-LED devices, sapphire wafers, MOCVD wafer processing, and key equipment and materials suppliers to the LED industry. Since formation, the HB-LED Committee has initiated Task Forces on wafers, carriers, assembly and automation. Committee co-chairs are: Iain Black (Philips Lumileds), Chris Moore (Semilab), David Reid (Silian), and Bill Quinn (WEQ).

-- James Amano and Paul Trio, SEMI, USA.