Since the development of p-type material in 1989, research in nitride emitter technology has developed rapidly over the last 15 years. This material system provided a new range of color applications that could be better utilized and with far better reliability than the II-VI material system. Laser lifetimes > 10,000 hours have been surpassed. The rapid commercial deployment of the nitride LED sources has meant that this is a competitive but relatively captive market. This dichotomy exists because the company that initially commercialized the material system has been aggressive in the market and protective of its technology. The market is high volume and has grown tremendously, especially as the majority of applications are consumer based.

The intellectual property around the GaN-based systems has been a major concern because one company made the initial manufacturing breakthrough. As the technology has now become more established and substrate technology has been developing, newer applications and wavelengths are available. Despite this, issues with efficiency, light extraction, defect density, packaging, and thermal performance remain. Improvements in the electrical to optical conversion efficiency still need to be made.

Three specific questions were the focus of this Optoelectronics Industry Development Association (OIDA) forum:

1. What are the technological benefits of the different substrate routes and growth technologies, including the applications and markets?

2. What are the concerns for high efficiency green, UV LEDs and lasers? What is the right path forward?

3. What is the right route regarding intellectual property, packaging, and thermal effects for nitride-based LED and laser sources and the lack of standards in these areas?

The major product segments analyzed are

• Liquid Crystal Displays (Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (AMLCDs),
• Passive Matrix Liquid Crystal Displays (PMLCDs), and Segmented LCDs),
• Plasma Display Panels (PDPs),
• Electroluminescent Displays (EL Displays),
• Organic Light Emitting Displays (OLEDs),
• Light Emitting Diode (LED) Displays,
• VFDs (Vacuum Fluorescent Displays),
• FEDs (Field Emission Displays), also Led display,
• Led manufacturer,Electronic signs and Others.

The Major End-Use Segments Analyzed are Information Systems, Personal Computers, Telecomm. Equipment, Instrumentation, Consumer Appliances, Transportation equipment, Medical devices, and Others. The report provides separate comprehensive analytics for the US, Canada, Japan, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Rest of World. Annual forecasts are provided for each region for the period of 2001 through 2015. The report profiles 260 companies including many key and niche players worldwide such as AU Optronics Corp., Clover Display Limited, Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corporation, Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., Densitron Technologies PLC, Emerging Display Technologies Corp., Hantronix, Inc., HannStar Display Corp., Hitachi Displays, Jaco Displays Solutions, Kopin, Corp., LG Display Co., Ltd., Microtips Technology, Inc., NEC-LCD Technologies, Okaya Electric Industries Co., Ltd., Optrex Corporation, Optrex America, Inc., Powertip Tech. Corp., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Sharp Corporation, Sony Corporation, International Display Technology Co., Ltd., Toshiba Matsushita Display Technology Co., Ltd., Universal Display Corporation, and Viewsonic Corporation.

Market data and analytics are derived from primary and secondary research. Company profiles are mostly extracted from URL research and reported select online sources.

The scope of this report is to review the technology, market applications, future developments, and direction of nitride lasers and light emitting devices. It begins with relevant background information and then incorporates the output from the OIDA forum. This report reviews the issues raised and provides a summary of recommendations from the meeting.