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Welcome to the Semiconductor Lasers & VCSELs channel!

CompoundSemi Online serves the information needs of the compound semiconductor industry and its supply chain with product and market news updates for this rapidly evolving technology. Our "all the news on one page" format, with select channels for specific interests, offer the most efficient news delivery approach in the industry.

If you're looking for LED or Solid State Lighting News...

You're darn right they're part of the compounds, but we're also proud to say that the LED segment has "graduated" and can benefit from publications that are more dedicated to those topics. For news on the broad LED industry, outside of general lighting, along with the materials and technology supply chain, visit LIGHTimes Online. For a higher level view of LEDs in general lighting, you can visit Solid State Lighting Design, which covers packaged "lighting quality" LEDs through subsystems, luminaires and application stories.

Sharp and Toyoda Gosei enter into LED and Laser Diode Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement
LIGHTimes News Staff

December 31, 2009...Sharp Corporation and Toyoda Gosei, both of Japan, have entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement covering LEDs and laser diodes. Under the terms of the cross-licensing agreement, Sharp says the research and development by the two companies will be enhanced, thus contributing to the development of the ever-growing LED industry. Sharp hopes to create even more advanced LEDs and laser diodes to respond to market demand. Sharp Corporation News Release

Mitsubishi Corp. Reaches Settlement with Professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild in Patent Dispute
LIGHTimes News Staff

November 5, 2009...Professor Gertrude Neumark Rothschild has reportedly reached a settlement with Mitsubishi Corp. regarding her assertion that the company and dozens of other major electronics manufacturers in Asia and Europe violated her patents for producing LEDs and laser diodes in products.

Mitsubishi is only the latest in a long list of companies to settle with Rothschild, a professor emeritus at Columbia University. Others who have settled include BenQ, Dalien Lumei, Epistar Corp., FOREPI, Guangzhou Hongli, Hitachi, Hugo Optotech, LG, Motorola, Pioneer Corp., Samsung Electro Mechanics, Samsung Electronics, Sanyo Electric, Sewa Electric, Sharp Corp., Shenzhen Unilight, Showa Denko, Sony Corp., and Sony Ericcson. Earlier settlements were made with Nichia Chemical and Koninklijke Philips Electronics, which included Philips Lumilid Lighting Co. and Toyoda Gosei Co. Ltd.(Ref: Previous Articles and News Releases), Troutman Sanders LLP. News Release LIGHTimes SecondPage members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

Chinese Academy of Sciences orders Aixtron MOCVD tool for lasers and LEDs
CompoundSemi News Staff

June 2, 2009...The Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing has ordered Aixtron's Close Coupled Showerhead (CCS) 3x2 inch MOCVD system in the first quarter. According to Aixtron, the MOCVD tool will be shipped in third quarter 2009. The the new tool will reportedly be used for the research and development of semiconductor lasers and LEDs.

Prof. Zhu Hong Liang, Project Leader within the Key Laboratory of Semiconductor Materials Science, commented, "The Institute has focussed on optoelectronic device development for some years now. Having the world-class standard Aixtron MOCVD system in our hands we have the means to undertake a complete materials development program. Aixtron’s MOCVD equipment is well-known for its reliability and its straightforward operation. After a comparison with other suppliers we decided to buy the tool from Aixtron because of its superior quality and excellent performance." Aixtron News Release

Rothschild Files New LED patent complaint with ITC Against firms in Taiwan and China
LiGHTimes Staff

March 10, 2009...In late February, Gertrude Neumark Rothschild, professor emerita of Materials Science and Engineering at Columbia University in New York, filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission requesting an investigation against Xiamen Sanan Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd. of China and Taiwan's Chi Mei Lighting Technology Corp, Tekcore Co Ltd, Toyolite Technologies Corp, Tyntek Corp, and Visual Photonics Epitaxy Co Ltd. The complaint alleges that the companies infringed upon Rothschild's U.S. patent no. 5,252,499 for short wavelength LEDs and laser diodes. LIGHTimes SecondPage members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor End Disputes and Agree to Cross License Patents
LIGHTimes Staff

February 2, 2009...Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor have brought an end to nearly three years of legal battles between the two companies. Nichia and Seoul Semiconductor jointly announced that the companies have settled their patent litigation and other legal disputes pending in the United States, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Korea. They have entered into a patent cross licensing agreement covering their respective LED and laser diode technologies. The licensing will reportedly permit the companies to access all of each other's patented technologies.

Under the terms of the settlement, all litigations (including the patent and other legal disputes in the various countries) will be terminated as promptly as possible by mutual withdrawals, with the exception of litigation in Germany involving patent DE 691-07-630 T2 of EP 0-437-385 B1. In Germany, the litigation involving patent DE 691-07-630 T2 of EP 0-437-385 B1 will reportedly be resolved following a February 2009 hearing. Seoul Semiconductor (SSC) says that it now sees its patent portfolio stabilized and as an equivalent to Nichia's. SSC contends that the agreement will allow customers to purchase its products with confidence in the IP that is backing them up. Also SSC says that the settlement puts them in a stronger position with respect to IP actions directed at them or that they are initiating against other companies. SSC warns that it is planning to take stronger action against AC-LED manufacturers that they feel are infringing upon their 200+ related patents. LIGHTimes SecondPage members login for more. Guests can view membership details.

Nichia and Sharp Sign LED and Laser Diode Patent Cross-Licensing Agreement
LIGHTimes Staff

November 24, 2008...Nichia Corporation and Sharp Corporation have entered into a patent cross-licensing agreement covering LEDs (light-emitting diodes) and laser diodes. The agreement allows each company to use the patents related to LEDs and Laser diodes in Japan and other major countries around the world. Nichia points out that it produced the first 1 cd blue LED in 1993 and then produced the first white LED in 1996, which is the combination of a blue LED and a YAG phosphor. Both rely on gallium nitrided technology.

Additionally, the related patents cover blue-violet laser diodes (LDs) which have been used in the increasingly popular Blu-ray disc format. While laser diodes (specifically red) have long been used for CD and DVD playback, it has only been recently that blue-violet LDs have become important in consumer electronics. LEDs have also become ubiquitous in electronics such as backlighting for PDAs, mobile phones, and LCD TVs and displays. In addition, white LEDs have started to be adopted in general lighting applications. The specific patents and terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Nichia notes that it and Sharp will be aiming to create even higher-performance LEDs and laser diodes to respond to expanding market demand. Nichia News Release

St. Andrews Researchers Created Organic Laser Powered by LED
CompoundSemi News Staff

May 5, 2008...Researchers at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, have created a visible organic laser that can be tuned to any color of the rainbow. The researchers pointed out that the laser is powered by a simple indium gallium nitride (InGaN) LED, rather than another laser, which was previously required for an organic laser. The physicists at St. Andrews contend that in addition to being more compact than previous organic lasers, they can be produced at a fraction of the cost.

Professor Ifor Samuel and Dr Graham Turnbull have used flexible plastic-like semiconducting materials to make a number of new innovations including a light-emitting sticking plaster for the treatment of skin cancer. According to the researchers, the technology could revolutionize point of care diagnosis and treatment. Professor Samuel said, "For over forty years visible organic lasers have required another laser to make them shine. We have now developed a low-cost, easy to make plastic laser, which converts the light from an LED (of the kind used in torches and traffic lights) into laser light. LEDs can be battery powered, and so this hybrid LED-laser approach can make very simple compact emitters. The lasers can give a variety of colors and are suitable for various applications such as spectroscopy or chemical sensing." The researchers findings are explained in the April 23 issue of Applied Physics Letters. Applied Physics Letters Abstract, St. Andrews University News Release

ITC Approves Investigation of Patent Infringement Complaint Against 34 Companies
CompoundSemi News Staff

March 24, 2008...On March 20, 2008, the U.S. International Trade Commission, as expected, has agreed to investigate the patent infringement claims in a complaint filed by Gertrude Neumark Rothschild of Hartsdale, New York on February 20. The complaint alleges that 34 separate big-name electronics manufacturers who produce products containing short-wavelength (e.g., blue, violet) LEDs and laser diodes such as hand-held mobile devices, instrument panels, billboards, traffic lights, HD DVD players (e.g., Blu-ray disc players), and data storage devices that infringe on a patent owned by a former Columbia University professor, Gertrude Neumark Rothschild.

The complaint seeks an injunction against importation of the products, and financial damages. The list of companies being investigated for alleged infringement makes up most of the big players in the compound semiconductor industry, the makers of Blu-ray consumer products. It also includes many of the big companies that produce products with blue or violet LEDs. Noticeably absent from the list are the several companies that in the LED market that have already settled. Philips Lumileds, Toyoda Gosei, Nichia, and Osram have already settled the dispute. A patent infringement claim that alleges that Cree infringed the former professor’s patent is still pending.The Honorable Paul J. Luckern, an ITC administrative law judge will schedule and hold an evidentiary hearing. The ITC expect to complete the investigation in 45 days of the investigations start. ITC News Release with List of Companies

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