April 4, 2012 – Bridgelux Inc., a global developer of LED lighting technology and solutions, today announced the commercial availability of Bridgelux® Micro SM4™, a new surface-mount LED component that can lower lighting costs and improve performance in commercial buildings.

The Bridgelux Micro SM4, a multiple die emitter, significantly reduces the number of components, cost, complexity, and size of diffuse and focused lighting commonly found in ceiling lighting installations in modern office buildings and shops. Based on Bridgelux's advanced design and manufacturing processes, this new product further expands the company's extensive portfolio of solid-state lighting (SSL) solutions.

Micro SM4 is a light source similar to the heating gases or hot wires found in fluorescent and incandescent bulbs, but differs in terms of power consumption, lifespan, and control. The Micro SM4 light source consumes only 4.2W but can produce light equivalent to a 20-40W incandescent bulb or a 20-35W halogen B10-style bulb, and features a lifespan that is thousands of hours longer. Micro SM4 components also provide high flux density in a smaller footprint, allowing designers, engineers, and lamp manufacturers greater freedom to create interior spaces and lighting environments.

Raimund Koehler, Head of MeLiTec, stated, “We have been developing products with Bridgelux LED arrays for the past two years. We were very excited when Bridgelux announced the development of the new Micro SM4 light source. The smaller form factor, which provides high-quality lighting and excellent color reproduction based on angle performance, gives us a competitive edge for new spotlight applications.” “The continuous innovation demonstrated by Bridgelux is leading LED light source technology in line with MeLiTec’s requirements to develop next-generation alternative lighting that is economical, high-quality, and highly efficient, in accordance with the demands of the market transitioning to SSL,” he said.

New surface-mount emitters with smaller footprints generally require fewer components in applications using discrete LEDs. The 20-40W replacement lighting market accounts for $1 billion of the total $100 billion lighting market.

With a power consumption of only 4.2W, the Bridgelux Micro SM4 provides 330–500 lumens at color temperatures ranging from 2700K and 3000K (warm white) to 5600K (cool white). Along with three levels of MacAdam Ellipse color selection, minimum CRI options of 80 and 90 are available for the warm white product. The Micro SM4 light source incorporates the latest cutting-edge technologies, including epitaxial GaN layer growth, LED chip design, and automated packaging technology.

Bridgelux will showcase its latest products at the Light+Building exhibition held in Frankfurt, Germany from April 15 to 20 (Booth location: Hall 4.2, stand J31).

MacAdam Ellipse: A theory that evaluates whether color coordinates measured while considering manufacturing issues of artificial light sources and human visual characteristics appear as the same color as a reference color coordinate to the human eye.