Seoul Semiconductor and Toshiba Materials Strive to Taking LED Light Back to Nature

Back to natural light

Human beings have lived under natural sunlight for tens of thousands of years, and only began using lanterns in the third century BCE. The use of white LEDs for general illumination began less than 20 years ago, but has spread rapidly around the world due to the high efficiency and cost savings of LED lighting. However, low cost and brightness has been given priority over the quality of light, thus the light from conventional LEDs has a different characteristic from that of natural sunlight, which matches the human biorhythm.

The SunLike Series LED technology closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight that human have enjoyed for thousands of years. It maximizes the advantage of natural light and minimizes the shortcomings of artificial light sources, providing light more like natural sunlight. This natural spectrum of light is achieved by combining Seoul Semiconductor’s world-class LED chip technology with Toshiba Materials’ TRI-R technology, a leading global phosphor compound.

Minimizing the side-effects of blue light

Because SunLike Series LEDs are designed to deliver light that closely matches the natural spectrum of sunlight, they provide an optimized light source for human centric lighting that maximizes benefits of natural light while minimizing the negative side effects of artificial light sources.

Some recent studies from Harvard [1] and other major universities have suggested that blue LED chips, used in most commercial LEDs to create visible light, provide positive stimulation to the human eye that increases alertness and elevates mood when viewed during daytime hours. However, these blue LEDs create a blue light “spike” in the light output of an LED that may produce negative effects when viewed for prolonged periods during night-time hours by interfering with natural human biorhythms. The SunLike Series natural spectrum LED technology employs a purple LED in conjunction with the TRI-R phosphor compound to minimize the blue light “spike” that is characteristic of typical LED light sources, producing a light output that closely matches the spectrum of natural sunlight to deliver a healthier light experience.

SunLike’s world-class color reproduction

Because the amount of blue light that our eyes can accept is limited, blue light above the limit entering the eye is scattered. When this scattering phenomenon occurs, the light is diffused, and as a result, the texture and color of objects are distorted. Also, excess blue light can over-stimulate these retinal cells in the eye, and may cause eyestrain and loss of concentration. However, since SunLike Series LEDs implement the spectrum closest to the sunlight, they more accurately represent the color and texture of the object in natural light without the negative effects of excessive blue light on the eye or human biorhythms. Several products in which Toshiba’s TRI-R technology were incorporated have already been applied to lighting in Milan Fashion Week and illuminating fine art paintings in museum settings.

The SunLike Series natural spectrum LEDs are available from Seoul Semiconductor. To learn more about the SunLike Series natural spectrum LEDs, please visit: http://www.seoulsemicon.com/en/technology/Sunlike/

For more information about Seoul Semiconductor, please visit http://www.seoulsemicon.com

LED professional has already reported about TRI-R technology in LpR 57. The article from Masahiko Yamakawa can also be read online.

About Seoul Semiconductor:

Seoul Semiconductor develops and commercializes light emitting diodes (LEDs) for automotive, general illumination, specialty lighting, and backlighting markets. As the fourth-largest LED manufacturer globally, Seoul Semiconductor holds more than 12,000 patents, offers a wide range of technologies, and mass produces innovative LED products such as Wicop – a simpler structured package-free LED which provides market leading color uniformity, cost savings at the fixture level with high lumen density and allows design flexibility; Acrich, the world's first high-voltage AC-driven LED technology developed in 2005, includes all AC LED-related technologies from chip to module and circuit fabrication, as well as multi-junction technology (MJT); and nPola, a new LED product based on GaN-substrate technology that achieves over ten times the output of conventional LEDs. For more information about Seoul Semiconductor, please visit http://www.seoulsemicon.com

About Toshiba Materials

Toshiba Materials Co., Ltd. (http://www.toshiba-tmat.co.jp/eng/) was demerged from Toshiba Corporation in 2003. With material design technology as a core, Toshiba Materials has supplied key material and key components which support the development of society.
Main products are metallic materials, components, fine ceramics parts, and chemical materials. During the year ended March 31, 2017, the company’s net sales totaled ~$127MM (14 billion yen).

References

[1] Blue Light Articles (Source: Harvard Medical School)
http://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side
[2] Source: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v397/n6719/full/397520a0.html
*Nature paper number: Roorda et al. Nature, 397, 520-522, (1999)