Osram Opto Semiconductors opened its state-of-the-art LED chip manufacturing plant
February 2018: While many other types of semiconductors will also have a strong presence in this brave new world known as the Internet of Things (IoT), Osram maintains that the data-linked potential of the light-emitting diode will be irresistible in both illumination and non-illumination settings.
The Kulim factory in Malaysia is believed to be the world's largest LED facility using 6-in. wafers as opposed to 4-in. And it marks the first time that Osram has located the epitaxy process outside its home country of Germany, where its Regensburg plant has until now handled it exclusively. Epitaxy is the "secret sauce" portion of LED production, the pre-semiconductor stage of laying down layers of material that generate light.
And here's why Osram is so stoked on the prospects for continued expansion of the plant: Its LEDs will serve many IoT purposes that go well beyond just general illumination. Osram reported financial results for its fiscal year 2017, in which OS reported over a 19% revenue jump to 1.69 billion. The spike positioned OS to soon emerge as the largest of Osram's three main business units; the other two are Lighting Solutions and Systems, which is basically general lighting, and Specialty Lighting, which focuses on automotive.
Osram sees a healthy future in infrared (IR)-LED sensors embedded in fitness watches to help monitor everything from heart rate to sugar levels, and in phone-embedded iris scanners for security purposes; IR LEDs will also help provide directional cues in drones and virtual reality glasses. In automobiles, Osram believes LED chips and sensors will play a major role in automobile steering systems, including driverless cars; also in cars, LEDs can help in recognizing facial patterns that indicate tiredness in a driver. They are also increasingly acquiring intelligence in headlamps so as to optimize roadway lighting while minimizing glare for other motorists.
In other automotive areas, Osram is advancing lidar technologies that use IR light in a radar-like manner to help detect objects in the path of a car and thus help steer both manned and unmanned vehicles (in Osram's case, it seems to be emphasizing laser chips more than LEDs for lidar, although both can be used). It is also developing interior LEDs to help read a motorist's facial patterns and detect signs of tiredness.
Osram's confidence in the high-tech future of the LED industry has led it also to invest in or acquire a number of technology-oriented and specialized LED companies over the last year or two, such as Digital Lumens, Beaconsmind, Tvilight, Leddartech, LED Engin, and others. More are coming