IQE Regulatory News (IQE)

2 Aug 2007 08:39

IQE PLC02 August 2007 2 August 2007 IQE plc IQE in consortium to develop new energy efficient solid-state light sources IQE plc, the leading global supplier of advanced wafer products and waferservices to the semiconductor industry, has become a partner in a £3.3 millionresearch project which will focus on developing energy efficient solid-statelight sources. The project, codenamed NoveLELS, is being backed by the UKDepartment for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly part ofDepartment of Trade and Industry). Dr Drew Nelson, IQE Chief Executive, commenting: "There is a growing need and urgency to develop energy efficient light sourceswith a number of governments already taking steps to limit or ban the use ofinefficient incandescent lighting within the next ten years. "The $100 billion global lighting market is dominated by three major companies,GE, Philips and Osram, who, along with most G8 governments, are investingheavily in programmes to develop alternative sources for illumination." The consortium of nine partners consisting of two universities, four SMEs andthree large aerospace companies will come together to develop high efficiencyand high brightness solid-state light sources, based on novel GaN LED chiptechnology. These will be trialled for use in aircraft cockpits, exteriorlighting and consumer LCD devices. The UK Government and Technology StrategyBoard has shown strong commitment to the solid-state lighting sector and hencetowards energy reduction through the support of funding in excess of £1.7million for this project. In addition to IQE, the consortium comprises Airbus, AgustaWestland, GEAviation, Exxelis, Mesophotonics and Enfis. Two world leading research groupsat University of Bath and Brunel University will lead the research of novel LEDchips and phosphor technology. The project seeks to commercialise high power solid-state LED sources and isfocussed on the improvement of efficiency and quality of the light from thesenew light sources. A major project goal is to stimulate the commercialisation ofadvanced GaN epitaxy and LED chip manufacturing in conjunction with advancedphosphors and thermally efficient packaging to create novel LED arrays and lightengines for solid-state lighting applications. The use of photonic crystal technology will result in the achievement of highluminous efficacy. This technology was pioneered by Mesophotonics along withnovel epitaxial processes, pioneered at University of Bath in conjunction withIQE and advanced phosphor technology, developed at Brunel University. Tailoredspatial profile will provide key benefits in terms of energy efficiency andoptical coupling efficiency. A significant spin-off from the project will be the trial of a new method of GaNbased LED chip production which is expected to dramatically reduce the cost perLumen of solid-state light sources. The new methods will achieve this byincreasing the yield of LED chip production and allowing the scaling ofproduction to larger epitaxial wafer sizes without significant loss of yieldthrough new GaN epitaxial processes pioneered at the University of Bath. The end users of the technology in this project are in the aerospace and LCDbacklighting markets and will provide a critical benchmark for the LED outputs.The end users will also be evaluating the use of this new LED technology withintheir applications. Adoption of LED technology by the partners into thesemarkets will be a measurable output from the project. In addition the expectedimprovement in light quality and energy efficiency will allow the LED arrays andlight engines to be used in other markets such as architectural, commercialoffice, entertainment and retail lighting as well as eventually being used inthe home. NoveLELS project manager; Dr Gareth Jones, CTO of Enfis Group plc stated that: "By supporting this large collaborative project, the UK Government isstimulating both essential research and IP generation which will promote the UKto the forefront of leading research on a global level along with enabling acommercialisation route for epitaxy, chip fabrication and LED array manufacturewithin the UK." Enquiries: IQE plc www.iqep.com. + 44(0) 2920 839400 Chris Meadows, Investor Relations College Hill Adrian Duffield/Ben Way +44 (0) 20 7457 2020 About the Partners IQE plc IQE is the leading provider of epitaxial foundry services to the compoundsemiconductor industry. IQE's strategic focus is to become the number 1 playerin each of its targeted markets, so as to maximise economy of scale benefitsderiving from its large scale commercial epitaxy tools. IQE has an unrivalledtrack-record in successfully commercialising epitaxial innovation across anumber of market segments. AgustaWestland AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is a technology leader in its marketsand has an unrivalled range of rotorcraft products designed to satisfy therequirements of commercial and military customers. The Company's products rangefrom the innovative 2.5-ton light single-engine AW119 Ke to the 16-tonthree-engine AW101 helicopter. AgustaWestland has its main operations in Italy,the United Kingdom and the United States of America. Airbus UK Ltd Airbus UK is responsible for the design, development, and manufacture of hightechnology wings for all the Airbus family of aircraft including the ExternalLighting system, which includes such lights as the high output Landing, Taxi,Take-Off and Runway Turn-off lights. Brunel University The phosphor group at Brunel was established 38 years ago and is the onlyacademic group in Europe/USA that has carried out research on phosphors overthis period. The Group specialises in the design and synthesis of novelphosphors with tailored size and morphology for a wide variety of uses. Enfis Ltd A wholly owned subsidiary of Enfis Group plc. Enfis specialises in the designand manufacture of high power LED arrays and light engines for solid-statelighting and backlighting applications. Enfis has expertise in the integrationof LED technology into high power and high efficiency LED arrays and integrationinto high efficiency plug and play digital light engines to control and powerthe LED arrays. Exxelis Ltd Exxelis Ltd is a Glasgow based developer of materials, processes and componentsfor LCD display industry. It is developing novel, highly efficient LCDbacklighting solutions which combine the functions of several layers in thebacklight into a single film, addressing the key issues of cost, performance,size and weight. Exxelis was started in April 2004. Mesophotonics Ltd Mesophotonics Ltd was launched in 2001 to design and develop photonic crystalnano-devices and take them to market. A University of Southampton spin-outcompany, its team has unique skills in modelling and understandingsub-wavelength structures. Mesophotonics specialises in the development of novelphotonic quasicrystal structures and their applications to photonics and sensingin general. Systems division of GE Aviation As a major avionics supplier, the expertise of the Systems division of GEAviation (formerly Smiths Aerospace) lies in aerospace applications of hardware,software and systems. GE is a recognised leader in Flight Display products, bothfor main displays and standby instrumentation. GE has the optical andenvironmental test facilities and skills necessary to evaluate the resultingproducts suitability for use in an airborne end system. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange