Uk-based Kubos Semiconductors recently closed a $605,000 funding round. The money will help the company push its cubic gallium nitride LED technology into new markets such as AR and VR microLED displays.
The funding came from existing investors, including Turquoise, the UK merchant bank, and its LCIF2 "green technology" fund, as well as individual new investors. This is the company's second round of funding, following a $920,000 Series A round in 2020 led by the LCIF2 fund, which also participated in the latest round.
Proprietary cubic gallium nitride technology greatly improves optical output and efficiency
Founded in 2018, Kubos Semiconductors' unique cubic gallium nitride (" cubic GaN ") technology improves the light output and efficiency of green leds. Specifically, they identified the potential of their proprietary material to convert leds at much faster rates than those developed for hexagonal crystal phases and significantly improve the efficiency of green leds.
The UK developer of green gallium nitride microLED has raised more than $600,000
The image above shows a 25μm(radius) cubic gallium nitride LED with quantum well peaks in the "green gap". Carrier lifetimes in cubic gallium nitride quantum Wells measured at less than 0.5ns show that they are more than 20 times faster than typical C-sided hexagonal gallium nitride leds (≈10ns). (Photo credit: Kubos Semiconductors website)
Using a fabless semiconductor model, Kubos Semiconductors' technology is fully compatible with standard LED development processes on large wafers and enables lower volume production costs. Previously, Kubos Semiconductors has demonstrated the first commercially compatible LED based on gallium nitride cubic crystal phase, promising more efficient solid-state lighting applications and groundbreaking visible light communication (VLC) applications. The company also plans to use the technology to produce red GaN leds in the future.
Commenting on the fundraising, Caroline O 'Brien, CEO of Kubos, said: "We are pleased to have secured the continued support of LCIF2 and other shareholders and welcome a number of new investors which will help us achieve our objectives on both the technical and commercial side. We are also excited about the prospect of developing our own technical capabilities in new markets, such as improving the efficiency of native red microleds for AR/VR and displays, as well as leds that provide high switching speeds for visible light communication applications."
Desmond Astley-Cooper, head of Turquoise commented, "We are excited to be involved in the many uses of this exciting new material technology, including the future of small size LED devices."
Gallium nitride (GaN) is increasingly being used in the next generation of power electronics. Kubos Semiconductors' cubic gallium nitride LED technology can not only be produced on large scale wafers above 150mm, but is expected to scale to higher wafer sizes and can be seamlessly plugged into existing production lines.
"In the application market, with more miniaturization of design and greater efficiency, I think gallium nitride can enable applications that have not been recognized or widely used before, such as small base stations," said Kubos Semiconductor's O 'Brien. There's a real opportunity for small system design."
Kubos is still developing its cubic gallium nitride technology and is deeply embedded in a range of lighting and display applications to produce more efficient green, amber leds and red microleds, whose potential to significantly reduce carbon emissions from solid state lighting has been widely recognized. Kubos calculates that this would reduce CO2 emissions by up to 120 million tonnes a year, equivalent to the annual emissions of 32 coal-fired power plants.
Innovative technology to create the next generation of high-performance displays
According to a recent report from ResearchAndMarkets, the global display industry is now worth more than $165 billion and will continue to grow as it expands into next-generation technology and improves the performance of TV displays.
The advanced display market includes digital displays for the next generation of electronic devices, such as high-definition smart TVS, laptops, tablets, large-screen displays and signage, in-vehicle displays, wearables and near-eye displays (such as AR/VR). Demand for high performance displays has increased over the past 18 months, and QD-OLED and MiniLED backlights for LCD TVS have also recently emerged.
To improve the visual experience and reduce power consumption, the display industry is constantly introducing new, performance-optimized technologies. Manufacturers in this industry are exploring the next generation of displays that will provide the best performance and meet the challenging demands of booming applications such as VR/AR.
ResearchAndMarkets notes that mini LED and microLED displays are on the rise and have the potential to be disruptive technologies. The display market has seen a great deal of innovation over the past two years, and players are looking to increase the size and added value of this market by developing innovative new display technologies.