Lextar Electronics has announced the production of its first 6-inch LED epitaxial wafer, while Epistar is expected to adopt 6-inch wafers to its production process in mid-2011.
Some industry players noted that the cost for 6-inch wafer production remains high and mass production may not have economic effects.
Lextar indicated that through new-generation equipment with special focus-exposure and grinding technologies, the company was able to overcome the problems such as warping or cracking during the 6-inch production process. However, the company noted that it will still take some time for mass production. Lextar expects to start mass production of 6-inch wafers in the second half of 2011.
Lextar chairman David Su noted previously that Lextar will set up a 6-inch production plant at the end of 2011 as most LED players in Europe and Japan have already started to adopt 6-inch production equipment, while Korea-based LED makers are also focusing on expanding 6-inch equipment, and only Taiwan still remains at 2-inch production.
MOCVD equipment at Lextar reached 50 sets at the end of the third quarter of 2010, and is expected to increase to 70-80 sets at the end of 2010, mainly 4-inch models, as the company aims to become the largest production base for 4-inch wafers in Taiwan, Lextar said.
For Epistar, the chipmaker noted that currently 50% of its capacity is from 4-inch equipment and it is scheduled to start small volume production from 6-inch equipment in mid-2011. However, a time-frame for mass production of 6-inch wafers remains unclear due to issues such as yields and the high cost of 6-inch sapphire substrates.
Article translated by Yvonne Yu
