Red and yellow LEDs have been available for years, but white, blue, green, and similar colors are a pretty recent development (last 5 years or less). The availability of those colors is what's really accelerated the market for LED lighting and displays. I'd look at Cree (US) and Nichia (Japan). Those companies did some of the breakthrough work on colored LEDs, and probably have at least some useful patent protection.
On the IPO/venture side, you might watch the news for UC Santa Barbara spinoffs. Dr. Nakamura, one of the leaders of the Nichia effort, is now a professor at UCSB, which had a pretty strong compound semiconductor program even before he joined. (Full disclosure: My MS is from UCSB.)
LED manufacture is very similar to diode lasers and other optoelectronic components. It's also related to IC manufacturing, but nowhere *near* as highly automated.
(This article talks a little bit about the similarities and differences. thinfilmmfg.com
Another place to look for potential investments would be smaller semi equips that have a presence in the compound semiconductor market, but understand high volume manufacturing issues. Trikon and Tegal spring to mind, but there are others out there, too.
Hope this helps,
Katherine |
