UV LEDs are at the emergence stage in their product life cycle. Recent developments in LED wavelength and efficiency have opened the door for many applications to switch from a mercury based UV source to an environmentally friendly alternative. Because of the form factor of the LEDs and their other inherent features, such as life time, specific wavelength, and low drive currents, many new applications have been enabled in the medical, germicidal, military, aerospace and homeland security verticals.

Fox Group is a North American manufacturer of UV LEDs. FoxUV™ LEDs have peak wavelengths in the ranges of 360-365nm and 350-355nm. The wavelength of FoxUV™ LEDs is extremely consistent: typically +/- 1nm; the forward voltage range is also typically +/- 0.2V; thus eliminating any need for binning. FoxUV™ LEDs are used in a variety of market segments including curing, medical, portable, instrumentation, tanning and military.

Having achieved the UV LED industries best lifetime results for wavelengths in the 360-365nm range, recent developments at Fox Group’s Montreal, Canada facility in the areas of crystal quality and chip design will contribute significantly to the efficiency of the 360-365nm chips. Following in the footsteps of blue, UV LEDs have started to exhibit the efficiency levels needed by the plethora of applications that stand to benefit from using them.

Having an internal source of bulk crystal Aluminum Nitride substrates, enables Fox Group to leverage the low defect densities and lattice match of the material to the epitaxy requirements of deep UV LEDs in the 260-320nm ranges. Fox Group views the AlN substrates as the only way to achieving a commercially viable deep UV LED.