HexaTech Inc. of Morrisville, North Carolina USA, announced the demonstration of its first generation UVSure™ UV-C LED. The UV-C LED employs HexaTech’s proprietary aluminum nitride (AlN) substrate material. The 263 nm wavelength LED achieves 6 mW output from a 0.15 mm2 active area die. HexaTech expects that when scaled to its larger, second generation footprint, the die will produce about 24 mW, twice the radiant flux of competitive products. The company says that when driven in pulse mode to 300 mA, the same 0.15 mm2 active area die, is capable of reaching 19 mW output, or about 76 mW in the large die format.
According to Hexatech, the UV-C energy can destroy the DNA within a pathogen, rendering it unable to replicate. Hexatech notes that germicidal disinfection peaks at between 260 nm and 265 nm, and it designed its UVSure™ UV-C LEDs to be most effective at this peak of the disinfection curve. The UVSure™ LEDs come in a 3.5 mm ceramic SMD format. Potential applications for the UV-C LEDs include germicidal disinfection, purification, surface sterilization, air purification, analytical instrumentation, DNA sequencing, protein analysis, optical sensing, drug discovery, ozone monitoring, and forensic analysis.
“This demonstration is a milestone in our business, and is the direct result of intense device R&D coupled with the use of our exclusive high-quality AlN substrate material,” stated HexaTech CEO John Goehrke. He added, “It also clearly demonstrates our continued assertion that the best substrate material yields the best device performance, and this first generation result is just the beginning.”
Dr. Joseph Smart, Director of LED Development, commented, “HexaTech’s world-leading, high-quality bulk AlN substrates are the essential foundation for attaining these results, enabling near perfect epitaxial growth quality throughout the active region of the device, essential to produce both high internal quantum efficiency (IQE) and long component lifetimes. This is something that competing sapphire substrate technology simply cannot sustain at these wavelengths.”
Gregory Mills, HexaTech’s Director of Business Development commented, “With point-of-use (POU) sterilization applications alone representing a $400M+ opportunity in the coming years, we anticipate significant corporate expansion and strategic customer engagement,”
