Citizen Electronics Co., Ltd., based in Fujiyoshida City, Yamanashi Prefecture of Japan, has developed the CL-426 Series, a side-emitting LED. The company claims that it is the world’s thinnest side-lighting type multi-color packaged LED with a reflector. Citizen plans to begin shipping samples of the LEDs in July 2015.
The LEDs come in two models, CL-426F-AA (Common anode), CL-426F-AACC (Common cathode). Both LEDs measure 2.8 mm x 0.85 mm by 0.35mm. The multi-color packaged LED incorporates red, green, and blue (RGB) dies in one package. Their emissions can combine to express various colors. The LEDs mainly serve as indicators for alert lamps and illumination applications in products such as smartphones, personal computers, wearable terminals, and game hardware.
The increasingly smaller and thinner mobile terminal products such as smartphones and wearable terminals require compact and thin parts. In particular, smartphone producers tend to apply different color illumination to distinguish their products from their competitors. Citizen contends that thanks to its unique structure, the new packaged LED product has achieved brightness equal to that of the company’s current model that is the world’s thinnest at 0.35 mm.
The LED is 22% thinner than Citizen’s current world record model. Like other side-emitting LEDs, the new record model requires a reflector to increase the efficiency of light reaching a light guide plate. Citizen says that they also reduced both the width and length of the LED by 45%. The product integrates the LED and the reflector to achieve its thinness and high luminous efficacy. The company asserts that using this LED will help enable even smaller and thinner smartphones. The LED reportedly achieves a brightness equal to or greater than the company’s current model.
