US approves LED deal favoring Korea
By Kim Yoo-chul
The United States Department of Defense approved a proposal by a Seoul Semiconductor affiliate to acquire stakes in Sensor Electronic Technology (SETi), the Korean company said in a statement, Sunday.
This is a major decision because the approval can help expand the company’s UV LED businesses, regarded as next-generation LED solutions.
“Seoul Viosys, an affiliate of Seoul Semiconductor, recently secured a 50 percent stake in SETi, including 6 percent as friendly investors, after the U.S. defense ministry approved for the proposal,” Seoul Semiconductor said.
The Korean company has already exerted its management rights for the U.S.-based UV LED producer for the first time as a major stake holder by asking SETi to expand output of UV LED chips three-fold at its plant in South Carolina.
Since 2005, Seoul Viosys has been teaming with SETi since 2005 to commercialize UV LED chips with wavelengths below 350-nanometers.
Viosys was a long-time strategic investor in the U.S. firm. But management rights in SETi had been sought to push its UV LED chip business.
Because SETi-owned UV LED chip patents are “defense critical” -- they are critical components in the aerospace and defense industries -- Viosys needed to pass U.S. Defense Ministry International Traffic Arms Regulations (ITAR) and to get approval from the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS).
ITAR is designed to help ensure that defense-related technology does not fall into the wrong hands. An export license is needed for ITAR-controlled potentially dangerous items for which the US government has granted permission to transport or sell to foreign countries or parties.
“Seoul Viosys has been persuading officials at the ITAR and CFIUS to get approval over the past three years,” said Seoul Semiconductor spokesman Chung Se-yoon.
An LED is a semiconductor device and light source that emits visible light or infrared light when an electric charge passes through it. A UV LED displays an ultraviolet light on a wavelength of less than 400 nanometers.
The compact nature and superior performance of UV LEDs is driving new and innovative applications including DNA gel, fluorescence disclosure and verification, surveillance, biomedicine and other potential applications.
Because of the advanced technology needed, UV LEDs require advanced research and development (R&D), and have dispersed client applications.
As the LED market steadily develops, international companies have started to develop invisible light spectrum products such as UV LEDs. UV LED market developments depend on industry options or policy support.
But governments are easing regulations to help the UV LED market expand further.