SEMI released database of Opto and LED manufacturers

Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI), an industry body for semiconductor manufacturing has released a new report titled Opto/LED Fab Watch database. The Opto/LED Fab Watch tracks and lists Optoelectronic and LED chip manufacturing facilities worldwide. LEDs are made up a semiconductor material different from Silicon and also the manufacturing process is different from IC manufacturing.

SEMI release states, with the rise of eco-friendly or "green" lighting, light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are now in the spotlight. While LEDs represent a more efficient lighting solution, the cost of implementing LEDs in general purpose lighting has been comparatively prohibitive. However, with the push from government regulations and on-going technology advancement, the adoption of LEDs in major lighting applications is expected to quickly rise in the coming years.

This database provides data on fab capacity, technology capability, location, products, wafer size, expansion plan, investment amount, and more. Currently, the report contains information on 168 Opto/LED fabs worldwide with 86 LED fabs and 82 opto-related fabs. The database shows Japan as having the largest number of Opto/LED fabs with a total of 42 facilities in this region. The regions with the most LED fabs are Taiwan (40%), Japan (23%) and China (22%).

The SEMI analysis finds the LED manufacturing is moving from 2-inch wafer substrates, 4-inch wafer substrates and some have even migrated to 6-inch sapphire substrates.
The semiconductor industry both for making chips and also other device migrate higher diameter wafers to increase capacity and reduce cost.

The sample of this new database is available at www.semi.org