Nichia Corporation

Having "Ever Researching for a Brighter World" as our motto, Nichia has grown in the field of development, manufacturing and sales of fine chemicals, particularly inorganic luminescent materials (phosphors). In the process of the challenging pursuit of brighter luminescent and light-emitting materials, we succeeded in developing and commercializing the super high brightness Blue LED in 1993, which greatly impressed the world.

Since the first introduction of the Blue LED in 1993, we succeeded in developing the world’s first white LED by combining yellow phosphor and blue LED, followed by the successful development of practical level of blue-violet semiconductor laser for the first time in the world.

The invention of these Nitride-based LED and laser diodes causes the technological innovation of light source in the field of display, general lighting, automotive, industrial equipment, and medical care & measurement. We hope that Nichia will continue to be a company that will contributes to the world by evolving its original and unique technologies in the field of manufacturing.

Nichia is the largest LED manufacturer in the world and the inventor of the blue (and therefore white) LED. Nichia's innovative research department is always at the forefront of efficiency and regularly sets new records. Service life, brightness and efficiency are among the great strengths of the Nichia brand. In addition, the fine selection enables great added value for professional processing.

Nichia has developed diverse products in various fields. Tracing back this evolution, it is easy to see that the origin of Nichia's products stemmed from the production of anhydrous calcium chloride produced from limestones mined in Tokushima. By focusing on the importance of both the quality and function of light, Nichia is engaged in the research, development, and commercialization of LEDs for lighting. For example, Nichia has created new generations of products such as Optisolis™, which produces light that is extremely close to the color of natural light, Vitasolis™, which focuses on activating the nave of humans, and Tunable White, which can be used to change colors in a single package. Expectations are also high for deep-ultraviolet UV-C LEDs, which will replace mercury sterilization lamps and inactivate viruses.

While the basic concept of circadian rhythm is the same as that of Vitasolis™, Tunable White was developed with a focus on the visual sensitivity perspective. Research has demonstrated that people feel refreshed when they wake up and see a fresh cool white color in the morning and feel relaxed when they see a warm white color in the evening. To support this, Nichia has added the ability to mix cool white and warm white colors within a single LED package.

In contrast to the conventional method of mixing two LED colors side-by-side, the new method uses a single LED package, single light-emitting surface, enabling a simple secondary optical system, either reflective or refractive based. This also enables a smaller, more compact design. The demand for Tunable White, which in terms of resource saving contributes to sustainable development goals (SDGs), is expanding more and more as it becomes the preferred light source for hotels, residences, and offices.

As a leading phosphor manufacturer, Nichia's core technology is powder synthesis. Nichia produces magnetic materials from raw materials to finished products. With Nichia's unique synthesis process, the optimum particle design can be used for a wide range of motors for automotive, home appliances and industrial robots whose demand is rapidly increasing.