What kind of emerging markets will bring billions of dollars of business opportunities to back-end equipment suppliers in 2010? According to research by the French market research company Yole Développement, the packaging of high-brightness (HB) LEDs will be seen in the future growth rate. 25% of the big business opportunities; and, the HB-LED packaging market will exceed $3 billion in 2015.

Special packaging materials that are resistant to high heat and allow for high light output will be the main business opportunity. In 2009, the overall revenue of the HB-LED industry was about 1.4 billion US dollars, of which the packaging market contributed 850 million US dollars, which means that 60% fell into the pockets of related suppliers. From the current demand of the industry, the demand for equipment for cutting, connecting wires and laser stripping is still flat, but it is expected that by 2015, the average annual growth rate will be 34%, as shown in the following figure.

 

Source: Yole Développement's 2009 HB LED Packaging Report

Yole's definition of HB LEDs is narrower than other market research organizations, and can only output more than 30 lumens per watt of power, such as components used in automotive and TV backlights, but most LCD backlight applications are outside this category. Each package unit can output ultra-high brightness LEDs of more than 100 lumens, including automotive headlights and general Lighting. Currently, it has a $280 million niche market; as costs continue to improve, growth can be expected.

The thermal management of the package substrate is the key

At present, the so-called high-brightness LEDs have a typical light energy conversion efficiency of less than 25%, and most of the input power is converted into useless heat. Therefore, the thermal management technology of the package has the greatest room for improvement, and is also competitive by various companies. The place to win. Moreover, this area is also the place that can best reduce costs. Yole Développement analyst Philippe Roussel explained that through the reverse reduction engineering research industry-renowned products, it was found that each chip technology uses the same intellectual property (IP), but it is completely different in the package. Analysis shows that this is entirely based on cost structure considerations, and it is speculated that the ratio of packaged parts to total cost may exceed 70%. Recently, many companies have introduced chips with output of more than 150 lumens per watt, mainly due to advances in packaging technology.

One key to improving thermal management is the package substrate that accounts for half of the total cost of the package. Molded resin substrates with hot-slot design and metal-core printed circuit boards are widely used solutions; however, for higher-power components, suppliers are turning their attention to aluminum or AlN Ceramic substrate, and the technology of ceramic or silicon carrier between the chip and the package substrate.

Picking a silicon substrate to improve thermal impedance

But the most attractive potential is still in new alternatives. TSMC's relationship with the company's use of the gossip wafer-level packaging process has begun commercial production of high-power (350mA) LEDs with silicon-packaged substrates. According to Qi Baizhong, deputy general manager of the business development organization, the thermal impedance of the new substrate does not exceed 3 ° / W, the product performance will be two to three times the use of ceramic technology, the output lumens can be increased by 10-15%.

The picks take the cut die from the LED manufacturer and use a wafer level packaging process to simplify the die processing; however, it does not refer to the package of the component wafer. The process begins with a silicon via on the wafer, followed by a metallization and dielectric protection layer, which can then be placed into the LED die to make the pins. The chip is covered with a phosphor dielectric layer by a mask and lift-off technique, then the lens is formed on the wafer, and finally the wafer is diced. The key to process technology is the flatness of the controlled leadframe matrix. In addition, lens forming techniques must be developed. Wafer-level processes will help reduce assembly costs during mass production, but at this stage the pick is not a cost leader, but more focused on applications that require thermal performance and reliability.

The company introduced the wafer foundry model into the highly customized LED packaging industry; in contrast, the wafer foundry process has also been adjusted to allow for LED die alignment, circuit layout, and lens processing. Kind of design. Deputy General Manager said that the company's technology can be used to make up and down and side components, the application range includes general lighting, backlight and a variety of uses. Orders for picking began in August and have been received by the end of 2010; customers include outsourced packaged LED manufacturers, as well as downstream light engine and lighting equipment manufacturers.

Tongxin reduces costs with copper-plated ceramics

In contrast, Tongxin Electronics has also studied copper-plated ceramics as a substrate material, and believes that the cost of high-efficiency LED packaging can be greatly reduced. Lu Shaoping, senior vice president of marketing technology, said that the total cost of a high-power white luminescent LED chip of 1 watt and 100 lumens is estimated to be $5-10% for Taiwanese companies using copper-plated ceramic LED substrates. This technology has developed a special strong adhesion layer that allows the substrate to be perforated while the surface is plated, saving a process and reducing costs. Moreover, copper has a high thermal conductivity of 390 W/mK (AlW is 170 W/mK, silicon is 150 W/mK, and Al2O3 is only 30 W/mK), which also improves package heat dissipation.

Other potential business opportunities

The LED packaging industry is optimistic about the development of other new materials. The development of packaging and coating materials with high reflectance (approaching 1.77 for sapphire) has been exposed. From a user's point of view, determining a standard package size will help system operators using HB LEDs accelerate integration and reduce costs.

In terms of equipment, the traditional metal wiring process is still the largest market for LED rear-end equipment. Demand for laser cutting and laser stripping equipment is also heating up based on package sidewall flatness requirements and preventing substrate chipping; however, this small market has now entered seven companies.

The cost pressure on LED packaging companies is increasing. According to the market of consumer display products in the germination of Nikkei Microdevices, the future HB LED industry may have to face a cyclical cycle of supply and demand, and the industrial ecology will change. LCD world manufacturers such as Samsung, LG, AUO, etc. have successively invested in the LED industry. TVs and monitors have also developed LED backlight modules on their own. The future price war is the trend of the times; however, if the demand for TVs and personal computers does not improve, Overproduction of HB LEDs will also madly enter other applications.

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