China's tightening of rare earth exports is expected to accelerate the promotion of LED lighting technology

With major suppliers China tightening export policy (rare earth), rare earth materials become increasingly rare, in fact, Chinese rare earth exports has been cut by 1/3. According to the Australian Industrial Minerals Company (Industrial Minerals Co. of Australia.) executive director Dudley Kingsnorth in a press statement, due to the rare earth production can only be Chinese outside the market demand of 40%, so the price soaring.

"Rare earth prices have gone up. "The supplier of Intematix, the fluorescent agent (phosphor), Mike Pugh, said," for example, the price of Europium in June was two times higher than in the last week. "At present, including the United States, Canada and Australia, are developed in Chinese outside of rare earth minerals strategy, including the new mining area in Russia and Malaysia; however, these new mines probably in three years are unable to effectively reduce the shortage of the supply of rare earth.

Due to the soaring price of rampant and stockpile of rare earth, need manufacturers without considering production will have to Chinese stronghold, to find alternatives to rare earths.

Rare earth is an important component of the grinding slurry (slurries) required for planarization (Mechanical) products such as glass and semiconductor wafers. The chip maker is trying to Portland (silicate) and other minerals to replace rare earth, but for the rare earth supply shortage of the deepest feelings, is for the fluorescent lamps (fluorescent bulbs), white LED products supply fluorescent agent manufacturers.

If the Intematix is taking "two pronged" strategy to cope with the problem of soil shortage, the company will be part of the production to China, but also in the United States the development of fluorescent agent substitutes. "By Chinese aluminate and garnet (aluminate and garnet) fluorescent agent, we will be able to buy rare earth materials in the local;" Pugh said: "in the United States, we are the nitrides and silicate fluorescent agent production, these products only need to use a very small amount of rare earth. "Intematix in China aluminate (green) and garnet (yellow) fluorescent agent, in order to avoid the China ban; but the small amount of rare earth nitride (red) and Portland (orange, orange) fluorescent agent is still produced in the United States

The nitrides and silicate fluorescent agent in traditional fluorescent lamp and white LED applications, instead of a large amount of rare earth aluminate and garnet fluorescent agent, also can avoid the problem of shortage of rare earth, but the price is very high; for example, nitride fluorescent agent price is three times higher than the traditional aluminate and garnet fluorescent agent, but both have a large number of rare earth doped materials. "The price of a nitride phosphor can be a shock," Pugh said. "But once you understand how small they are, they're very affordable. "

An optimistic face of rare earth supply shortages, is expected to accelerate the application of solid-state lighting technology; as compared with the fluorescent lamp, fluorescent dose less needed for the LED, but also by the Portland green fluorescent agent and mixed nitride fluorescent agent of red and yellow into blue LED, to produce white light, so only to a very small amount of rare earth. The nitride fluorescent agent is very durable, can be placed near the blue LED semiconductor interface, to further reduce the output of white light materials.