News

1 November 2010

 

ATMI buys minority stake in metal-organic precursor supplier Lake LED Materials

ATMI Inc of Danbury, CT, USA (which provides specialty semiconductor materials and high-purity materials handling and delivery solutions) has purchased a minority interest in Lake LED Materials of Daejeon, South Korea, a materials technology start-up focused on providing metal-organic precursors to the LED market.

ATMI aims to help to accelerate commercial LED materials introductions with select marketing and technology rights. ATMI says that the collaboration highlights its technical expertise in process materials for LED applications with its global infrastructure in conjunction with Lake LED Materials’ technology. ATMI also says that the collaboration represents the first step in a multi-faceted strategy for addressing process efficiency opportunities in the LED market.

“Light-emitting diodes are the wave of the future for lighting — for TVs, personal electronics, and business and home lighting,” says Dan Sharkey, ATMI’s executive VP, business development. While basic LED technology has been around for decades, moving them into cost-effective mass-production requires developing the enabling materials that can be readily incorporated into high-volume production, he adds. “Just as ATMI has created a pre-eminent position in materials with traditional semiconductor manufacturers, we believe that, working jointly with Lake LED Materials, we can establish a similar enabling materials position with leading global LED manufacturers,” he continues.

“ATMI’s investment in Lake LED Materials not only confirms the value of our high-efficiency production technology, but also supports further production and R&D expansions,” comments Lake LED Materials’ chairman, president & CEO Jin-dong Kim.

Market research firm Strategies Unlimited forecasts a $20bn overall market for high-brightness LEDs by 2014, a compound average annual growth rate (CAAGR) of more than 30% from 2009. Meanwhile, DisplaySearch believes that three of every four televisions will be LED models by 2014, doubling from 100 million units in 2012 to more than 200 million in 2014.

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