Development Status and Industry Demand Analysis of LED "New Materials"

In the context of global energy shortages, energy conservation is an important issue we are currently facing, and LED is recognized as the most promising fourth in terms of its high efficiency, energy saving, long life, multi-changing and green environmental protection. Generation of green light source. With the continuous promotion of low-carbon, energy-saving and emission-reduction policies, the LED industry has encountered a good opportunity for development, and many experts have hailed it as a sunrise industry. Moreover, the LED industry at home and abroad is developing rapidly, and a global round of promotion and popularization is ushered in, especially in countries around the world to gradually eliminate the incandescent lamp route. This is undoubtedly an opportunity for LED.

From the surface, LED seems to have the right place and the right place, but the LED market has been weak in the past two years, the company's gross profit margin has been declining, production costs, labor costs, high management costs, etc., looking for ways to develop and solve the problem of cost reduction Become a hot topic in the industry. Among them, the discovery of new raw materials to reduce LED costs has always been a development direction of LED.

Although the materials involved in LEDs are constantly being updated, in fact, there are still a small number of companies that introduce new materials into actual product development and production. The author learned in the interview that some companies are currently using new materials, such as the use of graphene by Feitai Technology. Materials; some companies have indicated that they will try to use them in a small area.

New materials have reasons for their existence

Yin Shuyuan, General Manager of Sigma Technology Co., Ltd.:

In the face of new materials, many companies are on the sidelines rather than participating. From a macro perspective, from the perspective of the enterprise, this is a follow-up phenomenon. No one wants to be the first bird to be shot. I don’t know if the new material is good or not, and it is unstable. On the micro level, why is the new material? Appears, because there is demand, so there will be new materials, and there will be reasons for its existence. The reason why new materials will appear is to replace the existing materials. The two will inevitably compare the advantages of the new and old materials. Of course, it is cheap and good for consumers.

The emergence of new materials will transform the traditional production mode, production process and price. The new materials will make process innovation, production simplification and cost reduction. Moreover, new materials will make products cost lower, higher product performance, and higher cost performance; but the use of new materials also has requirements for the size of the enterprise. For some small companies with limited technical capabilities, they are not new materials. If you understand and lack R&D capabilities, you will not know how to use new materials. Because the new materials are different from the existing materials, the technical parameters are different. Therefore, the process of importing new materials will be very difficult. On the contrary, like some large companies with technological research and development capabilities, the process of introducing new materials will be smooth. They have a good understanding of the technical parameters of new materials and structural components.

We at Sigma Technology have also been researching new materials, and the existing part is undergoing testing, and will be launched after the test is stable. Sigma technology has been deeply cultivating precious metal materials for many years. Like alloy wire, it is a product that replaces traditional gold wire in the LED industry in the past two years. When it has not risen in the past few years, no one will be a white mouse. Try it first, but now this material is getting mature and many people start to use it. The materials are mostly similar, but the difference is that the performance is stable.

Importing new materials requires technical equipment of the enterprise

Chen Derong, General Manager of Zhongshan Hanshi Lighting Technology Co., Ltd.:

For the use of new materials in actual research and development production, Disney will not be introduced in large quantities, but will try to test the performance and quality of new materials in small batches and small scales. Do not mean that it does not change, good materials, good technology can promote the development of the LED industry, this is an inevitable trend, but the new material still has to go through the market for at least half a year to see it stable and unstable.

Moreover, the development of enterprises must be changed, innovative, and cost-effective to keep up with LED technology, especially now that the speed of LED technology is changing rapidly, just as there is a process transition for new materials, production companies will slowly accept. And, more importantly, the new materials can be applied to the R&D and production of the enterprise, and the technical equipment of the enterprise is very demanding, such as various product testing equipment.

New materials, or change production methods

Dong Pei, Chairman of Shenzhen Feitai Technology Co., Ltd.:

Looking at the state of the new materials, in fact, this is a misunderstanding of corporate understanding. Now that the price of new materials has dropped, it can be said that it is completely acceptable. Even with the cost of existing materials, companies can actually use new materials. This is not a price factor.

Now Feitai Technology is using the new material graphene thermal conductive plastic production, many people will doubt that plastic can conduct heat? However, it has been proved that the use of graphene materials is lighter, more cost-effective, smaller in specific gravity, higher in thermal conductivity, and more processable. In fact, many companies and even different fields of industry are no strangers to new materials. Well-known large enterprises such as IKEA furniture and Philips have long used new materials. It is not the case of small and medium-sized enterprises to verify new materials. It is done by large enterprises. If the big companies do well, the SMEs will try to use the new materials.

The emergence of new materials will have an impact on existing materials. This kind of impact is very strong. Like the appearance of graphene, it has a great impact on the heat-dissipating materials. In the past, aluminum was used for heat conduction. However, the emergence of new materials It makes the heat dissipation stronger and looks better, which raises the product to a higher level. Moreover, the price trend will be lower and lower, and the production methods will also change. LED is an emerging industry, and everything is possible. In the future, phosphors will also undergo structural changes.

Batch use of new materials into production

Wang Xuejun, Sales Manager of Zhongshan Dongjun Lighting Co., Ltd.:

At present, there are many new materials. Dongjun Lighting will use it in small batches and put it into actual production. However, according to the current situation, the proportion of new materials is still very small. To be conservative, we will choose traditional materials to produce, to understand the existing materials, and to ensure product quality and to ensure stable product performance. Perhaps the new material will outperform the existing material in some respects, but it does not dare to guarantee the quality, perhaps the new material has been tested by the market, and will be tried after its price and performance are stable.

Dong Pei, chairman of Shenzhen Feitai Technology Co., Ltd., has repeatedly pointed out in different industry forums and marketing salons that future products will be cheap and not bad. This kind of "flatness" is influenced by new materials. The emergence of new materials will change the production methods and product structure of existing materials, and the manufacturing process will be more simplified.

Despite this, many small and medium-sized enterprises in the industry are still conservative about new materials, and there are still a few companies at the forefront; among them, on the one hand, the price of some new materials has not yet fallen, and on the other hand, the production equipment of enterprises. Limited technical capabilities.

New materials: more onlookers than participation

In January 2012, the two documents “The 12th Five-Year Development Plan for New Materials Industry” and the “12th Five-Year Key Product Catalogue for New Materials Industry” compiled by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology were officially announced. According to the published development goals, by 2015, the total output value of domestic new materials industry will reach 200 billion yuan, with an average annual growth rate of more than 25%; R&D investment will increase significantly, and R&D investment of key new materials enterprises will account for 5% of sales revenue; At the same time, we will build 10 comprehensive leading enterprises with strong innovation ability, core competitiveness and new material sales revenue of over 15 billion yuan, and cultivate 20 professional backbone enterprises with new material sales income exceeding 5 billion yuan.

There is demand, new materials will grow

It can be seen from the published documents that in recent years, China has given more and more attention and attention to LEDs. Various preferential policies and financial subsidies issued by the governments all over the country to the LED industry are increasing year by year, and this new industry is supported. Large; especially in the field of upstream materials, the planning made in the document requires technological innovation and investment in special materials in a short period of time to accelerate the pace of mass production to meet the rapid development of LED.

In the two documents of the "12th Five-Year Development Plan for New Materials Industry" and the "12th Five-Year Key Product Catalogue of New Materials Industry", it also announced the use of phosphors for white LEDs, high-end yttrium oxide semiconductor polishing fluids, and arsenic. A variety of LED lighting related key materials catalogues, such as gallium single crystal materials, high-grade diamonds, sapphire materials, silicon carbide wafers, and gallium nitride epitaxial wafers, are refined to performance indicators and capacity quantity indicators. Among them, for the industrialization of white LED phosphors, the goal of increasing the production capacity of luminescent materials by 0.5 million tons per year was proposed.

A large family of LED materials consisting of chips and epitaxial materials, substrate materials, luminescent materials, packaging materials, heat-dissipating materials, process auxiliary materials, etc., is an important foundation for the development of the LED industry, to improve the level of LED technology and speed up product upgrading. It is important to reduce costs and popularize applications.

At present, many LED lighting companies generally report that the gross profit margin is declining. For example, from the quarterly reports and annual reports of listed companies, the gross profit margin of the lighting division is declining; in addition, the rising costs, such as labor costs and raw materials, are also faced. Cost, management cost, etc. Therefore, the urgent demand facing the LED industry is to strictly control production costs, continuously improve the level of technology, and increase profits. These are undoubtedly a market opportunity for the development of LED materials, and also an engine for the continuous growth of the LED materials industry.

Rare metal materials have contributed to the development of LED light sources

At the beginning of October, after the news that three Japanese scientists invented the "High Brightness Blue Light Emitting Diode (LED)" to win the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics, the LED industry was inspiring. This news event also appeared in various industries. Headlines of the media,

At the same time that the Nobel Prize awarded LED lighting technology, related rare metals have also attracted industry attention. It is understood that the core materials of LED light sources are mainly rare metal gallium (Ga), indium (In) and arsenic (AS), phosphorus (P) compounds, and based on wide band gap semiconductor materials gallium nitride (GaN) and indium. InGaN is also the most commercially available LED luminescent material. The rare metal gallium, indium and other materials can be described as "important" for the development of LED lighting technology.

As LED light sources become more widely used, LED materials made from a large number of rare metal compounds will usher in greater demand. According to statistics, in 2013, China's chip output value reached 10.5 billion yuan, an increase of 31.5%, and the output growth rate was as high as 61%; GaN chip production accounted for 65%, while InGaAlP chip-based quaternary chip production accounted for The ratio is 25%, and other chips such as GaAs account for about 10%.

According to experts' prediction, in 2014, China's LED industry will continue its upward trend in 2013, ushered in a new round of growth, and the growth rate is expected to reach 40%. The rapid development of global LED lighting will certainly drive the rapid growth of demand for rare semiconductor metals such as gallium and indium, and will also drive more and more companies and individuals to pay attention to rare metals such as indium and gallium. As the world's largest spot exchange of rare metal and inventories of rare metals such as indium and gallium, the predominance of the Pan-Asian Nonferrous Metals Exchange in the rare metals industry will gradually become prominent.

Material industry competition can not be ignored

Currently, LED lighting is dominated by sapphire substrates and silicon carbide substrates. Recently, Korean LED manufacturers competed with Chinese manufacturers, and Seoul Semiconductor and LG Innotek developed "gallium nitride" (GaN) substrates. At the same time, packaging companies also intentionally replaced epoxy with silicon to enhance product performance and extend service life. .

It is understood that the "GaN-to-GaN" substrate researched by Han Factory is said to solve the problem of poor displacement. In terms of packaging plants, Han began to use silicon as a packaging material to replace epoxy resin. It is reported that after 3000-6000 hours of epoxy resin, color shift phenomenon will occur, and the use time of silicon is 10 times more, and 30,000-50,000 hours can be used. However, some industry insiders said that the performance of GaN and silicon is better than the current materials, but the fly in the ointment is that the price is too high at present. If you want to increase market competitiveness, you must lower the price and improve performance. Manufacturers are developing materials that are cheaper than silicon.

New material: thunder and rain

Although many new materials technologies in different fields are constantly being discovered, new materials are quite powerful, but most of them are just onlookers. Only a few large enterprises will actually apply them to actual production. The use of new materials can be described as "thunder and heavy rain" in the real world of the industry.

In the reporter's interview survey, some companies believe that perhaps new materials will be superior to existing materials, but the reality that cannot be ignored is that domestic material R&D and manufacturing companies generally face two major development bottlenecks: First, LED companies have more And the production of materials is difficult to scale. Second, the average company is not willing to easily replace imported raw materials. Even if the basic performance of domestically produced materials is up to standard, there are general doubts about the long-term stability of domestically produced materials.

Even so, there are still a small number of well-known companies using new materials, such as the world-renowned multinational group Styron has launched a variety of new resin materials for LED and fully enter the Chinese market. At the same time, Dow Corning also announced the launch of a special adhesive for LED chips to make up for the shortage of existing similar materials; the same move is also the Japanese company Mitsubishi Chemical.

For most of the global material giants, although the scale of LED usage is still small, the field will become a new bright spot in the future of the electronic materials industry with the scale effect of the terminal lighting market in the future. In addition, it is not difficult to see that the emergence of new materials has already impacted existing materials, and has changed the existing production methods and production processes.

The use of new materials is only owing to the east wind

In view of the excellent performance of energy-saving lamps in terms of light efficiency and longevity, in the context of global response to climate change and energy shortage, many countries and regions around the world have introduced plans to ban the use of incandescent lamps and promote the use of energy-saving lamps. While promoting energy-saving lamps, the problem of finding new materials to replace traditional materials is becoming more and more serious. Therefore, few new materials that are currently favored by the industry have been applied to actual production. Why? ?

Technology is not proportional to cost

Nowadays, with the competition of price wars, people in the lighting and lighting industry are looking for various ways to reduce production costs, so some people have made further updates on the production materials. Look for new or emerging materials that have superior performance and special features not found in traditional materials.

With the introduction of new materials, few companies have invested in the actual production process. In response to this problem, Shenzhen Tiantian Electric Technology Co., Ltd. sales vice president Chu Tiansheng said, "Our company is mainly engaged in the production of electrolytic capacitors. Therefore, in the use of raw materials, raw materials of well-known domestic brands are used, and those newly developed materials are not used. First, we must understand the reasons for the development of new materials. First, the development of low-carbon economy has become a global hot spot. The major manufacturers have increased the productivity of LED energy-saving lamps; second, the increase in production costs of domestic and foreign manufacturers, the need to find cheaper raw materials to reduce production costs. Then why the raw materials have been developed and not used What? It may be due to the following reasons. First, it is necessary to recognize that the technology for developing new materials is mature, but it is difficult to put into use due to the high cost of raw materials. Second, because most of the new materials are currently in existence. Based on the development of traditional materials, traditional materials are constantly performing in terms of performance or function. High continuation, so new materials have high barriers to entry from the beginning; third, the development of new materials as a modern high-tech, the investment risk is relatively large, the degree of commercialization is low, and the economic scale is not achieved. It will also restrict the use of new materials."

Demand is a big problem

Although the reasons for the new materials not being put into use are manifold, demand is a big problem. Zhang Chengwei, deputy general manager of Shenzhen Mitiandian Technology Co., Ltd. said frankly, “Many new technologies are being further upgraded, and new products are emerging. The emergence of new products requires new markets to develop. If a new material is R & D, but there is no market demand, then how can this material be applied to actual production? Similarly, the development of new materials depends on the development of upstream and downstream related industries, especially the further innovation and development of downstream users. Make new materials products finally go to market. So in general, the development and application of new materials is firmly built on the demand, but the characteristics of many materials are aimed at the needs of enterprises and consumers. R&D, rather than first finding a new material and discovering which features and consumers are suitable for it. If new technologies are not applied, they cannot go to market and industrialization, and tap the needs of enterprises and users to develop New materials have become the forerunner of the lighting industry."

Risks and opportunities coexist

Because there is market demand, it will be developed, but the research and development is not used. Is it really because of the market demand space? “Perhaps not necessarily”, this is an answer given by an insider of Foshan Dongdian Times Lighting Co., Ltd.

The person said, “The use of new materials is not just because of the contrast between technology and price. The impact of market demand is one aspect, but the application of new materials should also be targeted at different products, but more importantly, The use of new materials is a problem of both risks and opportunities. On the one hand, if 10% of the people in the lighting industry use it, then the risks are imaginable; if there are 30%-40% If the person is using it, it means that it has a certain profit margin; if more than 70% of the people are using it, then I will follow it, then I will OUT. Therefore, the new material has the funds for the preliminary research and the mid-term trial. Uncertainty in the market, variability in production processes and technical means, and poor industrial technology integration capabilities. Therefore, the investment risk of new materials is one of the issues that enterprises must consider. On the other hand, the use of new materials is also a kind of Opportunity, when the small number of people use it, if the benefits are good, then the profits he gets are also very expensive."

Everything is there, only time to verify

In general, the reasons for the new materials not being put into production are diverse, what is the future prospect? They all agreed to give a consistent answer.

Chu Tiansheng said frankly, "New materials have been developed, indicating that our technology is improving. It is only a matter of time before it is put into use. Because the lighting industry is developing, it will inevitably pursue new breakthroughs."

Zhang Chengwei also issued the same feeling. "It is true that technology is changing with each passing day. The use of new materials is definitely a good thing for the lighting industry, and it is also a response to green low-carbon environmental protection. But to solve the current production of the industry. The drawbacks of the business, this still takes time to verify."

As a new type of thing in the lighting industry, the new material demand and profit margins induce potential entrants to enter, which is understandable. “It’s a good thing for the entire lighting industry in the long run; but in the short term, it’s not a good thing to put new materials into production, produce new ones, and then experiment with consumers. It is denied that the emergence of new materials is able to solve the problems faced by the current lighting industry, but it takes time to verify, because there are not many people in the lighting industry who are willing to take risks, and everyone can't afford it. Some people even have no profit now, but since they choose This industry, even if it is tears, we must continue to do it. So the prospects are good, and it is most important to do it yourself." The insiders of Foshan Dongdian Times Lighting Co., Ltd. said frankly.

The match between Xinhuan and old love

"If you want to do something good, you must first sharpen your tools." Good technology also needs good materials to cooperate. Today, in the lighting and lighting industry, the homogenization of products has become more and more serious, and technological innovation has received more attention, and the transformation of materials has also become the focus. The alternation of new and old materials is an important manifestation of the development of the industry. Let us explore the various components of LED lamps and the confrontation between “new joy” and “old love” in different materials.

Chip substrate

Sapphire (Al2O3) VS Silicon (Si) VS Silicon Carbide (SiC)

Current substrate materials for LED chips are: sapphire (Al2O3), silicon (Si), and silicon carbide (SiC). As we all know, sapphire glass is a popular innovation of Apple, selected as the screen material of iPhone6 ​​and iWatch, but what everyone does not understand is that sapphire rises in the LED industry. The sapphire substrate is generally selected for the LED chip substrate. The reason is that the sapphire substrate is mature in technology, high in mechanical strength, stable in device, and light transmittance is acceptable.

It is understood that the current high-power LED chip substrate materials are generally sapphire or silicon carbide (SiC), but these two materials are very expensive, and are monopolized by large foreign companies, resulting in high chip prices. There are also problems with the use of sapphire as a substrate, such as lattice mismatch and thermal stress mismatch, which can create a large number of defects in the epitaxial layer, while at the same time causing difficulties in subsequent device processing. In order to break through international patent barriers, domestic research on silicon (Si) substrate materials has been initiated and some progress has been made.

According to industry analysts, the price of substrate materials made of silicon (Si) will be much lower, not only because the price of silicon (Si) substrate itself is much cheaper than that of sapphire and silicon carbide (SiC) substrates, but also can produce sapphire. A larger-sized substrate with a silicon carbide (SiC) substrate to increase the utilization of MOCVD, thereby increasing die yield. Moreover, the silicon (Si) substrate is also a conductive substrate, and the electrodes can be taken out from both sides of the die without having to be taken out from one side like the non-conductive sapphire, which not only reduces the die area but also eliminates the need for GaN. Dry etching step of the epitaxial layer. At the same time, since silicon has a lower hardness than sapphire and silicon carbide (SiC), it can also save some costs in processing. According to estimates by a well-known foreign company, the manufacturing cost of fabricating blue GaN LEDs using silicon substrates is 90% lower than that of sapphire substrates and silicon carbide (SiC) substrates.

Shell heat dissipation

Thermally conductive plastic VS metal plastic VS ceramic

It is understood that there are three kinds of heat dissipation materials for traditional lamp housings: metal plastics such as aluminum, general plastics and ceramics. Compared with metal materials, thermal conductive plastics have the characteristics of uniform heat dissipation, light weight, high safety factor and flexible design. Compared with ceramics, the thermal plastics are strong, the molding process is convenient, and the freedom of design is higher. Compared with general plastics, heat conduction And the expansion coefficient is relatively high.

The rapid development of the LED industry has greatly stimulated the development of the upstream materials industry and further promoted breakthroughs in the field of high-end materials. LED luminaires use a large number of plastic parts, including LED chip package components, LED optical lenses, light scattering components, high efficiency heat dissipation components, light reflection and light diffusing panels. According to data analysis, thermal plastics are increasingly replacing metal parts for thermal components of LED lamps, including lamp holders, cooling heat sink cups and housings.

Some insiders believe that the popularity of thermal plastics is a revolution in LED new materials, but more people say that the revolution behind this new material is actually a new round of price wars: new materials such as graphene have appeared a few years ago. Which category of LED lighting accessories to achieve plastic, this type of LED lighting can become the best-selling king of the year; who can first plasticize LED lighting accessories, who will take the lead into the civilian market, for example, in the second half of last year to this year In the first half of the year, the LED bulbs became popular.

In fact, thermal plastics are gradually becoming popular in the lighting industry. A large part of the reason depends on indoor LED lighting. On the contrary, the reason why indoor LED lighting has the opportunity to popularize in the civilian market depends on the technology and the use of plastics to greatly reduce costs and prices. At present, most of the heat sink (housing) materials of LED lamps are made of aluminum alloy, and its low cost, simple processing, and excellent thermal conductivity make it occupy the mainstream position of LED heat sink materials for a long time. However, the cost price of aluminum alloy is significantly higher than that of heat-conductive plastics. Indoor LED lamps such as LED bulbs, LED downlights, LED spotlights, and LED fluorescent tubes have also succeeded in reducing costs and prices by replacing aluminum parts with plastic parts. In addition to the above-mentioned category lamps, there are not many LED lamps that can currently use plastic fittings. Generally, only the lampshades can be used for plastics.

With the continuous advancement of LED heat-dissipation technology, new heat-dissipating materials such as graphene heat-conducting plastics and plastic-clad aluminum have been continuously developed. More and more indoor LED lamps will use new materials such as thermal conductive plastics, which will be further reduced. The price of LED lamps.

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