Technology Development of SSL

in the Global Context

Susan Walsh Sanderson

Kenneth L. Simons
NSF Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center
Lally School of Management and Technology
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Supported by DOE through Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Programmatic Lighting Support program, award
570.01.05.007, “SSL Global Technology Analysis” and National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement
EEC-0812056, through its Smart Lighting Engineering Research Center
 SMART LIGHTING
ENGINEERING RESEARCH CENTER

HOME and APPLICATIONS

OFFICE AND IMPACTS
[Adaptive
Lighting]
Conventional
Lighting : HEALTH
Limited [Personal
Controllability Lighting]
SENSING and
IMAGING
Solid - State [Information]
Lighting : COMMUNICATIONS
Controllabili
ty [Dual-Use]
ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Smart Lighting [Infrastructure]

Systems :
Adaptibility

2
 Research Topics
US counting of green and clean technology


investments to create jobs and stem global

warming
§ Technology Development
§ Global patenting
§ Commercialization
§ Products
§ Public Policy
§ Energy prices, R&D and production
incentives and adoption incentives
computer, consumer electronics and
communications
ole of Photonics in Transforming
Industries
 Study of Global LED R&D


§ Analyses of LED & SSL patenting have focused

primarily on US data
§ To probe international R&D, need more global
measure
§ Counts based on one nation’s patents have
home-nation bias
§ Multi-national patent & applications data
§ Opportunity to probe corporate & national R&D
activity in novel ways
§ Unique comparison of inter-country, inter-firm
trends
§ World patents, not just US
 Data Overview
§ European Patent Office’s Worldwide
Patent Statistical database
§ 185,852 applications filed in 68 nations
§ Filed mid-1930s to Dec. 4, 2008
§ Granted up to March 5, 2009 (in that case,
applied for April 12, 2002 in Germany)
§ 59,633 granted patents
§ 12,499 granted utility models and (in a few
cases) other receipts such as
communist-style inventor’s certificates
 Search Methods


§ Recursive search to identify LED-related

patents & applications
§ Based on classification codes (IPCs), title
keywords
§ Inventor & applicant nationalities often not in
available data
§ Random sample of missing data used to
determine frequencies of nationalities
§ Multi-lingual research team looked up original
documents to determine countries
§ Also to check whether China locations were in
mainland China vs. Taiwan
 IPC Codes Considered
Category Number of Applications Brief Informal Description
H01L33/00 79,672 Semiconductor devices for light
emission, including manufacture
H05B33 63,003 Lighting – Electroluminescent
and details thereof
light sources
G09G3/30 14,977 Circuits for readable displays
using electroluminescent panels
G09G3/32 9,861 As G09G3/30, using
semiconductors
G09F9/33 8,718 Pixel-based displays using
semiconductors
H01L27/15 6,233 Solid-state circuitry
incorporating semiconductor
G09G3/14 2,738 As G09G3/32,devices
light-emitting but for
displaying a single character
 Title Keywords Considered

§ “light emitting diode(s)”, “light-emitting diode(s)”, “LED(s)”,

“OLED(s)”, “PLED(s)”, “L.E.D.(s)”, “LED based”, “LED-based”,
“semiconductor light emitting”, “semiconductor light-emitting”,
“semiconductor light emission”, “semiconductor lighting”,
“semiconductor lumin*”, “solid state lighting”, “solid-state lighting”,
“solid state light(s)”, “solid-state light(s)”, “solid state lamp(s)”,
“solid-state lamp(s)”, “micro-LED(s)”, “light emitting die(s)”, “light-
emitting die(s)”, “luminescent diode(s)”, “light emittingdiode(s)”,
“lightemitting diode(s)”, “lightemittingdiode(s)”
§ “lichtemittierende Diode(n)”, “Leuchtdiode(n)”, “diode(s)
luminescente(s)”, "diodo(s) electroluminoso(s)", "diodo(s)
luminoso(s)", "diodo luminescente", "diodi luminescenti",
"luminescente diodo", "luminescenti diodi", "diodos emissores de
luz", “diodo(s) emitindo-se claro(s)”
 Data Search: Catch Rate

Group of Applications Number of Applications % Caught by Search

Filed by Color Kinetics 272 49.6%
Filed by Cree 1885 41.3%
Filed by Nichia 3373 58.1%
U.S. class 362/800 1775 44.8%
 Technology Sub-Domains
Category Definition (Subset of Dataset)
All All applications
All But Displays, Printers, and Any application not in any of the IPC categories: Display Projector
Scanners PrintScan PhotoPrinter FundSemiPl, and not in any of the title
Lighting Any application
categories: in the overall
DispPrintScan category All But Displays, Printers,
Backlight
and Scanners, that is also in IPC category: Lighting or in any of the
Fundamental Any applicationLamp
title categories: in anyWhiteLight,
of IPC categories: FundOptics
but only FundElectr
if it is not in title
FundSemic
category FundComm
Indicator FundManuf FundChem
Displays Any application in and
any not in overall
of the category Display
IPC categories: Fundamental
Projector
FundSemiPl, or in title category: Display
Organic Any application in IPC category Organic or in title category
Organic, but not in title category MetalOrganic
Vehicle Any application in IPC category: Vehicle
Cumulative Applications
Leading Companies:
All Applications
Leading Companies:
Multi-Country Applications
Multi-Country Applications
Nations of Invention
Cumulative Granted
Patents
Leading Companies:
ALL LED Granted Patents
Leading Companies:
Granted LED Patents
Multination Patents
Multination Patents Applied for in All Years
Cumulative
Multination Patents
Applied for in 1998-2003
Multination Patents
Applied for in 2004-2009
All LED Patents’
Nations of Invention
Patent Leaders:
LEDs for Displays
Patent Leaders:
Lighting
 Location of Production
Gallium Nitride
LEDs  
  WafP

Source: Canaccord/Adams, The Second Cycle, 2009

 Observations
Greater role of international companies than seen in US data


n Samsung zooming to top of patent rankings, most prominent in

displays & OLEDs
n SSL activity global, growing Asian role
n Taiwan and mainland China – many individuals & small
companies
n Manufacturing locus in China
n Traditional lighting firms transitioned into SSL through joint
ventures & acquisitions
n Major competition from strong consumer electronics firms
n For small firms--where are major opportunities?
 Challenge of Competing in
Emerging Markets

§ US firms lost initial leadership in flat panel display

industry including liquid crystal display (LCD),
light emitting diode (LED) display and plasma
display panel (PDP)
§ Failed to invest in scaling-up during crucial
technology development phase beginning with
the LCDs
§ Is there a similar pattern in other emerging
industries?
§ What can be done to ensure the mistakes in LCDs
do not recur in other emerging industries?
§ Do stayers develop a competitive advantage?
 Samsung’s Strengths

§ Manufacturing prowess
§ Grown
§ technological capabilities & Industrial
design
§ World’s largest flat screen TV maker
§ LED backlit LDC TV
§ 3D TV
§ OLED TV
§ Top in memory chips & LCDs
§ 2nd largest handset vendor
§

 Lessons from Apple’s Success
§ Outstanding product & media delivery
systems
§ $50 billion company
§ Third-largest mobile phone revenues
(quarter)
§ Nokia ($12.7 billion)
§ Samsung ($5.9 billion)
§ iPhone ($4.6 billion
§ Wealth of Content
§ Found path for legal music downloads with
iPod/iTunes
§ 140,00 applications for iPhone
§ Will iPad move e readers to mass market?
§
Where are the opportunities in emerging
lighting industry? Inroads

Figure from Kevin Dowling, Color Kinetics (now Philips Solid-State Lighting Solutions)
 Solid State Lighting Firms and
Market Projections
Traditional
Lighting industry is
Lighting Firms
undergoing a major
– Osram transformation
– Philips
– GE
– Matsushita
New Lighting Firms


– Nichia
– Seoul
Semiconductor
– Citizen
– Toyoda Gosei
– Everlight
– Kingbright
– Cree
OIDA projection 2008
§
§
 Smart Rooms
Comfort Productivity

Efficiency

Graphics: Artemide Group

London Health Sciences Centre

Health Information
02/05/10 36
 Smart Rooms
Comfort Productivity
- Light Field - Adaptive Control
Control - Efficient Display
- Color Tunable -Interactive and
Dynamic

Efficiency

- Energy Efficient - Smart Grid and

- Cost Effective - Smart Building
Interface
- Therapeutic
- Circadian - Visible Light
Adapted Information
- Biomonitor Channels
London Health Sciences Centre
Graphics: Artemide Group

Health Information
02/05/10 NSF Smart Lighting ERC 37
 Tip of iceberg: role of government in
creating conditions for success?
Country Programs Goals Timing Annual
Funding*
USA Next Generation Lighting Quantum efficiency; longevity; 2003-2013 $42.1 mil
Initiative stability; packaging;
infrastructure; cost reduction
st
Japan Light for the 21 Century; Develop GaN LED; 13% market 1998-2008 $7.5 mil
Ministry of Education, penetration; 120 lm/w and 80%
Culture, Science & efficiency; medical equipment;
Technology white HB-LED
South Semiconductor Lighting Reduce use of glass, phosphors, 2001-2008 $59.4 mil
Korea National Program; LED heavy metals; meet
Valley Project environmental regulations; save
$20 bn on energy; 80 lm/w
efficiency; develop HB-LED
Taiwan Next Generation Lighting Improve white LED performance; 2002-2005 $4.0 mil
Project; National Science 100 lm/w; patents and new
Council manufacturing companies
China Semiconductor Lighting Established five industrial parks; 2005-2010 $248.8 mil
Project; National Solid collaboration with Taiwan and
State Lighting Project US; $19 bn LED industry by
2010; large scale conversion to
LED by 2015; reduce
environmental pollution
E.U. Sixth Framework Program Strengthen science & technology 2002-2006 $16.3-32.5
base for international mil
competitiveness;
*estimated