Lumileds Lighting Brought Luxeon Technology to Market

Based in San Jose, Lumileds employs 700 people worldwide. 350 people work in Silicon Valley, while the majority of the rest of the workforce is based in Malaysia, in the packaging plant. Manufacturing the LEDs (by growing the crystals in a process called epitaxy) is done in Silicon Valley. Between 30-40% of its sales are to the automotive industry. Fifteen percent of Lumileds employees work in the R&D department, most in San Jose, but supported by a small team in Best, The Netherlands.

Leading the way in the development of high-flux, high-powered LED (light emitting diode) technology is Lumileds Lighting. In a few years time the company envisages our homes will be powered by LED technology, using materials that will last for 100,000 hours and run at a fraction of the energy cost.

Lumiled was the first company to specifically target the high brightness, high-power, large chip LED market. In February 2001, Lumileds demonstrated a single white LED with an output of 17 lumens a white light output four times higher than the best known white LED. In March, it announced a new solution for LCD display backlights, which will greatly change the industry.

High flux Luxeon light sources offer a larger range of real-life colour and saturation.