Stanley Electric will acquire shares of U.S. company HexaTech and make it a Stanley subsidiary. HexaTech develop, make, and sell aluminum nitride semiconductor substrates, a key component for deep-ultraviolet (UV-C) LEDs. With a dominant wavelength of 265 nm—deadly to bacteria, but harmless to humans—such LEDs are being developed with an eye toward replacing bulky, power-hungry fluorescent and HID sterilisation-lighting technology. HexaTech’s technology has achieved defect-free, large-diameter growth of the aluminum nitride crystals that are used for the substrates of these LEDs.
The increase in population and economic activity is currently worsening the problems of water shortage and contamination and atmospheric pollution on a global scale. The global scale for deep ultraviolet mercury lamps alone is expected to reach around ¥160bn ($1.46bn, €1.31bn) this year. Furthermore, the Minamata Convention on Mercury that took effect in 2017 prohibits the manufacture and import-export of products containing mercury starting this year. Mercury lamps for sterilisation are temporarily exempt as there is no practical alternative light source—but Stanley have already achieved a UV-C LED output power of 50 mW, and see the HexaTech acquisition as a key stepping stone toward their goal of 200 mW soon, which would position Stanley well to commercialise UV-C LEDs.
Stanley are hoping to launch new products into the sterilisation market as quickly as possible and to reach sales exceeding ¥50bn in the sector by 2025. At CES last week, they showed application concepts for continuous cleaning of water, refrigerator contents, automobile interior air, food production areas, and more. Too, Stanley expect that aluminum nitride substrates will be used for communication and power transistors in the future, leading to further growth in demand for the HexaTech technology.
