On-Chip AC LED Lighting Technology developed by ITRI won an R&D 100 Award, which has been dubbed 'The Oscars of Invention.' Among competitors from around the world, AC LED technology was awarded for the innovative on-chip AC operation and 3D insertion and removal type cooling. ITRI will go to the R&D 100 Awards Gala in Chicago to receive the award in October.

R&D 100 Awards was founded by R&D Magazine in 1963 to promote and encourage the 100 most technically innovative products developed each year. The award is highly regarded in the global scientific and technology R&D community. Each year over a thousand applications enter this competition, and entries are judged based on scientific breakthrough, innovation and applicability. The top 100 innovations are selected to receive the award for their significant contribution to technology commercialization. As in past years, most of the 2008 winners are from the US and include universities, national laboratories, and private firms; organizations from the EU also captured several awards and two went to Japan. ITRI is the only winner from Taiwan this year and one of the very few in the history of this prestigious award. Many products that have impacted human life have received R&D 100 Awards, such as Polacolor film (1963), Flashcube (1965), ATM (1973), fax machine (1975), LCD (1980), printer (1986), Kodak Photo CD (1991), anti-smoking patch (1992), cancer drug Taxol (1993), microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (1996) and HDTV (1998).

New Approach to AC LED
On-Chip AC LED lighting technology was developed by ITRI Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Laboratories (EOL). It allows AC to directly drive LED chip for lighting without the need for an DC to AC adaptor, thus saving the 15~30% power consumption that is normally lost during the conversion. When 3D cooling and insertion and removal type packaging are incorporated, the technology leads to realization of the world's first AC LED light bulb. Besides being compatible with traditional lighting equipment, On-Chip AC LED lighting technology greatly improves heat dissipation for traditional LED. It has completely changed the traditional design and use method for high power LED packaging. Benefits include energy savings, carbon reduction and improved overall LED illumination efficiency.

Simple is Powerful
Presently AC LED has found applications for reading lamps and LCD backlight modules. Due to significant size reduction, the technology offers wide latitude of design for lighting and displays. On-Chip AC LED lighting technology uses a simple 'direct AC driving' concept for R&D and design and allows for easy replacement of the new AC LED bulbs. It greatly increases the convenience of using LED light source and stimulates more exploration for LED applications. This application also received recognition from International Commission on Illumination (CIE) experts which included this comment: 'Simple is the Best!'.

Comprehensive Patent Strategy
On-Chip AC LED lighting technology is an innovative technology, which is patented and owned by ITRI. The patents cover the entire product chain from upstream to downstream, including AC LED component structure, chip, packaging and applications. ITRI has formed partnership with Tyntek and Epistar to develop 5W AC LED chip and RGB chip, and with Forward Electronics to develop mass production insertion and removal packaging technology for 5W AC LED module, and in the future will collaborate with more domestic companies to promote AC LED applications. This will transform domestic LED industry from a follower position in the past to a global technology innovator, creating another era of high profitability for the LED industry.