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November,
2014 2014
September
Highlights
The Nobel Prize in physics for 2014 has been awarded to three eminent scientists- Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi
Amano and Shuji Nakamura for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled
bright and energy-saving white light sources. - The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
Isamu Akasaki and Hiroshi Amano worked together at the Nagoya University primarily in developing high
quality GaN crystals and Shuji Nakamura was working on GaN based devices at the Nichia Corp during
the 90s.
This report delves into understanding how information diffused among these inventors by mining and
exploiting information from the patent database.
The patents pertaining to the key milestones in the LED history are analyzed to determine knowledge
transfer patterns.
LEDs are highly energy efficient and are long lasting. They are constantly improved, getting more
efficient with higher luminous flux per unit electrical input power. The most recent record is just over
300 lm/W by CREE.
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Methodology
Around 45 milestones in the field of LED technology are depicted using an interactive timeline.
The report delves into the foundations of LED technology laid by eminent inventors of the first Infra-Red
(IR), Red, Yellow and Violet LEDs and analyzes if these technologies have had a direct impact on the Blue
LED invention or not.
Analysis and conclusions are obtained by mining information from the patent database and mapping
knowledge spillovers using the patent citations network of the seminal patents.
The technology focus and strengths of the seminal patents in Blue LED technology are understood by
using the Relecura Technology Categories and the Relecura Patent Quality metric.
An analysis of the patent - US5578839 by Shuji Nakamura et al. and its citations was carried out to
understand the salient features of the invention and the various problems existing then, in the field of
GaN based hetero-structure devices.
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Key Findings
No direct relationship between the seminal BLUE LED patents and each of IR LED patent, Red LED patent
and the yellow LED patent.
Dense cloud of patents around the Shuji Nakamuras patent followed by Isamu Akasaki and Maruskas
patents indicating vast scope of use and great potential.
A number of patents have directly built on the seminal Blue LED patents with a considerable number of
high strength patents that have stemmed from a combination of two or three of the seminal Blue LED
patents.
Key application areas of the Blue LED invention include Semiconductors, Optics, Lighting,
Photolithography, Medical Technologies among other areas.
The use of the Blue LED technology in Drugs and Medical Chemistry gained prominence since 2003.
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Table of Contents
1. LED Technology
4. Blue LED Technology
Quick Facts
Why is the Blue LED technology so important ?
Energy Efficiency
Key excerpts from the seminal patent
US5578839
Dramatic cost reductions trends
Citations analysis and summary of problems
Reduction of CO2 Emissions
US5578839
Key considerations of LEDs and LED driver circuits
Salient features of the invention US5578839
LED packaging and die design trends
Properties of GaN based compounds
Properties of Double Hetero-structure devices
2. LED Technology - Timeline
Geo-Spatial patent citation network analysis of
US5578839
3. Patent Citation Analysis of Milestones
Patent citation layout of seminal patents
Patent graph layout with Relecura Patent Quality
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LED Technology
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Shift from 2- to 4-inch wafers to 6- or 12-inch wafers can greatly improve the throughput of the MOCVD process.
Chip on Board technologies are being explored that integrate the package and module step.
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Publication
Number
Invention of the first IR- LED by Biard and US3293513
Pittman
Invention of the Red LED by Nick Holonyak
US3249473
Source
Filing Year
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_R._Biard
1962
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Holonyak
1965
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._George_Craford
1972
http://www.oregonlive.com/siliconorest/index.ssf/2014/10/oregon_tech_ceo_says_nobel_pri.
html
http://www.sandia.gov/~jytsao/WCS.pdf
1973
http://www.sandia.gov/~jytsao/WCS.pdf
1993
1990
For the above patents the citations was extracted from Relecura and the citation network is rendered for further analysis.
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Publication
Number
No. of Fwd.
Citations
117
17
199
225
408
408
The patent with the most number of forward citations is the one of Shuji Nakamuras with 408
forward citations followed by Akasaki and Hiroshis patent with 225 forward citations.
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IR LED patent
[1962]
17
No. of Patents
266
196
51
4
10
123
15
The numbers in the table illustrate the impact each seminal patent
has in the LED space.
The IR LED, Red LED, Yellow LED inventions have a relatively lesser
impact in this tech area when compared to the Blue LED work.
This analysis also gives us an idea as to why the Blue LED inventors
were chosen for the Nobel Prize rather than the trailblazers in the
LED field.
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IR LED patent
[1962]
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IR LED patent
[1962]
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Publication
Number
Relecura
Patent
Quality
US3293513
1.5
US3249473
1.294
US3873382
1.285
1.5
US3819974
2.761
NA (No
backward
citations)
US5122845
2.5
2.431
2.5
1.533
US5578839
2.717
2.5
1.2272
Highest Relecura
Patent Quality among
the seminal patents
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Average
Relecura
Patent
Quality of
Fwd. citations
2.568
Median
Relecura
Patent
Quality of
Fwd. citations
3
Average
Relecura
Patent Quality
of Bwd.
citations
1.166
Highest Relecura
Patent Quality for the
forward citations
IR LED patent
[1962]
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<-Forward Citations
Relecura Patent Quality ->
Click for an interactive graph
IR LED patent
[1962]
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IR LED patent
[1962]
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Shuji Nakamuras Blue LED patent has got the highest Relecura Patent Quality among the seminal patents followed by
Akasaki and Amanos patent.
Considerable number of quality inventions were also built upon Maruskas violet LED patent.
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Bill.Mallett@2Speak2.com
US5237182
Blue LED patent by
Akasaki et al.
[1990]
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Publication
Number
Invention of the first IR- LED by Biard and US3293513
Pittman
Invention of the Red LED by Nick Holonyak
US3249473
Filing Year
1972
1990
1962
1965
1973
1993
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The Blue LED invention was the final piece of the puzzle to
create white light from an R-Y-B combination. Now, white
light is created by using either this RYB combination or by
employing a phosphor coating over a Blue LED.
This led to LEDs being used ubiquitously in
household/industrial/automobile lighting, backlighting,
medical equipment and in a host of other applications.
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http://energy.gov/eere/ssl/led-basics
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Shift from GaAs, GaP based semiconductors to GaN based compound semiconductors from 1980s.
Patents related to Photodiodes and solar cells (employ counter mechanism to that of LEDs) act as feeders to the system
dating back to 1973.
Insights on various experimentations on the type of substrate and buffer layer used in order to reduce lattice mismatches
for GaN based compound semiconductors from 1980s.
Summary of key technical problems from the background of the patent
Inability to achieve LEDs of sufficient brightness in the BLUE wavelength band that are of practical use.
Lattice mismatches in hetero-junction structures due to differences in atomic arrangement of the semiconductor and buffer
layers employed.
Conventional epitaxial methods involve low controllability in doping impurity due to the need for high temperature of
operation.
Difficulty in the manufacture of bulk GaN.
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http://chemwiki.ucdavis.edu/Physical_Chemistry/Spectroscopy/Fundamentals/Electromagnetic_Radiation
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1.
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Wikipedia. 2013. Direct and indirect band gaps. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Direct_and_indirect_band_gaps
[Accessed: 6 Dec 2013].
30
Nakamura, Shuji. Multilayer Elements with Indium Gallium Nitride on Clad Layers, Dopes for P-n Junctions. Nichia Chemical Industries, Ltd.,
assignee. Patent US5578839. 26 Nov. 1996.
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Unclassified
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Disclaimer
This document is provided for information purposes only and the contents hereof are subject to change without notice. This document,
including the information and analysis and any opinion or recommendation, is neither legal advice nor intended for investment purposes. This
document is not warranted to be error-free, nor subject to any other warranties or conditions, whether expressed orally or implied in law,
including implied warranties and conditions of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Relecura Inc. specifically disclaims any
liability with respect to this document and no contractual obligations are formed either directly or indirectly by this document.
Relecura is a web-based patent and portfolio analysis platform that uses a knowledge discovery framework to simplify IP analysis for prior-art
search, technology landscaping, competitive intelligence, and IP commercialization activities. For more details visit www.relecura.com or write
to info@relecura.com.
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