InteGreat project develops new approaches to LED production
Osram Opto Semiconductors has announced results from the InteGreat research project that ran between December 2014 and February 2018, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).
The seven partners in the project were Osram Opto Semiconductors, Osram, the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Systems and Device Technology (IISB), the Fraunhofer Institute for Reliability and Microintegration (IZM), Wuerth Elektronik, LayTec AG and Muehlbauer. They investigated new approaches for manufacturing very small surface emitting LED chips and packaging technologies, among other things, as part of the 'Photonic Process Chains' initiative.
At the heart of the project was wafer level packaging as well as investigations into planar contacts. One of the pioneering approaches to emerge from the project is planar interconnect technology in which the bond wire is replaced by a thin flat metal connection. This moves the surface emitter to the surface of the package. The light can therefore be used more directly, unlike with conventional components. This leads to smaller losses in efficiency and luminance and consequently to greater brilliance and cost savings in operation.
Other new technologies along the entire value-added chain were successfully demonstrated for functional full-colour video wall modules with a pixel pitch of 1 mm were successfully demonstrated.
According to Osram, the results of the project can be applied not only to large-format video walls but also to new applications such as in ambient lighting and sensor systems. Thanks to the modular structure of the project comprising four work packages, many results can now be quickly transferred to product development and production. The integration of LEDs in industrial applications and also in areas such as the mobility of the future can therefore be accelerated. The results also open up huge potential in infotainment.
"The results of the InteGreat research project represent a major advance for the future of LEDs. Our powerful consortium of partners from science and industry has delivered extraordinary achievements in three years. Once again we have been able to demonstrate the powers of innovation in Germany as a centre of scientific know-how", said Frank Singer, predevelopment group leader at Osram Opto Semiconductors.
