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To: John Walliker who wrote (1992)	2/10/2000 8:50:00 PM
From: mauser96	Respond to of 10713

The light photons generated in the semiconductor are created in random directions, but the only useful ones are those that that head in directions where they can eventually exit to produce useable light. Thus while LED do not have an "inherent" directional domination, they still put out light in dominant directions. As you so clearly put it, this is due to the optical properties of the semicondutor and substrate. The majority of the photons in present LED never get out of the chip . They are absorbed, producing heat. This leaves open the possibility of significant efficiency improvements by changes in mechanical shape and design. If LED are going to advance to the stage of common use in illumination they will require a lot of improving. As others have pointed out, likely there won't be be any huge leaps, but rather a series of smaller improvements. This kind of improvement tends to favor already established leaders so it's good for Cree.

To: John Walliker who wrote (1992)	2/10/2000 10:44:00 PM
From: pompsander	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 10713

John, you were always one of the saner ones on the Rambus thread...now I see you understand photons too. Cree late day strength today is very encouraging. Surprisingly, this stock shows no signs of blowing off any of the froth it has built up over the past week.

To: John Walliker who wrote (1992)	2/10/2000 10:57:00 PM
From: Gus	Respond to of 10713

Great post. This is a must read post to understand the powerful leverage in the Cree business model where every step-up improvement in operational efficiency adds to a primary source of supply that, depending on the free market value of scarcity and/or the target market's multiple sourcing requirements, gives Cree's well-regarded management the luxury of a choice of markets to address: low volume/high margin or high volume/low margin or a strategic blend of both. The real kicker is that Cree, which is moving from 3" to 4" wafers over a 12-18 month period, is following the rigorous cost discipline of mainstream silicon which is moving to 12" wafers. Cree's guidance for 2000 is for a chip cost reduction of 50%. By way of comparison, Intel's guidance for 2000 is for 20% Celeron and 50% Pentium III chip cost reduction by year end. Note the way is Intel is starting to demand faster time-to-market from the equipment makers to better understand the cost discipline at work here. Thanks again, John. Can you go from this basic description of the way a laser works to the way a tunable laser works? Are you one of those optoelectricians who are fond of saying that a semiconductor laser can always be made smaller than a grain of salt. <g> .....In a laser there is stimulated emission of radiation. The light intensity, initially from LED action, builds up between a pair of parallel mirrors (made from the cleaved or etched sides of the die). As photons pass atoms (or molecules) which have been given a higher energy level by the electric field in the laser diode they stimulate the coherent emission of additional photons. Coherent emission means that the wavelength, direction and phase (relative position of peaks and troughs in the electric and magnetic fields of the light) are the same for the stimulating and stimulated photons.....